LA School Report

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...

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.) Maria Cerda is an LA Unified parent who advocates not only for her children’s schools but also for the school where she works. Cerda, a cafeteria...

You have to go to school, but schools aren’t required to teach you to read and write. Now a judge has ruled that California can be put on trial for failing to give low-income students equal access to literacy instruction.  A ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos, which was made public Monday, means...

*Updated July 26 The ouster of Los Angeles Unified School District board member Ref Rodriguez — who resigned Monday after pleading guilty to money-laundering charges — means the remaining board members must now decide when and how to replace him. They have 60 days to decide a path forward, and the clock is ticking. Right...

It’s official: Los Angeles Unified’s Ref Rodriguez is out. Early Monday, the embattled school board member pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiracy and four misdemeanor counts for making campaign contributions in another person’s name. As part of a deal with prosecutors, he agreed to immediately resign from office. Rodriguez won’t serve any jail...

New data show that almost half the teachers at LA Unified’s lowest-performing schools have not been evaluated for at least three years, and nearly all of those who were had received favorable ratings. Now the school board’s vice president is calling for more regular evaluations, which he said could require negotiating changes to the city’s...

*Updated July 23 Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled on Monday denying the petition of the State of California and allowing the lawsuit on behalf of the 10 students to proceed. Morrison & Foerster partner Michael Jacobs, who is leading the firm’s pro bono team on the case, said, “We are pleased that the court is allowing us to proceed...

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.) “When my son was only 13 years old, he wanted to end his life because he’s gay and was being bullied in school.” Candelaria Medina says...

The Senate voted narrowly Tuesday to confirm Jim Blew, a longtime education reform advocate, to be an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education, rounding out the department’s K-12 team. Senators voted 50-49 along party lines to confirm Blew as assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development some 10 months after he was...