LA School Report

Common Core: CA schools shift science teaching away from memorization California is at a critical stage in carrying out a wholesale change of how it teaches science and other core topics. It’s a process that takes time when you’re working with nearly six million students. KPCC Of aching backs and digital textbooks It won’t be...

* UPDATED Concerned by a slew of problems with the district’s new student management computer system, board member Tamar Galatzan said today she is asking the district’s Inspector General to conduct an audit of the defective rollout. “I demand to know what happened and how this got so messed up,” she told LA School Report. “Because until it...

* UPDATED Parent Revolution, an organization that helps parents petition for change at poor-performing schools, is disputing an LA Unified legal opinion that says the state law that gives parents that right is invalid this year. The conflict came to light in an LA Times story this morning, citing an opinion from a district lawyer...

By Bennett Kayser As we learned yesterday that Robin Williams had been in the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease, I felt the need to step forward and share my story, and perhaps let others know they are not alone, that there is hope and that life with the disease can be joy-filled. I was recently...

LAUSD in crisis over its new MiSiS computer system Los Angeles Unified told teachers to stop using the new district-wide computer system Thursday, after days of dealing with glitches and other problems that have lost records and kept students from starting in the proper classes. Daily News To quell high school angst, some schools build...

Days before Marguerite LaMotte died last December at the age of 80, Daymond Johnson, a school safety officer and consultant, filed papers with the City Ethics Commission to run for her LA Unified District 1 board seat when her term expired in 2015. Whether she intended to seek reelection or not, his rationale was to...

As the new school year gets underway, so does a campaign to increase student safety at LA Unified elementary schools. District officials, including board member Bennett Kayser, and members of the  FixLA coalition gathered at City Hall this week to express their concern over a shortage of crossing guards at more than 100 LA Unified...

Via Los Angeles Times | By Howard Blume At the low-slung bungalow west of downtown, a youngster screams from a vaccination and a nurse records the height and weight of an older boy. Academic counselors stand by, because it is here that many children who recently crossed the southern border enroll in the Los Angeles...

Outspent by rival, McKenna drew on connections in school board victory In this week’s election for a seat on the Los Angeles Board of Education, one side had deep pockets and extensive political connections; the other side had people such as Orley Frost Jr. LA Times Judge: State must help all English learners A judge...

The morning after his defeat to George McKenna by seven points in the race for a seat on the LA Unified School Board of Education, Alex Johnson congratulated his opponent and said, “I wish him well as he prepares to assume his new responsibilities.” He added, “I’m proud of my campaign for school board and equally proud...