LA School Report

Lawsuit claims state refuses to release data on English learners The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Public Counsel filed a lawsuit to force the department to release the documents. EdSource Parents outraged over school bus fees Some parents are upset that school districts in Southern California are charging for students to ride the bus....

It was a bombshell of a story on Saturday, the LA Times reporting that a group of foundations is exploring plans to expand the number of charter schools within LA Unified to serve many beyond the 100,000 students who now attend charters in the district. What would that mean exactly? Unclear for the time being....

Federal officials came to LAUSD in the past few weeks to gather ideas for a national seismic safety program. “The feds wanted to see how various government agencies do their seismic evaluations and they were very impressed with the way we do them,” said Roger Finstad, the Director of Maintenance and Operations at LAUSD. “There...

By Motoko Rich In a stark about-face from just a few years ago, school districts have gone from handing out pink slips to scrambling to hire teachers. Across the country, districts are struggling with shortages of teachers, particularly in math, science and special education — a result of the layoffs of the recession years combined...

Major charter school expansion in the works for L.A. Unified students Charter school leaders said they have met with officials from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation in recent months about the effort. Los Angeles Times Editorial: L.A. Unified’s ‘teacher jail’ policy ends up punishing students As currently practiced, the procedure appears to turn too...

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that fewer than one in five of the nation’s middle and high schools start the day at 8:30 a.m. or later, a time recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. In a report last year, the Academy concluded that insufficient sleep in adolescents and...

Looking to calm any last-minute fears that the start of the new school year will mirror last year’s troublesome beginning, LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines is promising that the MiSiS computer system has been fixed and will operate smoothy when schools open later this month. “MiSiS is the heart of this district,” he said in a statement from...

Alliance College-Ready Public Charter Schools said today the group violated no laws over unionization efforts and asserted that some Alliance teachers “feel harassed by UTLA’s communications tactics.” Catherine Suitor, Chief Development & Communications Officer of Alliance, said in a statement to LA School Report the charter group looks forward to arguing its case before the state...

Because of a $300 million boost in bond money and the ability to hire extra help, most of the LAUSD schools are expected to have their air conditioning units working when school opens Aug. 18. “August is traditionally the hottest month of the year, and the severe heat spells doesn’t help the classroom situation,” said...

ICYMI — that is, in case you missed the Republican presidential candidates talking about education last night: Well, you had to listen carefully because education didn’t get much attention. Only three candidates had anything to say about education — mostly because they weren’t asked about it — and only the two from Florida, prompted by the...