LA School Report

At two Los Angeles high schools, students will soon be able to meet all their banking needs right there on the school site — if they happen to use Union Bank, that is. The LA Unified board has announced a partnership to open student-run branches at Lincoln High School in Lincoln Heights and Crenshaw High School...

The Los Angeles teachers union said today that LA Unified’s application for a federal Race to the Top grant had “so many glaring problems” that the union could not support it. This was the second straight year the union refused to sign off on the district’s application, which was unanimously approved by the school board. Union participation is...

Eugene Selivanov and his wife, Tatyana Berkovich, will be back in an Los Angeles County Superior Court tomorrow, asking the judge to grant them a new trial in a case that the California Charter Schools Association says affects other charters within the LA Unified school district. The two were found guilty in April of misappropriating...

When the actor Matt Damon stood before a capacity crowd inside the Cal State Northridge student union last night, he smiled sheepishly and said he wasn’t surprised to see so many star-struck supporters in attendance. After all, he said, he was introducing the education historian and anti-corporate reform activist Diane Ravitch. Ravitch was appearing as...

Brown signs bill delaying exams despite Duncan’s threat With threats of federal repercussions waylaid by the government shutdown, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a bill that suspends most standardized tests and replaces them with a no-stakes field test aligned to the new Common Core standards. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan previously threatened to...

The old California Standardized Tests are a thing of the past. Governor Jerry Brown just signed Assembly Bill 484, which immediately suspends the old tests and funds a trial run this year of the new Smarter Balanced Assessments, which will be taken on computers and are aligned with the new Common Core curriculum. “I’ve said...

Responding to incidents of iPad misuse at district schools and widespread public criticism over problems with the rollout, the LA Unified board yesterday approved setting a special meeting later this month to “publicly grapple” with iPad issues. The 5-2 vote on a resolution from Monica Ratliff, who chairs a committee that oversees the iPad initiative,...