LA School Report

By Tunji Adebayo The California State Board of Education just adopted a new accountability system acknowledging that the quality of a school is about more than just test scores. Parents will now have access to vital measures that provide them with greater insight into how a school may serve their child, such as college preparedness, language...

Brown vetoes half-dozen K-12 bills, citing budget pressure Citing the danger of adding costs at a time of financial uncertainty, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a half-dozen K-12 education-related bills Wednesday, including one that would have required screening all low-income children receiving Medi-Cal services for the potential effects of traumatic experiences. He also rejected a bill...

KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory School in Boyle Heights has been named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The designation was given Wednesday to 279 public schools across the country and is considered the highest honor the federal government can bestow on a school. KIPP LA Prep is an independent public...

Great Public Schools Now announced Thursday it will give up to $3.75 million in grant funds next year to expand up to five academically successful LA Unified school campuses in underserved areas — the nonprofit’s first partnership with the school district. GPSN launched its program in June, when it gave its first grants, totaling $4.5 million, to...

By LA Unified’s Office of Communication Wonderland Elementary, a 500-student campus in the Hollywood Hills, has been named a National Blue Ribbon School in recognition of its outstanding academic performance. Home to both a traditional school and a gifted/high-ability magnet, Wonderland is one of 279 public and 50 private elementary schools to receive the prestigious honor from the...

El Camino Real teachers divided over credit-card spending controversy More than 50 teachers and parents protested outside El Camino Real Charter High School before classes Wednesday, demanding top administrators be held accountable for a credit-card spending controversy in an effort to “save our charter” while nearly two dozen other staff members gathered to express their...

Millions of high school graduates are showing up to college unprepared and in need of remedial courses that are costing them an estimated $1.3 billion annually, and Californians pay the most, according to a report released today from the Center for American Progress. Remedial courses do not count toward college degrees because they are designed to...

LA Unified’s three-year strategic plan lacks a clear mission statement. That was the consensus of an all-day school board session Tuesday. So the seven board members decided to fix it, landing on the goal of a 100 percent graduation rate. Yet the draft of the strategic plan remains light on exactly how to accomplish it. Because...

Gov. Brown signs law to plan expansion of computer science education Gov. Jerry Brown Jr. on Tuesday signed into law a bill that begins a three-year planning process to expand computer science education for all grades in California’s public schools, beginning in kindergarten. Authored by Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, the bill, Assembly Bill 2329, requires State Superintendent of...

For the first time, there will be more students from an LA Unified high school in USC’s freshman class than from any other, the university announced Wednesday. Thanks to a long-running special program, the Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI), 19 of the university’s incoming class this year are from the Foshay Learning Center, which is near USC....