LA School Report

An open letter to the governor of California prior to his final State of the State Address: Dear Governor Jerry Brown, Your January 25 State of the State Address coincides with the midpoint in the academic year for our local schools and students. A review of public education’s progress and challenges is warranted. Much work...

Late Thursday night, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced they had reached a tentative three-year agreement with eight different labor partners over health and welfare payments. The plan still requires ratification by both the unions and the Board of Education. Four key points in the tentative agreement, as distributed to the press in a...

California education leaders inflated the state’s high school graduation rate by 2 percentage points in 2014, according to the results of a federal audit announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education. The Department’s Office of Inspector General found that California education officials inaccurately calculated its graduation rate and failed to provide “reasonable assurance” that...

LA Unified’s school board members want a new superintendent they can all support. They would like to get a unanimous decision, as it was with Michelle King’s selection two years ago. They also want public input on the choice and to have a new leader in place by the time school starts in August. “Yes,...

*Updated Jan. 17 Los Angeles’ Luis Tadeo sent his DACA renewal application Tuesday from Washington, D.C., where he and 30 other California undocumented youth have gathered with an urgent goal: Get Congress to pass a “clean” Dream Act by Friday. Tadeo traveled with a group of Californians, mostly college students, organized by the Coalition for...

*Updated Jan. 17 Throughout Los Angeles, the scope and intensity of students’ fears are greater this school year than ever before, teachers say.  The possibility of their parents being deported, domestic violence, homelessness, racial tensions, and even fears of terrorist attacks are affecting children more than ever, according to administrators and teachers at both LA Unified...

In 2018, Latino parents and advocates are preparing to fight for more funds and better support for their students, from kindergarten to a college degree, as data show California’s Latino students are not succeeding at the same rate as students from other ethnic groups. Topping their list: protecting undocumented students’ education, making sure money gets...

LA Unified’s school board can begin the search for a new superintendent immediately, the district’s lead attorney said Tuesday, and the board president said members will hold weekly discussions as they move to bring stability to a district that has had nine superintendents in 20 years. The school board held its first meeting of the...

In fall 2016, one of my students dropped a well-written essay on my desk. It was the first essay of the semester, so I only asked students to write three to four pages. He wrote six. Fernando Arellano had just enrolled in Mt. San Antonio College after years serving in the National Guard. A father...

California’s plan to improve its schools received some of the toughest criticism in the nation from the federal Department of Education, which came as no surprise to parents and education advocates, who will get another chance this week to tell the state how they want their schools improved. On Tuesday, the state has invited the...