LA School Report

* UPDATED The close of the school year next month also brings an end to Richard Vladovic’s second term as LA Unified board president. Rules bar him from serving a third consecutive year. While critical issues await the new president — transformation to new technology, managing the growth of charters, dealing with new budgets, among...

When the LA Unified school board passed a resolution that would begin the process of making ethic studies a graduation requirement, it did so without knowing how much it would cost. But now, after a draft report from the Ethic Studies Committee was released last week, it has some idea, and it is not chump...

By The Editorial Board When it was revealed that students at Jefferson High School in South Los Angeles and other schools were being assigned to “classes” in which nothing was actually taught, many people wondered how this could happen. Isn’t it against the law to stick kids in fake classes and deprive them of basic...

  It’s a long weekend, leading to Memorial Day on Monday. Let’s all remember why we celebrate it, and LA School Report will be back on Tuesday.    

Drinking too much at a work dinner or hitting on a co-worker’s spouse can make things truly uncomfortable at the office. But what about publicly damning a future colleague before his first day on the job? That’s the situation LA Unified school board Vice President Steve Zimmer faces, now that Ref Rodriguez has defeated his good...

LA Unified will begin phasing out polystyrene trays this month, replacing them with environmentally friendly compostable plates. The change comes as part of the district’s membership in the Urban School Food Alliance  (USFA), along with New York, Chicago, Miami-Dade, Dallas and Orlando. The cities have banded to implement healthier and more environmentally sound food choices while using...

By Martin Blythe In a commentary last week, four LA Unified students demanded that the district retain the A-G college-prep graduation requirements —  Cs or better for a diploma — despite warnings that it would lead to tens of thousands of students not graduating in the years ahead. While more money and resources often solve problems,...

By Deepa Fernandes The higher minimum wage in the city of Los Angeles may harm the very poor families it is intended to help, according to members of the child care planning committee that advises the county. The L.A. City Council voted Tuesday to raise the minimum wage from the current $9 an hour to $10.50 on...

Demonstrators call for removal of principal at John W. Mack Elementary  The emotions were raw outside of John W. Mack Elementary School in South Los Angeles Thursday. ABC7 New California teaching credentials decline for 10th successive year At the same time, the number of teachers given short-term and provisional permits, and so- called “intern” credentials,...