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LA school board race could change the nation’s second-largest district
Next month, thousands of school board elections will be decided across the country. But perhaps none will be as consequential as a single, heated race for LA Unified’s school board, one that could help decide the fate of the nation’s largest charter school sector and second largest public school district. Once a fast-growing experiment in...
By Ben Chapman | October 8, 2024
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Q&A: Backed by teachers union, Karla Griego is running for LA School Board District 5
Veteran Los Angeles Unified educator Karla Griego is hoping to capture the school board seat for LAUSD’s District 5, which includes parts of Northeast and Southeast LA. Griego was a special education teacher in LAUSD for almost 20 years and currently works as services coordinator for McAlister High School, in Westlake, which enrolls pregnant teens...
By Daniella Lake | October 7, 2024
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LA Unified struggles to reassure parents amid rising school violence
Parents of students in the Los Angeles Unified school district are raising concerns after four guns were found on campuses and a stabbing left a student in serious condition — all within the first three weeks of school. The troubling start to the school year comes amid a rise in violence at LA Unified schools...
By Jinge Li | October 3, 2024
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Feds zero in on maker of LAUSD’s failed AI chatbot, hint at criminal charges
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed documents from the bankruptcy of failed education technology company AllHere, a once-lauded startup that boasted $12 million in venture capital and a $6 million contract with Los Angeles schools to build a buzzy AI chatbot. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York served the grand jury subpoena...
By Mark Keierleber | October 2, 2024
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Q&A: Former mayor of Huntington Park Graciela Ortiz is running for LA School Board District 5
Born and raised in LA Unified’s District 5, Graciela Ortiz is running for a position on the LAUSD School Board. The UCLA and Cal State Long Beach alum is a licensed clinical social worker who is running to represent the neighborhoods in Northeast LA and much of Southeast LA, from Eagle Rock to South Gate. ...
By Daniella Lake | October 1, 2024
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Report: Nearly 500 schools underenrolled and chronically underperforming
Low performing schools are twice as likely to have lost substantial numbers of students – with nearly 500 losing 20% or more since the pandemic, marking them potential candidates for closures, a new national report has revealed. Analysis released yesterday by the Fordham Institute put forth a list of close to 500 strained schools as...
By Marianna McMurdock | September 30, 2024
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‘Dumb’ cell phone ban confuses Los Angeles high school students
As a district-wide cell phone ban is set to go into effect early next year, some Los Angeles Unified schools already have a no phone policy — but it’s hardly ever enforced, students at one school said. At Panorama High School & Magnets, students follow the district’s current cell phone policy which allows electronic devices...
By Joshua Bay | September 26, 2024
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New report: Special ed students, English learners face greatest setbacks
All of the conditions that have bedeviled students’ post-COVID learning recovery — high rates of absenteeism, school staffing shortages, academic setbacks and disruptions — have been worse for English learners and students with disabilities, according to the latest State of the American Student report. “The thing that really struck us as we looked across all of the...
By Amanda Geduld | September 25, 2024
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I’m a tutor in South Central LA. Here’s what kids there need to learn to read
Ever since my senior year of high school in the suburban San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles, I have tutored students ranging from elementary to high school. I have always enjoyed working with students and felt it is a way to give back to the community. When I enrolled at the University of Southern California...
By Janette Fu | September 24, 2024
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Left powerless: Non-English-speaking parents denied vital translation services
For months, Wendy Rodas felt disempowered and silenced whenever she tried to reach out to her daughter’s Missouri elementary school. The El Salvadorian mother of three, who primarily speaks Spanish, struggled to communicate with teachers, administrators and district leaders. She made repeated requests for the interpretation services that she — and all public school parents who...
By Amanda Geduld | September 23, 2024