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Group behind Vergara case says website was hacked

The non-profit group behind the Vergara lawsuit, Students Matter, said its website was hacked over the weekend to display “vulgar and disgusting language.” The website as of this afternoon displayed the message, “We are temporarily Under Construction.” Students Matter sent out information about the hack in its regular newsletter Monday. The statement read: Over the weekend,...
By Craig Clough | May 11, 2015
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LAUSD students’ films to be screened at Cannes Film Festival

As if winning the City Section wrestling championship at 195 pounds wasn’t enough, an El Camino Real Charter High School senior will have his short film about the emotional and physical stress of the sport screened at no less than the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Rory McClellan’s film “Pride,” shot during this past wrestling season,...
By LA School Report | May 11, 2015
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Pressing issues for LAUSD board: Teachers contract, graduation rates

Tomorrow’s LA Unified School Board meeting is shaping up to be loud and crowded as the seven members take the final step in approving a new contract with the teachers union and consider several plans to fix impending drop in graduation rates. After years of working under an expired contract, UTLA members last week overwhelmingly...
By Vanessa Romo | May 11, 2015
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Commentary: A plea to the LAUSD board to make us all college ready

An open letter from four members of the Community Coalition Youth Leaders to the LA Unified school board, which is considering a resolution tomorrow from Mónica García and Steve Zimmer to enhance support for improving the district’s college-ready graduation rate. Dear Board Members: On behalf of the thousands of students in South Los Angeles, we...
By Guest Contributors | May 11, 2015
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Editorial: LAUSD graduation requirements are not working

By The Editorial Board It’s much easier for members of the L.A. Unified school board sitting on the dais to pass stringent and unrealistic new standards than it is for teachers on the ground to carry them out. Case in point: the district’s requirement that all students take the full schedule of college-prep courses —...
By LA School Report | May 11, 2015
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UTLA members overwhelmingly approve agreement with LAUSD

* UPDATED UTLA members overwhelmingly approved a tentative contract with LA Unified that will lead to 10.4 percent raise for teachers over two years. The school board is expected to rubber stamp the new deal at its next board meeting, on Tuesday. Eighty three percent of union members — 25,300 people — participated in the...
By Vanessa Romo | May 8, 2015
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Report: Computer science unavailable to many minority kids

Millennials may be the first generation born and raised in the digital age, but the state of California has a long way to go in catching up to modern times in providing the state’s minority students with a proper education in computer science, according to a new report. “Path Not Found: Disparities in Computer Science...
By Craig Clough | May 8, 2015
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Morning Read: Lessons learned from adventures in iPads

What schools must learn from LA’s iPad debacle When LA schools began handing out iPads in the fall of 2013, it looked like one of the country’s most ambitious rollouts of technology in the classroom. Wired LA rents are so high the school district is building apartments for teachers The LAUSD notes that annual median...
By LA School Report | May 8, 2015
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State audit criticizes Magnolia charters and also LA Unified

A state audit of Magnolia Public Schools, a charter network operating in LA Unified, has found that the group’s financial controls need improvement but that the district acted too hastily in its attempts to close three of the chain’s eight campuses. The report, issued today, brings to a close a long running episode involving Magnolia’s parent...
By Vanessa Romo | May 7, 2015
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El Camino wins online decathlon; teacher surprised with music room

Continuing a stream of major academic wins for LA Unified schools, El Camino Real Charter High School this week won the 2015 national U.S. Academic Decathlon Online competition. The news follows last month’s victory by Granada Hills Charter High students in the 2015 U.S. Academic Decathlon championship. It’s the fifth year in a row that LA...
By Craig Clough | May 7, 2015