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By the numbers: Did ‘all hands on deck’ save LA Unified’s sinking graduation rate?

LA Unified began the new year facing a formidable challenge, as only 54 percent of its senior class was projected to be on track for passing all their A through G standards, a series of courses required for acceptance into California’s public universities. The new, higher graduation standards went into effect for the first time...
By Craig Clough | June 14, 2016
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School board pays emotional tribute to Orlando victims and LGBTQ students

All seven of the LA Unified school board members, along with Superintendent Michelle King and Executive Officer Jefferson Crain, read the names of the 49 victims of the Orlando shooting massacre at the opening of the school board meeting Tuesday afternoon before each board member then read part of a resolution re-emphasizing their commitment to...
By Mike Szymanski | June 14, 2016
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Union protests 10,000 LA Unified workers shut out of health care benefits

Before today’s afternoon school board meeting, the union representing teachers assistants, after-school workers and playground supervisors protested outside the LA Unified headquarters asking that the board reconsider health care benefits for 10,264 employees now shut out of those benefits. The union representatives plan to speak at the afternoon session of the school board. The district...
By Mike Szymanski | June 14, 2016
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Livestream of today’s LA Unified school board meeting

The LA Unified school board is scheduled to hold an open session meeting today. The agenda includes a vote on approval of revisions to a year-old teacher evaluation system and a public hearing on next year’s Local Control Accountability Plan. Click here to watch the livestream of the meeting.
By Craig Clough | June 14, 2016
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Commentary: Unified enrollment levels the playing field for high-need public schools

By Mauro Bautista Most of us who grew up in Los Angeles in the 20th century had limited choices as to which school we attended. Most attended the local public school as determined by a zone of residence. Some of us, like me, attended a magnet high school and a few others attended private high schools....
By Guest contributor | June 14, 2016
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USC Hybrid High graduates its first class, with all 84 heading to college

*UPDATED The first class to graduate from an innovative university-based charter school in Los Angeles is sending all 84 grads to four-year colleges, most with scholarships. Valerie Childress watched her quadruplets graduate Saturday evening on the campus of the University of Southern California with tears in her eyes. “I said I wasn’t going to cry, but I have been...
By Mike Szymanski | June 13, 2016
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Commentary: What Hamilton says about grit and privilege — and education’s place in shaping our destiny

By Andy Smarick The ten-dollar founding father without a father, Got a lot farther by working a lot harder, By being a lot smarter, By being a self-starter. —John Laurens on Alexander Hamilton, Hamilton Seven years ago at the White House, Lin-Manuel Miranda described the premise of his still unfinished musical. And an esteemed crowd laughed. Miranda...
By Guest contributor | June 13, 2016
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Julio Fuentes on empowering Hispanic communities to demand, and attract, better schools

The growing power and influence of the U.S. Hispanic population is lost on no one: politicians, pollsters and CEOs. But what has been lost are generations of school kids. Hispanics are the nation’s most undereducated minority group. While more Hispanic teens than ever are enrolling in college, there is fresh urgency to ensure that trend...
By Romy Drucker | June 13, 2016
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Julio Fuentes habla sobre Cómo Empoderar a las Comunidades Hispanas para Exigir y Atraer Mejores Escuelas

(Para leer este artículo en inglés, haga clic aquí.) La influencia y el poder cada vez mayores de la población hispana de los Estados Unidos no es algo que sea ignorado: los políticos, encuestadores y Directores Generales Corporativos están conscientes de esto. Sin embargo, lo que sí se ha ignorado son las generaciones de los niños...
By Romy Drucker | June 13, 2016
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A hard-won graduation success — after 3 detention camps, 5 probation officers and seemingly no chance

He couldn’t imagine he would ever graduate from high school, or that he’d ever even have a chance. After being released from his second juvenile detention camp, Randy Dwayne May Jr. wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Then came a knock on his door over the summer from Wendy Cholico, a Pupil Services...
By Mike Szymanski | June 10, 2016