The LA Unified school board is scheduled to meet today at 1 p.m. although they are running about an hour late. Two o’clock seems more reasonable. Among the items up for discussion is approvals and five-year renewals of 15 charter schools, the creation of two magnet schools in the Valley and final offers to charter school organizations seeking...

Most readers responding to the latest LA School Report poll said they want a new superintendent for LA Unified with experience, above all, and if the choice emerges from within the district, that’s fine, too. The poll asked straight-forward questions about what was most desirable in the successor to Ramon Cortines, who is expected to...

Protestors and supporters of a variety of causes started gathering at 8 a.m. today for the 1 p.m. LA Unified school board meeting, facing intense heat outside and an overcrowded meeting room inside. Among the earliest to appear were 50 people with green shirts and buttons showed up for the Green Dot Public Schools, which...

By Conor Friedersdorf When M.S. was 13, her math teacher at Edison middle school in Los Angeles invited her to be friends online. Soon the 8th grader was receiving sexually explicit messages. That winter, she was called into a classroom and told to shut the door. The teacher, Elkis Hermida, kissed and hugged the student....

* UPDATED In a quiet effort that could help mitigate the proliferation of charter schools, the LA Unified board is scheduled to vote tomorrow on what would be first two gifted/highly gifted high school magnets in the San Fernando Valley. Taft High in Woodland Hills and Kennedy High in Granada Hills would join 14 other magnet...

As the LA Unified board is holding its monthly meeting tomorrow, the teachers union, UTLA, is planning a sidewalk protest against the Broad Foundation’s plan to expand the number of charter schools in the district. The demonstration follows the release today of a Broad-commissioned poll, showing that a large majority of city residents want more choices...

Nearly 90 percent of Los Angeles residents support improving the city’s public education system, and almost three quarters of them favor expanding charter public schools, according to a poll commissioned by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) released this morning. Conducted over 10 days through Oct. 1, the poll comes...

By Tom Torlakson California’s education system is transforming in positive ways. Replacing the high school exit exam with more modern and meaningful measures is a critical part of that work. Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill 172 into law, eliminating the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) as a requirement for high school graduation....

Take two? LA Unified Ramon Cortines has amended his decision yesterday to halt all film and TV productions on LA Unified campuses. In a statement just released by the district, Cortines said he will allow several projects in the works to move forward. He also said the district will approve new projects on a case-by-case...

Some community groups deeply involved with Los Angeles education have raised skepticism over how they will be involved in the search and selection of the next LAUSD school superintendent and whether their views will count for anything. Nearly a dozen groups contacted by LA School Report said they have been unimpressed or uninvolved in efforts...