LA School Report

* UPDATED A lawsuit filed today accuses the LA Unified school district of planning to deprive low-income, foster youth and English language learners of $2 billion in funds that should be directed to their education. The lawsuit, filed by ACLU SoCal, Public Advocates and Covington & Burling LLP on behalf of Community Coalition South Los...

LA Unified board member Steve Zimmer was unanimously elected today to become the new board president, giving the board its strongest pro-teacher president in more than a decade. Zimmer, vice president for the last two years, succeeds Richard Vladovic, who served as president since 2013. The vote played out without a motion from any other board...

The LA Unified school board is meeting today at 1 p.m. Today’s meeting is sure to be an interesting one, as it will feature two newly sworn in members, Ref Rodriguez and Scott Schmerelson. The new board will also be voting for a new president, which has so far included plenty of palace intrigue. Click here...

By Chris Hofmann As a fourth grade teacher in East Los Angeles, I know firsthand that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and its Title I provisions aren’t just extra federal dollars. They are those extra “Weird School” books in my classroom library that got Ricky* excited to read. They are the laptops and...

Parents and teachers have succeeded in ousting a principal and assistant principal from Fishburn Avenue Elementary School in Maywood. “We heard exciting news that the district is going to transfer both the principal and assistant principal,” said Alfonso Flores, an educational consultant and founder of Excellent Educational Solutions. “This is the best possible outcome and...

By Sarah Tulley When the nation’s top teachers were asked about the biggest barriers to students’ success, most didn’t point to reasons inside the classroom. Instead, they ranked family stress and poverty as the main issues facing students. The Council of Chief State School Officers and Scholastic Inc. sent surveys to the 56 winners of Teacher of...

California mandates vaccines for schoolchildren California on Tuesday became the largest state in the country to require schoolchildren to receive vaccinations. New York Times California’s new vaccine law: Questions and answers Here are some questions and answers about the controversial vaccine law that Gov. Jerry Brown signed on Tuesday. San Jose Mercury News Labor fears...

Get ready for some pomp, circumstance — and politics. The first half of tomorrow’s LA Unified school board meeting, starting at 10 am, will be a swearing in ceremony for four newly elected board members by people or, in some cases, groups of people, of their choice. Scott Schmerelson, Ref Rodriguez, George McKenna and Richard...

Outgoing Los Angeles City Council member Tom LaBonge now has a square named after him in front of the school he graduated from, John Marshall High School. The plaque also names the other public schools that LaBonge attended locally, including Ivanhoe Elementary School in 1963 and Thomas Starr King Middle School in 1968. The councilman,...

* UPDATED Ref Rodriguez is in the market for new friends. Specifically, friends on the LA Unified school board, which he’ll officially join tomorrow for a five-year term ending in 2020. “I know I need to build some relationships with certain communities that may not trust me because of the campaign,” he told LA School...