LA School Report

2022 continued to be a chaotic time for the nation’s second largest school district, with chronic absenteeism and other COVID-related issues disrupting LA Unified schools. Starting off the year, LAUSD welcomed a new superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, the former Miami schools chief.   It was also a big year for LA School Report as we covered these...

Half of the nation’s 500 largest school districts have changed superintendents or are in the midst of a transition, according to a report tracking leadership churn since the pandemic began. Forty-seven of those districts have seen two or more leadership changes. The turnover has been particularly hard on women: Of the 94 female superintendents who...

After years of targeting and extorting high-value corporate targets, ransomware attackers have turned to more vulnerable prey — school districts. With less funding, less-than-mature cybersecurity defenses and limited (or even nonexistent) controls over an abundance of sensitive data, educational institutions are prime targets for cybercriminals. As a number of recent notable attacks against school systems...

The pandemic had to end sometime. Historians will ultimately place its climax at some point in 2022. It was the year that Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s most prominent public health authority, declared that the country was “out of the pandemic phase,” as COVID case rates plummeted from their Omicron highs. By the fall, President Biden...

Los Angeles school board president Kelly Gonez will keep her spot on the panel, but her lack of a significant lead despite her advantages over her novice opponent made the race a stand out. Gonez, who raised $500,000 and major endorsements including the United Teachers Los Angeles, declared victory last month, garnering 51.27% of the...

Generation A, the children currently attending K-12 schools, has endured political instability, a traumatizing pandemic, an interrupted education and now an economic crisis afflicting families as costs continue to rise for everyday items. The expanded Child Tax Credit, a pandemic-era program that provided qualifying families with $250 a month for children under 6 and $300...

The results of the most recent Nation’s Report Card found students across almost all states and demographic groups showing steep declines in academic achievement. Talented teachers and principals will be crucial to reversing this trend. But my middle school, and schools like it throughout the country, are struggling to hire and keep staff. Expanded loan forgiveness for...

The staff members who keep Los Angeles schools running — and prepared them to reopen during the pandemic — say they are on the verge of walking off the job. They held a rally Tuesday in front of the district’s headquarters as a step toward authorizing a strike. As Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and the school...

This article was published in partnership with The Trace. Sign up for its newsletters here. With an infectious smile, 7-year-old Daniel Barden’s slow, steady drumbeat held together the fledgling family band. The quartet’s intimate performance had brought life to the Best Western hotel in Monticello, New York, where the Bardens gathered to celebrate a joyous milestone:...

During the pandemic, Los Angeles Unified’s Ninth Street Elementary School teachers saw their students attending remote classes from crowded and noisy shelters — or living with more than ten family members in a small room. Located in one of Los Angeles’ lowest income neighborhoods, Ninth Street Elementary enrolls students who live in the Fashion District...