California is among the top 10 states with the sharpest declines in spending for K-12 education since the last recession, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The study found that California’s per-student spending was down 13.8 percent since the 2008 school year. In all, 34 states are spending less on K-12 education...

In an under-the-radar move, Monica Garcia has taken a job in LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina‘s office, which means she’s now a part-time member of the LA Unified school board. “For seven years, I did the LAUSD Board member job full time,” Garcia told LA School Report. “While I appreciated that intense focus on education,...

Sometime in hour five of yesterday’s marathon LA Unified school board meeting, the board approved a new set of guidelines to help principals, teachers and parents navigate the complex Parent Trigger process. That’s the state law allowing parents to take over a failing school and force a complete overhaul, so long as a majority of...

A new media column launched at Education Week by columnist Mark Walsh has already featured LA School Report twice in its very first week. Yesterday, in his post, L.A. Confidential: New Editor for Scrappy Education News Site, Walsh writes about the changing of the guard here at LA School Report with the hire of former...

The School Board yesterday approved a motion by Steve Zimmer to ask state lawmakers to clarify the use of Proposition 39, a 2000 law mandating that public school space be shared equitably with charter schools. That law has lead to legal disputes between district schools and charters forced to share campuses as well as a...

The California Senate today approved an Assembly bill that suspends statewide testing while students acclimate to the new computer-based Common Core curriculum. The legislation now heads back to the Assembly for a final vote before it reaches Governor Jerry Brown for his signature. Sponsored by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and authored by...