Maria Silva worked hard to find the right schools for her kids. As a stay-at-home mom, she could spend the time and effort it took to research schools and she was willing and able to drive her daughter from their home in Bell to downtown Los Angeles to attend a magnet high school. A mother of...

  After studying technology issues for more than a year, an LA Unified task force this week offered their ideas for the district after the botched iPad debacle that was supposed to result in one computer device in every student’s hands. The price tag would be $311 million for “a 1:1 environment,” providing every student with a tablet...

Un emprendimiento masivo para aumentar el acceso a una educación de alta calidad para decenas de miles de estudiantes de bajos recursos en Los Angeles fue revelado hoy a través de un esperado plan de Great Public Schools Now (GPSN, Excelentes Escuelas Públicas Ahora), una organización sin fines de lucro que recibe una buena cantidad...

Myrna Castrejon, who was named executive director of Great Public Schools Now in January, was thrust into the spotlight this week with the release of the organization’s plan to increase access to high-performing schools for 160,000 students it identified as attending failing schools in poor areas. Castrejon came from the California Charter Schools Association, where...

Sometimes staying late at the LA Unified school board meetings has its benefits. Particularly when quirky things happen in only-in-LA moments. About 8:45 p.m. Tuesday late into the meeting, most of the audience members had cleared out of the school board auditorium and the 200 or so protesters outside were gone. There were almost as many...

The much-anticipated Great Public Schools Now (GPSN) plan to expand successful schools in the Los Angeles area was released today, and education leaders are weighing in. GPSN says it will fund the expansion and replication of successful schools in 10 high-needs neighborhoods, including charter schools, magnet schools, pilot schools and Partnership for Los Angeles Schools...

The self-described “Doomsday scenario” laid out by LA Unified’s chief financial officer at Tuesday’s school board meeting could have resulted in the loss of 2,000 teacher and administrator jobs by next spring, an increase of up to nine students per classroom, and a halt to saving for teacher retirement benefits. But then, like the cavalry...

*UPDATED A plan unveiled today by Great Public Schools Now identifies 10 low-income neighborhoods where the nonprofit will focus its efforts on expanding access to high-performing schools for kids close to where they live. The neighborhoods were chosen after examining the performance of all LA Unified schools and independent public charter schools in the city...

*UPDATED A massive undertaking to increase access to high-quality education for tens of thousands of low-income students in Los Angeles was revealed today in a long-awaited plan by Great Public Schools Now, a well-funded nonprofit organization formed last year. The goal is to expand access for 160,000 students GPSN has identified as attending failing schools in 10...