LA School Report

Whenever April Heinz’s grown children come back to Los Angeles for a visit, there is one item they crave — LA Unified’s legendary coffee cake. “They’re now graduated and in college…they came back [for] summer break. I had a couple of slices of coffee cake for them, and they were like, ‘Oh my gosh!’… because,...

On the same day that millions of sensitive records purportedly stolen from the Los Angeles school district were posted for sale on the dark web, the Federal Communications Commission approved a $200 million pilot program to help K-12 schools and libraries nationwide fight an onslaught of cyberattacks.  A Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson confirmed...

As more states require schools to out transgender students to their families, a new study links involuntary disclosure of sexual orientation or gender identity to heightened rates of depression and anxiety. One-third of LGBTQ youth outed to their families were more likely to report major symptoms of depression than those who weren’t, according to the...

With the presidential election less than six months away, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will soon unveil their platforms and begin rallying voters around their agendas for 2025 and beyond. And while K–12 education typically spends little time in the national spotlight, the campaign will bring far greater clarity to the candidates’ positions on contentious...

One of the challenges schools face is that there’s very little evidence directly connecting most pre-K-12 skills to measures of success in adulthood such as economic mobility. This means school and district leaders must rely on instinct and guesswork when faced with decisions about how much to prioritize teaching math (and which specific aspects), fostering...

Los Angeles Unified parents of children with special needs say they are facing a backlash after the district tried to remove members of a state panel advocating for improved services for the students.  The Improving Special Education Resolution, aimed at making services better for special needs children, was proposed by members of the Community Advisory...

Teacher retention and student safety are top of mind for West Maui families and school and union leaders as an academic year marked by deadly wildfires comes to a close.  Since August, enrollment at Lahaina’s four public schools has dropped by roughly 1,000 students. Some families are still hesitant to return their children to the...

Four-year-olds entering pre-K in Mississippi’s Lamar County Schools don’t spend their days on worksheets or bent over papers practicing their letters. But they do have plenty of books, Play-Doh and time for friends.  And some leave for kindergarten knowing how to read. “But it’s not because we’re hounding them,” said Heather Lyons, the program’s coordinator....

Emily Juarez no longer feels safe letting her two older children ride public transportation or walk to their LA Unified school after an increase in reports of violence near district campuses. “I stopped maybe a couple of weeks ago,” Juarez said last month. “I see the stuff that’s happening. I do see the news and...

When I was a principal, if you had told me I would be working with artificial intelligence on a daily basis, I would have conjured visions of the Terminator and Skynet in my head. Fortunately, we’re not there (yet?) but the introduction of AI amplifies risks and opportunities attached to school leaders’ decisions. Education leaders...