LA School Report

  * Updated Jan. 25 The California governor’s new budget proposes giving more to schools than ever before — $78.3 billion — but it’s not going to keep LA Unified from driving off its fiscal cliff in three years, according to the district’s chief financial officer. With steady enrollment declines and crushing pension debt, the...

A tentative agreement on health benefits marks the first time an LA Unified labor contract has directly taken on the district’s soaring healthcare costs. But watchdogs say the deal doesn’t go far enough in tackling the district’s standing debt — and some school board members warn it may actually make the next round of negotiations...

*Updated Jan. 22 Marshall Tuck’s student-focused campaign for state superintendent of public instruction has earned him the endorsement of the Association of California School Administrators, which hasn’t endorsed in the race for eight years. In 2014, the organization, which represents more than 17,000 California school principals and superintendents, chose not to endorse because they wanted...

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...