Yep, it’s just a toilet. That’s what the students are saying at Santee Education Complex where today they’ve become the first LA Unified school to have a gender-neutral restroom. The issue has become controversial throughout the country, with some states passing laws restricting transgendered people’s restroom use and boycotts being waged against certain cities and states. The...

The California Court of Appeal on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling that had challenged teacher tenure and declared school employment laws unconstitutional. The nine student plaintiffs intend to appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court, according to a statement from StudentsMatter, a group representing the students. The three-judge panel unanimously reversed Vergara v....

Vergara v. California was reversed today. The landmark lawsuit sought to scuttle teacher tenure laws and “last in, first out” layoff policies, stating they disproportionately harm minority and low-income students. The plaintiffs – nine students in five California public school districts – argued that five laws governing teacher dismissal deprive them of their right to a quality...

Another $40.3 million was approved to repair and run the beleaguered MiSiS computer system for the next year, but the big question at Tuesday’s LA Unified School Board meeting was how much it will cost to maintain once all the repairs are done. The answer came late into the nearly six-hour meeting when board member Monica Ratliff asked Diane...

Although an ethnic studies mandate was approved by the school board in 2014, LA Unified is only now taking steps to fulfill their hope of getting ethnic studies into every high school. But it won’t be a graduation requirement any time soon, and it won’t be a requirement for the class of 2019, as the school...

LA School Report on Monday published a comprehensive top-to-bottom list of all 714 schools that were evaluated by a new accountability system LA Unified developed along with five other California districts, but missing from the data were independent charter schools. With over 210 of these kinds of schools and 101,000 students enrolled in them at...

The LA Unified school board is scheduled to hold an open session meeting today at 1 p.m. Items up for discussion are two resolutions aimed at identifying, encouraging and replicating successful schools within the district. Other potential board actions include approval of a $40 million operating budget for MiSiS, the district’s student data computer system, and discussion...

Often, big social movements start with just one worried parent. That’s the case in Redwood City, just south of San Francisco, where two new charter schools recently opened their doors. In Redwood City, that worried parent was Maritza Leal, a mother of three who, along with her husband, played a major role in bringing a...

Members of the LA Unified school board are taking the lead in identifying, encouraging and replicating successful schools with two resolutions that will be discussed at Tuesday’s board meeting. One, sponsored by Monica Garcia and Ref Rodriguez, called Offering Families More – Promoting, Celebrating and Replicating Success Across LAUSD, asks that the district identify best strategies...

According to an analysis of a new school accountability system developed by six California school districts including LA Unified, the district’s 13 lowest performers are all elementary schools, the best high school is Harbor Teacher Prep Academy and the worst high school is Jordan High. These conclusions were made following an LA School Report analysis of LA Unified schools evaluated...