LA School Report

Nearly 14 percent of LAUSD students in special education programs Students in LAUSD were more likely to be placed in special education programs than their peers statewide, according to records. Los Angeles Daily News California vocational education in danger Career technical education is once again in peril in California. Fresno Bee The deplorable way LAUSD...

Responding to a wave of media attention this week surrounding the suspension of Hobart Boulevard Elementary teacher Rafe Esquith, LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines said today “serious issues” have been raised in the briefings he has seen and that he supported the district’s continued investigation of the case. Esquith, who has received national recognition and is...

Judith Perez‘s 46 years with LA Unified came about through a random encounter in her early 20s. “I was not one of those people who knew at age five I would be a teacher,” she told LA School Report. After moving to Los Angeles in her early 20s and bouncing around a few unsatisfying jobs,...

By Gail Robinson When the 24 third-graders in Morgan Mercaldi’s class arrive at the Jackson Avenue School every morning, they take their iPads out of their backpacks and put them on their desks. The tablets will remain there, or in hands and laps, until the children put them in their packs to take them home....

Woman says dozens of parents sign petition asking for removal of principal The parent of a student at a Maywood school says dozens of parents have signed a petition asking the district to remove the school’s head. CBS Los Angeles Commentary: Why we need to keep iPads out of the classroom People think tech will...

While sitting LA Unified board members are combing through the latest budget proposal and wrapping up other end of the year activities, the newly-elected representatives are busy staffing up and hiring some familiar names. Scott Schmerelson, who replaces Tamar Galatzan as the District 3 representative on July 1, has named Arlene Irlando as his Chief of Staff....

By Elizabeth A. Harris Students are not the only ones struggling to pass new standardized tests being rolled out around the country. So are those who want to be teachers. Concerned that education schools were turning out too many middling graduates, states have been introducing more difficult teacher licensing exams. Perhaps not surprisingly, passing rates have...

Early education makes substantial gains in state budget The final budget deal struck by lawmakers on Tuesday provides more than $300 million for early education. Ed Source Editorial: Keeping better tabs on California’s education funding The LCFF will work only if districts are committed to spending the money for the benefit of the disadvantaged students...

LA Unified school board Vice President Steve Zimmer was honored recently by the Los Angeles Food Policy Council for his efforts in getting the district to take a more progressive approach to food purchasing.  The council developed the Good Food Purchasing Program, which LA Unified adopted in 2012 and strengthened in late 2014 with two “Good Food” resolutions that Zimmer...