The LA Unified school board today unanimously approved a $350,000 annual contract for the district’s new superintendent Michelle King. The contract runs through June 30 of 2018, provides a district-owned car and driver for King and does not include a buyout clause. The deal is $50,000 more annually than her predecessor, Ramon Cortines, received, and...

Now that Michelle King has been hired as LA Unified’s new superintendent, it’s time to ask if the school board made the right decision. King, 54, who has worked for the district since 1984 and has been its No. 2 administrator since 2011, was chosen over several outside candidates, including San Francisco schools Supt. Richard Carranza...

Charter school administrators, alumni and parents appeared today at a morning meeting of the LA Unified school to oppose a resolution that will ask the board to condemn any threat to the school system through a proliferation of charter schools. “Resolutions like this distract us and are perpetuating harmful myths in the community,” Rachel Hazlehurst,...

* UPDATED The LA Unified school board’s selection of Michelle King as the district’s new superintendent has elicited widespread praise from city and community leaders. If there are any leaders angered or disappointed in the choice, they are so far keeping to themselves. As a longtime employee of the district, King was most often cited...

I’ve never met Michelle King, but I’ve read enough about her and listened to enough people discussing her that one thing makes perfect sense to me: She’s the ideal superintendent for LA Unified. For right now. After all the time and expense — especially the time — district officials spent searching for a successor to...

The LA Unified school board is holding several open session meetings today, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., with a closed session in-between. Items up for discussion include an exploration of why certain charter schools operate on split campuses and a vote on the future of the closed Highlander campus in the San Fernando Valley,...

The LA Unified school district is analyzing why certain charter schools operate on split campuses. In a report being presented to the school board at a meeting today, the staff found 24 charters using shared facilities on two traditional school sites, and one-third of them are divided among three sites. Representatives of LA Unified charters...

By John Fensterwald  Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices were what news reports called hostile in their questioning of union lawyers Monday during arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that could undercut the financial stability and the political clout of public employee unions in California and nearly two dozen states Ten teachers in...

* UPDATED After a three-month nationwide search, the LA Unified school board today kept it all in the family, naming Michelle King, a district teacher and administrator for nearly 30 years, to serve as its new superintendent. She succeeds Ramon Cortines whom she served as chief deputy until he stepped down last month. The 54-year-old...

Michelle King, the new LA Unified superintendent, is a district “lifer,” having worked all of her professional career in the district as a teacher, principal, magnet coordinator and top administrator. She also is a product of LA Unified, having attended Palisades High School. King, 54, served as senior deputy superintendent of school operations under former...