-
Trevor Project to Refund Donation From Student Surveillance Company Accused of LGBTQ Bias Following 74 Investigation

The Trevor Project, a leading group combatting LGBTQ youth suicide, took money from Gaggle, whose online monitoring tool zeroes in on queer students.
By Mark Keierleber | September 30, 2022
-
In Congress and the courts, charter supporters seek to undo grant revisions

Charter advocates were partially successful three months ago in getting the U.S. Department of Education to ease what they saw as onerous new rules for a program that provides start-up funds to new schools. But that compromise hasn’t stopped advocates in two states and members of Congress from trying to remove the remaining changes to the $440...
By Linda Jacobson | September 29, 2022
-
How LAUSD families can protect student data after district cyberattack

A Labor Day weekend cyber attack affecting thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District students has families questioning what they can do to keep their information safe. According to an LA Times report hackers used ransomware to freeze and disable some LAUSD systems. “The student management system was touched,” said LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho. Authorities...
By Sara Balanta | September 27, 2022
-
‘Wake-up calls’: New parent survey shows 9% enrollment drop in district schools

With state data projecting at least 10% drops in student enrollment over the next decade in some California counties, superintendents are worried. “Some of them are scratching their heads, saying ‘This is something we didn’t expect, and it is hard to know if this is our new enrollment trend,’” said Suzanne Speck, executive vice president of Sacramento-based...
By Linda Jacobson | September 26, 2022
-
Analysis: On a per-student basis, school staffing levels are hitting all-time highs

It’s a weird time to be having a national conversation about teacher shortages. Thanks in part to the surge of federal relief funds, schools have ambitious hiring plans — but they have been unable to bring on as many people as they would like. As of last month, job openings remain elevated well above normal levels. And yet,...
By Chad Aldeman | September 21, 2022
-
Four things to know about pandemic’s detrimental effects on LAUSD test scores

L.A. Unified’s latest state test scores reveal dramatic decreases in student performance — and an even more striking decline for some ethnic groups and vulnerable students. The outcomes of the 2022 Smarter Balanced assessment showed just 28.47% of LAUSD students met state standards in math, while 41.67% met English standards in the 2021-22 school year...
By Isabel Crespo | September 20, 2022
-
California poll finds parents leaving traditional public for charter schools

Scorned by the bureaucracy of Los Angeles Unified School District and the tumultuous politics of reopening schools in the spring of 2021, Carrie Kangro moved her oldest son to a charter school in the midst of the pandemic. Kangro, unsure if LAUSD would reopen schools, made the move despite having a particular love for the...
By Joshua Bay | September 19, 2022
-
LA schools and the mystery of the missing ransom note

As the shady ransomware gang Vice Society took credit for a hack that sent Los Angeles school officials scrambling last week, cybersecurity experts noticed something peculiar. Vice Society, an “intrusion, exfiltration and extortion” group that experts believe is based in Russia, has become notorious for waging cyber warfare against K-12 schools, leveraging the theft of...
By Mark Keierleber | September 14, 2022
-
California implements later school start time, other states considering

California middle and high schools began the academic day later this year, implementing a state law other states are now considering. After long-standing research showed the devastating impact of early classes on teens’ health, California’s district middle schools will start no earlier than 8 am; and high schools will start no later than 8:30 am....
By Jasmine De Leon | September 13, 2022
-
‘Focused, angry, concerned about creating justice’: Debunking 5 myths about Generation Z

Ask a Boomer or Millenial what they think of Gen Zers and their observations are far from flattering: Overly sensitive, socialist, disengaged, dependent on technology. But those stereotypes have little basis in reality, according to the book, Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America, released earlier this year. John Della Volpe,...
By Marianna McMurdock | September 8, 2022