LA School Report

When the union representing LA Unified teachers meets tomorrow afternoon to discuss “unjustly housed teachers,” one of the potential discussion issues is whether UTLA could get involved in the class action suit against LAUSD arising out of dispute involving Ralf Esquith. Lawyers representing have asked the union to join the class action but is still awaiting a response....

The LA Unified school board is meeting in open and closed sessions tomorrow, with plans to consider amendments to the Local Control Accountability Plan and adjustments to the fiscal stabilization plan. In the brief open session, the school board will take up clarification amendments to the LCAP plan as required by the Los Angeles County Office of...

The NBA’s LA Clippers have given $3 million to City Year, which helps service low-performing schools in low economic areas of Los Angeles. The announcement was made at a City Year opening day ceremony on Friday with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA Unified board president Steve Zimmer.  City Year has 309 AmeriCorps members...

Teachers and students are getting devices with no lessons on how to use them. It’s all about iPads. Students can hack the tablets. Wrong, wrong, and well, sorta wrong. That’s the word that LAUSD wants to get out. The computer technology program at LAUSD gets a bad rap. Of course, the botched $1.3 billion iPad implementation and...

By Martin Blythe With severe drought and sustainability on the minds of the public and LAUSD Board members, now might be a good time to ask how agriculture and horticulture are faring in Los Angeles area high schools. The answer is: not well. They are among the programs most at risk of disappearing, just when they...

By Jennifer Medina Her husband, Steven P. Jobs, famously helped reboot Apple with the “Think Different” advertising campaign. Now Laurene Powell Jobs is starting a $50 million project to rethink high school. With an advertising campaign that looks as if it came from Apple’s marketing department, the initiative is meant to create high schools with new approaches to...

School districts see teacher shortages after years of cuts After years of recession-related layoffs and hiring freezes, school systems in pockets across the United States are in urgent need of more teachers. Associated Press New school year brings lice outbreak With the start of the school year, small outbreaks of sesame-seed sized, blood-sucking parasites known...

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines said yesterday the district is close to finalizing a $6 million-plus settlement deal with Apple and Pearson over the botched iPad program. In a statement this afternoon, the district confirmed that it was engaged in “cooperative discussions with our vendors” to resolve concerns about the the companies’ contribution to the district’s...

It’s just too hot out there. All LAUSD school teams planning outdoor sports competitions today have had to cancel or reschedule due to the heat. LA Unified sent out a memo yesterday, canceling activities held outside before 6 p.m. Almost immediately, a flyer was posted on the basketball courts at the Miguel Contreras Learning Center,...

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines delivered a “jump start” to the newly-reformed Instructional Technology Initiative Task Force at its first meeting of the school year yesterday. He addressed such concerns as an already-aging supply of computers, a change in task force leadership and his renewed effort to get a device in the hands of every student in...