LA School Report

*UPDATED The first class to graduate from an innovative university-based charter school in Los Angeles is sending all 84 grads to four-year colleges, most with scholarships. Valerie Childress watched her quadruplets graduate Saturday evening on the campus of the University of Southern California with tears in her eyes. “I said I wasn’t going to cry, but I have been...

By Andy Smarick  The ten-dollar founding father without a father, Got a lot farther by working a lot harder, By being a lot smarter, By being a self-starter. —John Laurens on Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton Seven years ago at the White House, Lin-Manuel Miranda described the premise of his still unfinished musical. And an esteemed crowd laughed. Miranda...

The growing power and influence of the U.S. Hispanic population is lost on no one: politicians, pollsters and CEOs. But what has been lost are generations of school kids. Hispanics are the nation’s most undereducated minority group. While more Hispanic teens than ever are enrolling in college, there is fresh urgency to ensure that trend...

(Para leer este artículo en inglés, haga clic aquí.) La influencia y el poder cada vez mayores de la población hispana de los Estados Unidos no es algo que sea ignorado: los políticos, encuestadores y Directores Generales Corporativos están conscientes de esto. Sin embargo, lo que sí se ha ignorado son las generaciones de los niños...

California and proposed federal regulations at odds on how to rate schools Despite close parallels between California’s school reforms and those called for in the new federal law signed by President Barack Obama last December, California and the U.S. Department of Education appear to be on a collision course regarding the rating systems each wants...

He couldn’t imagine he would ever graduate from high school, or that he’d ever even have a chance. After being released from his second juvenile detention camp, Randy Dwayne May Jr. wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Then came a knock on his door over the summer from Wendy Cholico, a Pupil Services...

By Judy Lin One by one, dozens of blacks and Latinos lined up behind a microphone placed before the state school board appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Spanish-speaking mothers pleaded for the 10-member panel to evaluate schools based on parent involvement because they have felt unwelcome at their children’s schools. African-American students asked the state...

Experts suggest middle and high school start times should be after 8:30 a.m. Around the country, more school districts are moving to delay their start times. Teens currently aren’t getting enough sleep. And this lack of sleep is having a detrimental effect on their grades and mental health. By Rebecca Klein, Huffington Post Superintendent King strives...

One hundred and thirty Francis Polytechnic High School students enjoyed free raspados at lunchtime Wednesday as a reward for encouraging their peers to register to vote in the primary election. During the month of May, 20 government students at the Sun Valley high school registered 150 Poly high school seniors and juniors to vote. The...

By Jeremy Loudenback Nearly a year ago, pro-bono lawyers from Los Angeles-based Public Counsel made national headlines by launching a landmark class-action lawsuit against Compton Unified School District in federal court in Los Angeles, arguing that the district had failed to address issues of childhood trauma that prevented students from receiving a quality education. In September,...