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Test scores are too low to qualify for grants at 3 schools where teachers voted to reject the funds

More than 70 percent of students at three schools where teachers voted last week to reject grant funds did not meet proficiency on state standardized tests last year in English and more than 80 percent did not meet the standards in math, a review of test data shows. The fourth school where the teachers voted...
By Sarah Favot | November 8, 2016
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How Venice High opted in — and became LA’s most-improved high school

While statistically Venice High School was the most-improved LA Unified high school in 2015-16 based on state test scores, the real story behind the jump is participation: how many students actually took the tests and how the school’s administration turned the tide of a strong “opt-out” movement that had swept through the campus. The school’s numbers...
By Craig Clough | November 8, 2016
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Prop. 58 will maximize potential of English language learners and increase opportunities for bilingual education

By Kelly Gonez When you are a teacher with a student who is engaging and clearly capable of big things, it breaks your heart to see an obvious barrier to success. One of my students, I’ll call him Julian, faced this kind of challenge. He was the kind of student who makes you really appreciate...
By Guest contributor | November 7, 2016
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Dual language immersion programs will grow at LAUSD with or without Prop. 58

The majority of Vista Del Valle Dual Language Academy students in San Fernando don’t have just one teacher, they have two. And they don’t have just one classroom, they have two, where they spend half their day learning in English and the other half learning in Spanish. It’s all part of the school’s dual language immersion program,...
By Craig Clough | November 6, 2016
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Parents deliver lawsuit against Huntington Park over charter ban

*UPDATED Parents and supporters of charter school students on Friday delivered a lawsuit to the Huntington Park City Council and Mayor Graciela Ortiz in response to the council’s recent enactment of a one-year ban on new charter schools in the city’s limits. The lawsuit was filed Thursday by the California Charter Schools Association in Los Angeles County Superior...
By Craig Clough | November 4, 2016
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Heated Oakland school board race captures growing conflict over charters, choice, equity

By Kathleen O’Connor When Jumoke Hinton-Hodge was elected to the board of the Oakland Unified School District eight years ago, the district was emerging from state receivership after a $100 million bailout, the largest in California’s history. At the same time, enrollment in city schools was declining, the Great Recession was in full effect, and...
By Guest contributor | November 3, 2016
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The cool factor in embracing California’s bilingual-education vote: Multiculturalism
Now, at the tail end of a historically fraught election season, seems like as good a time as any for a reminder: Multiculturalism is one of the jewels of American civilization. How can you tell? Because it’s delicious. Californians know this better than anyone else. By the time the rest of the country is discovering...
By Conor Williams | November 3, 2016
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Getting underserved students to graduation wins Pasadena City College coveted prize nomination

A biology class that solves a murder mystery. Online maps of how to finish a degree. And a dogged determination to get underserved students across the graduation line. These are some of the ways Pasadena City College is reaching record graduation rates and closing the achievement gap. And now it is up for a prestigious...
By Craig Clough | November 2, 2016
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Has Donald Trump poisoned the playground? Educators across LA talk of new spike in bullying

October was National Bullying Prevention Month, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for LA Unified. Anecdotal evidence and interviews with dozens of teachers, administrators, parents and students over the past three months point to an increase in school bullying, inappropriate language and public humiliation that many believe can be specifically attributed to...
By Mike Szymanski | November 1, 2016
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New data rank all public charter and traditional schools in California

Data provided by the California Charter Schools Association. Note: Orange is a charter school; purple is a traditional school. The California Charter Schools Association on Tuesday released its first ranking of every public charter and traditional school in the state. Each school is ranked from 1 to 10 as a statewide rank and a “similar...
By Sarah Favot | November 1, 2016