LA School Report

Although the Trump administration announcement that protections for young “DREAMers” under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will continue for now, Los Angeles immigrants and their advocates believe the risk of being deported is even greater. The DACA news came in an announcement late Thursday by National Security Secretary John Kelly as he declared...

The LA Unified school board in one of its last actions before the new board is installed next month voted to extend Superintendent Michelle King’s contract until 2020. The contract was not up for renewal until 2018. But what would it cost? Here’s a look at provisions in King’s contract that explain why she could...

Only eight people showed up at one of the last chances for parents and educators to give input on the state’s overall school plan that they need to submit in order to get about $80 billion from the federal government. Their top concerns for the state as it formulates its Every Student Succeeds Act plan were...

* UPDATED LA Unified is going to get its first phase of a unified enrollment system, but board members held up authorizing the cash for it until they added a stipulation that specifically excludes independent charter schools for at least two years. After a long and animated discussion at Tuesday’s meeting, the board — which...

With only 76 percent of California’s Latino boys and 67 percent of black boys graduating from high school, a new report calls for systemic changes to help this population get to and succeed in college. Key changes should be setting high expectations for young men of color and making college preparation classes the default for...

In a surprise move during Tuesday’s closed session, LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King had her contract extended through June 30, 2020, even though her contract wasn’t up for renewal until next year. The lone dissent came from board member Mónica García who objected because it didn’t give the new pro-reform majority a chance to review...

First-generation college students nationwide say that feeling safer in high school and having the opportunity to attend a non-traditional school could have prepared them better for college, according to a new poll by Students for Education Reform. The poll surveyed 1,000 first-generation students, of which 40 percent were white, 30 percent Latino, 20 percent black,...

High academic expectations and an “alive” and engaged classroom with lots of student-teacher interaction are some of the hallmarks of Joshua Martinez’s East Los Angeles class, where he has taught fourth-grade for the last five years. Martínez has been named one of four winners of the 2017 Fishman Prize for his “superlative classroom practice” at...

By Chris Bertelli California State Assemblyman Tony Thurmond is running for California Superintendent of Public Instruction but it might be hard to tell why based on a couple of recent votes on one of the most important education issues facing the state. The East Bay Democrat sits on the Assembly Education Committee, which would seem...

June means it’s budget time for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The district published Superintendent Michelle King’s final $7.5 billion budget proposal for the 2017-18 school year on its website late last week, making it publicly available for the first time. It’s a breezy 262 pages.  The school board will hold a public hearing...