LA School Report

LA Unified Board member Bennett Kayser is not only thinking about the LCAP, arts education, and transitioning to Common Core standards, he’s also thinking about soap. Specifically, unscented soap. According to Kayser, who has championed a variety of health issues since joining the board, the almond-scented, goopy, pink soap found in nearly every restroom, classroom...

LAUSD foster kids to get more help from school social workers Los Angeles Unified’s plan to help some of its most troubled students — foster kids — calls for creating a corps of social workers and manning 17 centers in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. If approved, the $32.7 million effort would hire 95 social workers to manage...

After weeks of trying, a group of students from Fremont High School finally got a meeting yesterday in the office of LA Unified Board President Richard Vladovic to promote their Special Need Index for use in the board budget negotiations. Vladovic wasn’t there, they were told, but they presented a petition with 4,300 signatures to Chris Torres, his...

Nearly two dozen LA Unified schools were among the 424 elementary schools cited by the state today as California Distinguished Schools. The announcement came from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson who said, “I applaud these strong, thriving schools that are making such impressive strides in preparing their students for continued success.” The 2014...

Candidates for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat are participating in two forums in early May, but not all candidates are attending both. On May 7, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, George McKenna, Alex Johnson and Sherlett Hendy-Newbill will take questions from a moderator and the audience in an event organized by 10 community groups under the sponsorship...

By Linda Yaron A vote for online voting next month might be the most important decision UTLA members make as a union. It has the potential to systemically increase teacher participation at a foundational level of our union and make it far easier for all members to have a voice. As a 10-year teacher in LAUSD,...

And now for the celebration. In honor of its seventh national Academic Decathlon championship, El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills is holding a rally tomorrow morning for a team that won the title last Saturday in Honolulu. Neighboring Granada Hills Charter High School, which had won the championship in each of the...

iPad, Wi-Fi issues interrupt LA schools testing Teachers and students often grumble about end of the year tests,but at the Los Angeles Unified School District, the complaints are mounting: iPads the district purchased to take new state competency tests aren’t getting online. They’re having trouble connecting to keyboards. And, in some cases, they’re not turning...

The LA Unified School Distirct issued a statement from board vice president, Steve Zimmer, on the election of Alex Caputo-Pearl as president of UTLA, the teachers union: “I want to congratulate Alex Caputo-Pearl, and his team of candidates upon their election to the leadership of the nation’s second-largest teacher union, local United Teachers Los Angeles....