LA School Report

Most parents think their kids are ready for the next grade. In fact, 90 percent believe their child is academically on par with or above their peers in their grade. However, only 39 percent of teachers believe their students are at grade level when they start the new school year. The reality is that only...

*Updated Aug. 8 Between 2011 and 2017, out-of-school suspensions in California fell 46 percent, and the rate of suspensions dropped by more than a third. That students are suspended less frequently is welcome news for civil rights advocates who’ve long been concerned about the fact that certain groups — black students, foster youth, and students...

Nearly 100,000 Los Angeles students are heading back to school without an elected representative because of the empty LA Unified school board seat in District 5. The District 5 seat — one of seven in the district, each with its own elected board member — was held by Ref Rodríguez, who pleaded guilty to money-laundering...

This interview was first published by Speak UP.  On the brink of what could potentially be the first LAUSD teachers strike since 1989, Speak UP sat down with LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner to discuss labor talks, parent power and how to solve the district’s financial crisis while putting the needs of kids first. The following...

Each week, we sit down with Los Angeles parents to talk about their students, their schools, and what questions or suggestions they have for their school district. (See our previous interviews.) Isabel Martinez is celebrating that her daughter is the first in her family to go to college. She graduated from Mendez High School in Boyle Heights...

Native American students’ unique needs for too long have been poorly served, but culturally relevant charter schools could help change that. And the federal government is poised to fund their expansion. A new handbook on how to open and sustain charter schools for these students shows how charters can work with Native communities to make...

*Updated July 27 Fewer than half of California’s high school graduates last year met the minimum requirements for the state’s public universities, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Education. That’s despite what the department calls a “significant upward trend” in graduation rates this decade. But that upward trend ended with Thursday’s...

As immigration issues drive more Latinos into political activism, education is a ripe opportunity for Latino parents to wield considerable influence. A panel of education experts at a national convention last weekend in Miami agreed that Latino parents have catapulted this year from being mostly silent on political issues to becoming a significant voice in...