By Paul L. Morgan and George Farkas More than six million children in the United States receive special-education services for their disabilities. Of those age 6 and older, nearly 20 percent are black. Critics claim that this high number — blacks are 1.4 times more likely to be placed in special education than other races...

Just one year after LA Unified attempted to shut down two of Magnolia Public Schools campuses over fiscal mismanagement, the embattled organization received a positive credit rating from Standard & Poor’s. The largest credit agency in the country lifted Magnolia’s rating to BB and revised its outlook from “negative” to “stable.” “This is wonderful news...

That was quite a board meeting yesterday, with more emotion on display than Nixon or LBJ ever showed in announcing their decisions to leave the White House. The first wave came in The Long Goodbye to Bennett Kayser, whose bid for a second term was thwarted by a member of the group he most detests,...

An appellate court ruling in the landmark Vergara v. California case moved closer to an end date today with the attorneys for the nine student plaintiffs filing their appeal brief. The brief is a response to the appeal arguments made by the defendants in the case, the State of California and its two largest teacher...

The LA Unified school board yesterday approved a $7.8 billion budget that includes raises, pension increases, sustained health benefits, more money for school maintenance and expansion of programs for targeted students that nearly became extinct over the recession years. But in doing so, the district broke its one-year streak of no layoffs. Despite an increase of...

By Dan Gordon As the superintendent of Coachella Valley Unified School District (CA), where 80 percent of the children live in poverty and 70 percent are English language learners, Darryl Adams spearheaded a successful bond measure that funded a 1-to-1 iPad initiative for Coachella Valley Unified’s 20,000 students. The district then began putting WiFi routers on idle...

Two members of the LA Unified school board, losers in last month’s elections, joined their colleagues for the final time today, as Bennett Kayser got a 90-minute heartfelt and emotional sendoff and Tamar Galatzan walked away without so much as a goodbye or thank you from any of the remaining five members, including the out-going president,...

If opponents of LA Unified’s controversial disciplinary process known as “teacher jail” were looking for an ideal case to fight it, both in a court of law and in the court of public opinion, they may get it. High-profile attorney Mark Geragos, representing one of the most famous active teachers in the country, Rafe Esquith,...

A small coalition of community organizations rallied at LA Unified headquarters today, urging district leaders to invest in more restorative justice programs and alternative schools. The Dignity in Schools Campaign joined with leaders of the parent group, CADRE, Public Counsel and the teachers union, UTLA, to celebrate, what they called “a minor victory.” Beginning next...

* UPDATED In a move that the California Center for Parent Empowerment (CCPE) is calling a first, a majority of teachers and staff at an LA Unified elementary school are publicly supporting a group of parents in a “parent trigger” campaign against the school’s principal. Over 30 teachers and staff at Fishburn Avenue Elementary School signed a...