LA School Report

A kickoff event at North Hollywood High School highlighted LA Unified’s participation in Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code as students in the school’s Introduction to Data Science class listened to a number of guest speakers before demonstrating their coding skills. LA Unified board member Tamar Galatzan spoke, as did Microsoft’s Sam Stokes,...

Today, available by LIVESTREAM, the seven members of the LA Unified school board meet at 10 a.m. Topics on the agenda include a request from the district for $11 million to help fix MiSiS, two resolutions to improve school safety, and board member Steve Zimmer’s “Good Food” measure. Click here to learn more about the issues the board will be...

LAUSD students might not be ready for new tests as iPad distribution lags Los Angeles Unified is rushing to spend $22.2 million to buy iPads and some Chromebooks for students to take new tests. Los Angeles Daily News High turnover in school district leadership The state’s largest district is far from the only one in...

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines said today the district is hiring outside lawyers to assist in any matter that might arise out of the grand jury investigation of the district’s procurement of digital devices. Cortines said the lawyers would provide legal advice should the authorities seek to interview or subpoena district officials as part of...

* UPDATED There’s another LA Unified School Board meeting tomorrow, which means there’s another round of requests for boat loads of money. The board will consider a a $12.1 million MiSiS bailout to pay for overtime costs, additional training and staffing, third party oversight and general customer support. The money will be siphoned from bond construction...

If the LA Unified School Board tomorrow approves another $13 million in bond money for digital devices for Smarter Balanced exams next spring, school principals are likely to get a choice of Apple iPads or Google Chromebooks. Chromebooks are about $100 cheaper, and some principals may prefer them. But there’s one problem: Even as Superintendent Ramon...

Back to the drawing board. Following the most recent bargaining session last Thursday, the teachers’ union, UTLA, has reportedly rejected a pay increase offer from LA Unified negotiators that fell short its goal of a 10 percent salary increase. The latest district offer included a 2 percent salary increase retroactive to July 1, a 2 percent...

More money needed to fix faulty student records system in L.A. Unified Los Angeles needs to spend at least $11 million more to deal with problems caused by MiSiS, officials will tell the school board this week. Los Angeles Times John Phillips: LAUSD and the CTA: Making enablers pay up Lawsuits can be devastating for...

In a story last week, LA School Report erred in repeating an assertion without a confirmation. The story quoted Adrian Dove, chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality of California, saying he knew of a letter George Buzzetti wrote to LA Police Chief Charlie Beck, in which Buzzetti characterized Beck as a “bigot.” LA School Report...

LA Unified’s latest offer to the teachers union, UTLA, represents either a hint of progress in negotiations for the teachers’ first contract in more than seven years or fertile ground for moving toward a strike. Here’s why the uncertainty: The 6 percent package includes the same salary increase that the district has offered all its...