Oh, California, you paradise, you far-flung western shoal, you frontier beyond purple mountains and fruited plains, you earth-shaking technological marvel, you never-ending party — California, you’re the land of good news, where the economy booms and the culture is wildly, diversely, supremely cool. You’re the golden realm at the end of our national rainbow. Fittingly,...

We’re No. 46! No, we’re 41! Or is it 37? How California ranks on per-pupil spending is a numbers game that most everyone believes the state is losing compared to the rest of the country. LA Unified school board members will decide on Tuesday if they will join the local teachers union in a call...

California parents who want to know how schools are performing will now have to look deeper into the new California School Dashboard to figure it out. The dashboard, which was rolled out this spring as the state’s new way to assess schools and school districts, is a collection of color-coded boxes rating various aspects of...

The application period for LA Unified magnet programs, permits with transportation, and the dual language/bilingual programs will close tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 9. If you are submitting a paper application to enroll your child in one of these choice programs, the envelope you’re mailing to the district should have a postmark with a date of Nov....

In my 27 years as a mathematics professor at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC), I’ve taught every math course typically offered at a community college, from basic skills through calculus. I’ve also taught every type of student you can imagine. Like the courses I teach, my students run the gamut — each requiring unique...

LA Unified officials and school board members put politics aside Tuesday, agreeing to long-sought policy changes for charter schools and paving the way for unanimous board votes that ended up saving about a dozen independent charter schools from denials. The changes to the rules that govern charter schools and who can make those changes will...

*UPDATED Although the LA Unified Charter Division staff and school board approved last-minute wording that saves about a dozen other charter schools, three charters were rejected at Tuesday’s board meeting by unanimous votes. A military institute that shares space at Sun Valley High School, a 6-12 school that has a higher-than-average enrollment of special education students,...

Hundreds of people showed up Tuesday morning inside and outside LA Unified’s boardroom, most of them parents who were defending their children’s independent charter schools. An unprecedented number of charter schools had been recommended for denial at Tuesday’s meeting, but in the end only three of the 34 schools on the agenda were turned down...

A late-breaking deal between LA Unified officials and charter school leaders may result in staff reversing their recommendations of denial for 11 independent charter schools. KPCC reported late Monday that three unidentified sources confirmed the deal prior to Tuesday morning’s school board meeting where board members are to vote on the petitions of 34 charter schools. The...

Students at the majority of the charter schools that could be turned down Tuesday by LA Unified’s school board are performing academically above their peers in nearby schools. But that’s not what Tuesday’s debate will likely be about. State law says that student academic achievement is the most important factor in determining whether charter school...