LA School Report

By Michael Mahoney The California high school exit exam is dead. The short and purposeless life of the exam began in 2001 when it was first administered to ninth-grade volunteers. It ended last week when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that not only suspended the test but also nullified the results for anybody who...

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles along with LA Unified is co-hosting a Youth Town Hall on Saturday when an estimated 150 students from the district are expected to gather and offer recommendations on priorities for the next Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), which outlines how the district spends state education dollars. Governor Jerry...

Following up on a months-long threat, high-profile attorney Mark Geragos today slapped LA Unified with a class action lawsuit, calling for an end to the practice of “teacher jails” and asking for more than $1 billion in damages. The suit was filed in state superior court on behalf of Rafe Esquith, a well-known teacher who was dismissed...

By Howard Blume and Zahira Torres The Los Angeles Board of Education voted this week to fire nationally recognized teacher Rafe Esquith, following a misconduct investigation that included allegations he made an improper joke to students and inappropriately touched minors, according to sources with knowledge of the decision. The longtime educator at Hobart Avenue Elementary School,...

Long Beach, Los Angeles win grants to develop ‘learning mindsets’ Both districts have been systematically developing learning or “growth” mindsets, which are the skills that teach students how to think and learn. EdSource, by John Fensterwald How an LAUSD school is providing cleaner air for its students Students at Murchison Street Elementary School in Boyle...

LA Unified announced today a final agreement with Pearson, the software company, that will bring $6.45 million back to the district as reimbursement for the content and services delivered under a technology partnership. The settlement ends one aspect of the district’s iPad program, that was built upon a deal with Apple and Pearson and was...

While teachers protested a proposed charter expansion plan outside the LA Unified school board meeting yesterday, union leaders involved with the district and a former board president, spoke out against it inside. On the street, about 100 teachers rallied against the effort by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation that would more than double the number of...

The LA Unified school board yesterday got a first-hand look at a first-of-its-kind apprentice program, which will train 10 current district employees to become heating, ventilating, and air conditioning technicians. “This is a unique program in this district, in this state and in this nation. A first of its kind,” Superintendent Ramon Cortines said during a...

By Carolyn Phenicie Discussion of education issues was slim and scarce again at Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate, with only two brief mentions of education as a civil rights issue and a solitary question devoted to higher education. However, the two frontrunners, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, did address education...