LA School Report

*UPDATED In a split decision, the California Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an appellate court ruling that overturned Vergara v. California, a landmark case that challenged teacher tenure and declared some school employment laws unconstitutional. The court was split four to three, with two of the dissenting judges issuing lengthy and forceful statements...

The California Supreme Court today declined to review an appellate court ruling that overturned the landmark Vergara v. California teacher tenure case. Here are key excerpts from the dissenting opinions of State Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar and State Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu: The nine schoolchildren who brought this action, along with the millions of children whose educational...

Hiring more teachers, moving the school year to start after Labor Day, training workers to fix air conditioners and offering health benefits for teachers assistants and playground aides are some of the items on the list for the Tuesday afternoon’s LA Unified School Board meeting kicking off the new year. The school board will also be...

As enrollment declines, L.A. public schools borrow a tactic from the charters: marketing As enrollment in traditional public schools around the city has declined and charter schools have mushroomed, principals are having to compete for students or risk school closure. To do this, they are turning to marketing tactics long employed by charter schools: handing...

*UPDATED The first day of middle school can be a pretty nerve-racking experience for almost any kid. You don’t know anyone, you have no friends, you don’t know where your classes are, you don’t know your teachers, you don’t know the rules and you don’t know what is expected of you. But PUC Schools, an...

By Benjamin Feinberg Teachers unions often argue that the “last in, first out” policy is the only fair way to lay off teachers. Reformers say that LIFO protects bad teachers while indiscriminately getting rid of young and creative new teachers. The way we lay off teachers will become more important as Los Angeles Unified School District...

LA charter school faces possible closure over ‘fiscal mismanagement’ Alleging fiscal mismanagement and “fatal flaws in judgment,” Los Angeles Unified staff will ask the district’s Board of Education on Tuesday to issue a “notice of violations” to El Camino Real Charter High School — the first step to revoking its charter, according to the district....

Despite temperatures hovering in the 90s for the rest of the week for many LA Unified schools, calls for air-conditioning repairs haven’t gotten out of hand. Yet a proposal being introduced by three LA Unified School board members next week could change the start of the school year until after Labor Day, and one of the biggest reasons given...

Haddon Elementary Avenue School is so in demand that families want to drive their children across the San Fernando Valley from Granada Hills to attend the Pacoima school. Haddon is not a charter school, it’s not a new pilot program and it’s not a magnet school (yet). It’s a traditional Title 1 district school in a...