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LAUSD communities affected by Tuesday jet fuel drop return to school, but questions and anger remain

L.A. Unified schools on Wednesday opened as normal with communities still processing an emergency jet fuel dump the day prior that inflicted minor injuries on dozens of adults and children across six schools — five of them elementary schools. “We came out and we were playing, and the airplane was outside and we thought it...
By Taylor Swaak | January 15, 2020
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Teacher Spotlight: Berendo’s Daisy Lazaro on helping students facing mental health crises and adverse life events while destigmatizing mental health issues for her school community

This interview is one in a series spotlighting Los Angeles teachers, their unique and innovative classroom approaches, and their thoughts on how the education system can better support teachers in guiding students to success. Bullying, suicide, and other mental health crises are among the issues psychiatric social workers deal with daily as part of their...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | January 13, 2020
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Teacher Spotlight: Ednovate’s Kyle Perez-Robinson on mentoring 19 girls through all 4 years of high school, breaking down barriers for future Latina scientists and missing her students over summer break

This interview is one in a series spotlighting Los Angeles teachers, their unique and innovative classroom approaches, and their thoughts on how the education system can better support teachers in guiding students to success. Having the privilege of receiving abundant support from teachers and family throughout her life, Kyle Perez-Robinson thought it was her duty...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | January 8, 2020
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New numbers show more colleges using high school grades, not just standardized tests, to determine if students require remedial coursework

For advocates, change hardly happens fast enough. But over a five-year period, a key barrier to the success of many college students has eroded considerably, opening up the door for thousands of new students to progress through college at higher rates. The share of community colleges and four-year public universities that have started to use...
By Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters | January 6, 2020
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The most memorable education articles of 2019: Our top 10 stories about Los Angeles classrooms, students and school policies from the past year

From strikes to financial woes to inspiring educators and shifting graduation requirements, it was a busy year at LA School Report, charting the course of the country’s second-largest school district. As we turn the page on a new year, a quick look back at the 10 stories that resonated most with readers across California in...
By LA School Report | January 2, 2020
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“If we don’t fight for our children, who else is going to do it?” Charter advocates to continue Democratic debate protests Thursday in Los Angeles

The rift in the Democratic party over charter schools will be on sharp display again Thursday, as advocates, parents and students rally outside a Los Angeles presidential primary debate to protest what they say is an attack on their freedoms. Advocates frame Democrats’ increasingly sharp rhetoric against charter schools — present at all levels of...
By Carolyn Phenicie | December 18, 2019
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Union Report: Is all the extra state student funding that districts get benefiting the kids? State auditor says we don’t know

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Somehow I missed last month’s report from the California State Auditor on one of former Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature education policy accomplishments: the Local Control Funding Formula. The formula simplified the way the state funded K-12 education in local school districts, giving every district a...
By Mike Antonucci | December 11, 2019
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Teacher Spotlight: Excelencia’s Amber Lewis on getting 81% of her students proficient in math, why teaching is harder than it looks and making sure her kids never feel failed by the system

This interview is one in a series spotlighting Los Angeles teachers, their unique and innovative classroom approaches, and their thoughts on how the education system can better support teachers in guiding students to success. Letting her students guide their own instruction and learning from each other has been one of the keys to success for...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | December 11, 2019
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A decade of decline at America’s teacher preparation programs: New numbers show enrollment of aspiring educators has fallen by more than a third since 2010

Since 2010 the nation’s teacher preparation programs have seen their enrollment drop by more than a third even as more students are pursuing bachelor’s degrees. At the same time, graduates of these programs declined by almost 30 percent. The dwindling popularity of teaching as a profession means that 340,000 fewer students entered teacher preparation programs...
By Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters | December 9, 2019
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Most states missing key student data from their report cards. 3 parent empowerment groups have advice for making them better

Who should own education data? If you ask the Data Quality Campaign’s Brennan McMahon Parton, it’s the community — students and their families have the right to know how their schools are doing for all students, she says. But some states are making that pretty difficult. That’s why her organization partnered with two other parent...
By Laura Fay | December 9, 2019