Via KPCC | By Annie Gilbertson The union representing Los Angeles school employees — cafeteria workers, custodians, teachers’ assistants and others — is launching a pilot program to help students at four schools get access to counseling and health care. They say their workers can help provide a missing link. “Optimizing Access to Services, Inspiring...

* UPDATED LA Unified teachers are the fifth-highest paid among the nation’s 10 largest school districts, according to the latest data collected by the National Council for Teacher Quality (NCTQ). The top four districts for paying teachers with a bachelor’s degree and five years of experience are Chicago ($62,046), New York ( $52,278), Hawaii ($50,728)...

By Ron Taw I came to education out of the business world. Before entering the classroom, I was making my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 500 company. But then, over 15 years ago, I realized that I wanted a job where “success and advancement” would mean changing more lives, not just earning...

In its final meeting of the 2013-14 fiscal year, the LA Unified school board may decide to break tradition by delaying the annual vote for board president. Normally, board members elect a new leader for the coming year during a summer meeting prior to the start of the next academic year. But the members may...

LAUSD just might create the largest saxophone ensemble ever tomorrow at the Make Music Los Angeles celebration to commemorate the 200th birthday of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone. Make Music LA, a city-based nonprofit, along with the district’s Beyond the Bell (BTB) program and other organizations are calling saxophone players of all ages and skill level to...

A ballot measure that goes before California voters in November seeking to amend the state Constitution has a controversial section that deals with strings attached to money school districts have controlled on their own. In effect, the state would have the right to place a cap on how much money a district can keep in...

Sylvia Rousseau, the temporary liaison for LA Unified School District 1, is leaving her post on a high note. Throughout her four-month tenure, Rousseau has been an avid advocate for the district’s Standard English Learners, a group of “invisible” students, as she calls them, who consistently perform well below grade level on all types of...

While much of the state waits out the appeal process in Vergara v. California, one member of the California assembly is moving forward with an effort to expand tenure to teachers in smaller school districts who have no tenure at all. The state law that grants tenure after two years was one of the five...

Here’s one vision of the future for California public schools: Every teacher is effective. Schools are free of child molesters. Schools provide quality instruction time to every kid in every classroom. These are all possibilities, judging from this season of potential change for the state’s public schools. In recent weeks, a trio of separate but...