LA School Report

A majority of American school districts have no policies protecting LGBT students from bullying, with California also coming in on the low-end, according to a new report that looked at the anti-bulliing policies of districts across the nation. The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) analyzed the policies of 13,000 districts in all 50 states...

Acknowledging the challenges facing new teachers with the aim of helping them have long careers, LA Unified is offering classes this month to help freshly-minted teachers learn how to deal with stress. The district is offering a the New Teacher Summer Institute, a five-day series of workshops, with about 1,800 teachers expected to take the courses....

Despite widespread praise for his leadership of LA Unified, including standing ovations at recent school board meetings, Superintendent Ramon Cortines finds himself facing a familiar adversary, a veteran district employee who is now accusing the district of firing him in retaliation for his past lawsuits against Cortines. Scot Graham, who accused Cortines of sexual harassment in three previous lawsuits,...

By Emily Deruy High schools across the country are taking what might seem like a counterintuitive approach to educating some of their most at-risk students. They’re enrolling them in college before they even graduate from high school. A new report from the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy suggests that dual-enrollment programs, where students take classes...

Senate rejects effort to give feds more say in identifying failing schools The measure was opposed by many Republicans who want to rein in the federal government’s influence over education. Washington Post Teachers back in school to master Common Core standards School’s out for summer – although maybe not, if your job is to teach...

While LA Unified has taken aggressive actions to fix two of its highest-profile computer technology initiatives — MiSiS and the iPad program — it has all but ignored its primary communications tool to the public — its website. In a word, it’s a mess. Clicking on LAUSD.net to find current information and answers to specific...

A charitable physical education program that is in nearly 100 LAUSD middle and high schools has led to dramatic increases in student performances in state fitness tests, according to a UCLA study released today. The UCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind program offers grants for commercial-grade fitness equipment to under-resourced schools and offers a curriculum...

Just what was it that landed Rafe Esquith, a nationally-renowned teacher, in LA Unified’s “teacher jail”? A line from Mark Twain, his lawyer said in a letter to the district. Esquith’s lawyer, Ben Meiselas, told the district no parent had complained, nor had a student complained. LAUSD officials, ever more sensitive to classroom issues and protections of students since...

By Ellen Patten and Jens Manuel Korgstad The share of American children living in poverty has declined slightly since 2010 as the nation’s economy has improved. But the poverty rate has changed little for black children, the group most likely to be living in poverty, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau...