LA Unified school board member Ref Rodriguez pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony and misdemeanor charges related to an alleged political money laundering scheme during his 2015 election. Appearing in Los Angeles criminal court, Rodriguez surrendered his passport as a condition of his continued release. He is due back in court Dec. 13 along with...

Even after you take out gifted magnet programs where students have to meet academic admissions requirements, students at LA Unified’s magnet schools outperformed their peers at independent charter schools, an LA School Report analysis of district data found. The district released its own analysis last week of this year’s state standardized test scores, showing that for...

At some schools about a dozen times a day, school deans and security walk into LAUSD classrooms and pick out five students to conduct a “random” search. They take us out of class and into the hallway where they go through our belongings. We are told they are searching us for weapons, but they frequently...

A conflict of interest complaint alleging that Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez improperly directed $285,000 from the charter school network he co-founded to various non-profits he oversaw has been closed. The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission sent a letter Friday to Rodriguez’s attorney saying it was closing the complaint brought by Partnerships to...

High school seniors at Academia Avance, an independent public charter school in northeast Los Angeles, show up to school looking like they’re headed to work. That’s because they are. Three days a week, all students in the senior class head off to internships where they are mentored by medical, legal, and business professionals. “Privileged kids...

Demand for LA Unified’s dual language programs is so high that the district plans to expand from 16 schools offering the programs to as many as 35 schools next year. Meanwhile, the nation’s second-largest school district — where students speak 94 languages — is closing in on meeting its goals for improving test scores for...

Of the $1.7 billion that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to public education over the next five years, the majority will go toward supporting innovations within schools that have joined together in collaborative networks. Philanthropist Bill Gates made the announcement in Cleveland Thursday afternoon during his keynote speech at the Council of...

“DACA is dead. The Dream Act is a permanent solution for us, and that’s what we’re fighting for now,” said Paulina, an LA Unified graduate from Fremont High School and a DACA recipient who met on Wednesday with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, LA Unified board members, and business and community leaders in Los Angeles...

Partnerships to Uplift Communities, the charter school network co-founded by school board member Ref Rodriguez, released 109 pages of documents Wednesday relating to its conflict-of-interest complaint filed against Rodriguez. PUC alleges that Rodriguez illegally authorized $285,000 in payments to nonprofit organizations he oversaw during his tenure at PUC, as first reported Monday by the Los Angeles Times....

*UPDATED Shockwaves reverberated through the Los Angeles education community last month when the LA County District Attorney filed charges against LA Unified school board President Ref Rodriguez alleging he engaged in political money laundering during his election two years ago. New allegations were revealed Monday when the Los Angeles Times published a report saying that...