LA School Report

“Respect,” “transparency,” and “teamwork” only got one vote each. Oh, and so did “humility.” The seven members of the largest school district in the country with an elected board gathered Tuesday at their first off-site retreat of the year, where they took a deep dive into health benefits but also hashed out core values for LA...

By Max Arias It is no coincidence that this year, Los Angeles’ largest Labor Day march will begin in front of Ramon Cortines High School. The popular narrative is that labor unions and public schools are on opposing sides; that somehow addressing issues of wages, hours, and working conditions is at odds with putting kids first....

A bill being debated in the state Legislature to prohibit middle and high schools from starting earlier than 8:30 a.m. received a boost Wednesday with the release of an economic study showing that a later school start time could result in a $1.1 billion increase to the state’s economy after two years and $24.8 billion...

With union leaders looking on, LA Unified’s school board spent four hours looking at options of how to cut or adjust health benefits to stave off a looming budget crisis. No decisions were made — the Tuesday “board retreat” was an information session — but the board analyzed details of the annual $1.1 billion in...

School board members spent half the day Tuesday digesting the data given to them about employee benefits. Chief Financial Officer Scott Price and Chief Risk Officer Janice Sawyer briefed the board on the health and welfare benefits for LA Unified employees and retirees and also detailed potential cost-saving measures. The ideas will have to be...

Counselors at LA Unified high schools say they have enough information to give students about applying for college and financial aid, but what they don’t have is enough time to help students through these processes, according to a new study released Wednesday. Los Angeles Education Research Institute released a pair of studies on college readiness...

*UPDATED An immigration judge on Wednesday approved the release of Rómulo Avélica-González, who posted a $6,000 bond and was reunited with his family after he left an Adelanto detention facility. Avélica-González’s case drew national attention after he was arrested while dropping off his 12-year-old daughter, Yuleni, at Los Angeles public charter school. Another daughter, Fátima,...

By Haena Shin Teachers can tell when they are effective. In my first year as a special education teacher in a pre-kindergarten setting, the signs were small but profound — a nonverbal student who started to greet me in the mornings, a student who didn’t know how to hold a pencil properly who learned to...

California’s plan to comply with federal education law comes up short in nine key areas and is destined to have portions rejected, according to the influential California advocacy organization Children Now. Based on federal feedback to states that have already submitted their plans, the Oakland-based nonprofit, nonpartisan education advocacy organization has sent letters to the state...

Friday is a day off in LA schools, but it’s not simply to turn Labor Day weekend into a four-day holiday. It’s Admission Day, a little-known state holiday that commemorates California being admitted into the United States as the 31st state on Sept. 9, 1850. This year, LA Unified recognizes the Sept. 9 state birthday on...