-
Many Black and Latino LAUSD Teachers Considering Leaving the Classroom
A new report has found one in three LAUSD Black and Latino teachers are considering leaving their jobs — and the district must do a better job retaining these educators. A study by GPSN found 71% of the Black and Latino Generation Z teachers intend to leave the classroom in the next one to two...
By Jack Waterman | October 22, 2024
-
Q&A: Charter School Founder and LAUSD Teacher Runs for School Board District 3
LAUSD teacher and charter school booster Dan Chang is running to unseat incumbent Scott Schmerelson in LA Unified’s Board District 3, covering the West San Fernando Valley and Studio City. Chang, who is endorsed by a statewide charter school group, is a math teacher at James Madison Middle School in North Hollywood, who routinely calls...
By Ben Chapman | October 21, 2024
-
Q&A: Veteran Educator and Board Incumbent Runs for LA School Board District 3
Former LAUSD teacher and principal Scott Schmerelson is running to keep his seat in LA Unified’s Board District 3, covering the West San Fernando Valley and Studio City. Schmerelson, who is endorsed by the teachers union, is running for his third consecutive four-year term against upstart Dan Chang, a math teacher with a fondness for...
By Ben Chapman | October 17, 2024
-
Q&A: Activist Who Lost Union’s Support Runs for LA School Board District 1
Longtime community activist and education advocate Kahllid Al-Alim is running to represent South Central LA and Mid-City as Los Angeles Unified School Board member for District 1. Al-Alim, who had been endorsed by the United Teachers Union, which represents more than 35,000 Los Angeles teachers, lost that union’s support after a series of controversial social...
By Daniella Lake | October 16, 2024
-
Q&A: Former Basketball Coach and Dean Runs for LA School Board District 1
Former basketball coach and dean Sherlett Hendy Newbill, is running to represent L.A. Unified’s Board District 1, encompassing much of South LA, such as Crenshaw, Koreatown and Mid-City. District 1 is also home to Newbill’s high school basketball alma mater which she said opened the doors to her becoming a first generation college student at...
By Daniella Lake | October 15, 2024
-
Q&A: What it Will Take to Make Schools Safe for Black Children
Sitting diligently in a South Carolina elementary school classroom, Brian Rashad Fuller felt awash with pride, confusion and fear. School was becoming the place he poured all his energy into, on the heels of his father’s incarceration and uncle’s murder. But simultaneously, from as young as four years old, disgusted looks from educators taught him...
By Marianna McMurdock | October 10, 2024
-
LA Housing Crisis Hits LAUSD as Number of Homeless Students Continues to Grow
The number of homeless students who attend Los Angeles Unified schools rose by more than a quarter in the last school year, new statistics show. As of the 2023-2024 school year, LAUSD enrolled 17,245 homeless students, up 26% from the previous school year, according to data the district made public last month. The dramatic jump...
By Katie VanArnam | October 9, 2024
-
LA school board race could change the nation’s second-largest district
Next month, thousands of school board elections will be decided across the country. But perhaps none will be as consequential as a single, heated race for LA Unified’s school board, one that could help decide the fate of the nation’s largest charter school sector and second largest public school district. Once a fast-growing experiment in...
By Ben Chapman | October 8, 2024
-
Q&A: Backed by teachers union, Karla Griego is running for LA School Board District 5
Veteran Los Angeles Unified educator Karla Griego is hoping to capture the school board seat for LAUSD’s District 5, which includes parts of Northeast and Southeast LA. Griego was a special education teacher in LAUSD for almost 20 years and currently works as services coordinator for McAlister High School, in Westlake, which enrolls pregnant teens...
By Daniella Lake | October 7, 2024
-
LA Unified struggles to reassure parents amid rising school violence
Parents of students in the Los Angeles Unified school district are raising concerns after four guns were found on campuses and a stabbing left a student in serious condition — all within the first three weeks of school. The troubling start to the school year comes amid a rise in violence at LA Unified schools...
By Jinge Li | October 3, 2024