LA School Report

As if this wasn’t a busy enough time of year for charter schools, they now have an added “to-do” on their list of state mandated documents to submit before the end of the year. Every charter school in the district — and that includes 52 affiliated and more than 200 independent schools — must craft...

Closing arguments are scheduled for tomorrow in Vergara v California. Lawyers for the nine public school children who are the plaintiffs will speak from 10 to noon, followed by their defense counterparts, from 1:30 to 3:30. The plaintiffs have the option to get in a last word after that, but, really, is there much new...

As the Smarter Balanced field tests got underway yesterday in California and 21 other states, officials are receiving positive feedback from the schools that are participating. The testing starts in LA Unified next Tuesday. In California,  more than three million students in every school district, county office of education and charter school will have had...

UC financial chief leaving to head up educational foundation Peter Taylor, the UC system’s chief financial officer and executive vice president, said Tuesday that he is leaving the university to run a Los Angeles-based education foundation that will focus on helping low- income students succeed in K-12 schools and college. LA Times San Juan district selects...

A week after his education liaison left to join LA Unified, Mayor Eric Garcetti is reconsidering whether he will even have an education deputy on his staff. Jeff Millman, spokesman for Garcetti, told LA School Report the mayor’s office “has not decided” if it will seek a replacement for Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, who...

In a wide-ranging State of the Union address Saturday in Los Angeles, Josh Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers, reviewed the union’s latest successes and challenges, including the Vergara v. California lawsuit that’s heading toward conclusion later this week. Among his over-arching themes was the familiar call for union members to stand together...

The money chase is on. Through the first reporting period for LA Unified’s open District 1 board seat, Alex Johnson has opened a wide margin over the other six candidates in the race. Johnson, an education aide to LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas who has backing from his boss, as well as former congresswoman Diane Watson and...

Do you know how many students attended the LAUSD school board meetings last month? In my circle of friends, you’d be lucky if a single person could name a school board member or tell you what the school board does. As an active LAUSD student who cares about my community, I wonder how the second-largest...

LA school board candidate responds to questions about credentials L.A. Unified school board candidate Genethia Hudley-Hayes is fighting allegations she falsified her academic credentials. She is one of seven candidates vying for the seat of former board member Marguerite LaMotte, who died in December. KPCC California schools are rolling out new standardized tests Schools across...