LA School Report

Justice Neil Gorsuch, the only member of the Supreme Court who hasn’t weighed in on mandatory public employee union dues, didn’t tip his hand during oral arguments in a key case Monday. The case, Janus v. AFSCME, pits Mark Janus, an Illinois state child support specialist, who argues that forcing him to pay union dues for...

This is part of a new commentary series where local and national education leaders share their thoughts on a fundamental question: As Los Angeles Unified seeks its next superintendent, what should leadership look like at the top? Read and share the first four pieces and follow our superintendent series for more voices and updates. One of the...

She’s one of the best bobsledders in the world. She was one of the first women to compete against men in the four-man bobsled. She’s won two world championships and three Olympic medals, including the silver last week in PyeongChang, South Korea. Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor is also a mentor for six classrooms in the...

Maria Ruiz worried about her three sons’ education in Boyle Heights, a low-income Los Angeles neighborhood where she felt the public schools were dangerous and neglected. But when the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools took over leadership of her sons’ low-performing campuses, she witnessed a transformation — in her boys as well as their schools....

Joan Sullivan walked into a tough crowd at 20th Street Elementary School in South Los Angeles in May 2016. Three dozen teachers and staff in yellow spirit shirts stood at the back of the room, most of them with their arms crossed, while in the audience nearly 200 parents with their children sat divided, holding signs...

With a formal search now underway for Los Angeles Unified’s next superintendent, stakeholders have lots of ideas on the qualities our next district leader should have. In a new commentary series launching today, local and national education leaders share their thoughts on a fundamental question: What should leadership look like at the top? The district...

With declining enrollment, a looming fiscal crisis, and a persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gap, LAUSD is at a critical juncture as it searches for a new superintendent to lead through turbulent times. Many of us have witnessed decades of “reforms” that have had no significant impact on closing the achievement gap or addressing the...

The leadership of our nation’s major school systems matters a lot in the education of millions of kids. Yet each transition sets off a deeply counterproductive scramble. It doesn’t need to be that way. The news that Michelle King is stepping aside as superintendent of Los Angeles Unified due to a serious illness is deeply...

On Sunday, Feb. 11, Parent Revolution’s co-founder Shirley Ford passed away. While Los Angeles lost a tireless champion for underserved children, she left behind a living legacy of parent leaders and allies ready to continue her work in this city and across the nation. As we reflect on the qualities needed in LAUSD’s next superintendent, we...