Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. In the summer of 2015, Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, gave a state of the union speech in which he alerted members to the dire necessity of raising dues by 33 percent. Without the increase, he said, UTLA would be “bankrupt or...

This interview is one in a series spotlighting Los Angeles teachers, their unique and innovative classroom approaches, and their thoughts on how the education system can better support teachers in guiding students to success. Bullying, suicide, and other mental health crises are among the issues psychiatric social workers deal with daily as part of their...

For the last four years, not one member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education has been the parent of school-aged children. Although having kids shouldn’t be a prerequisite for holding this office, the complete absence of district parents means a crucial voice is being left out of the process. This is...

This interview is one in a series spotlighting Los Angeles teachers, their unique and innovative classroom approaches, and their thoughts on how the education system can better support teachers in guiding students to success. Having the privilege of receiving abundant support from teachers and family throughout her life, Kyle Perez-Robinson thought it was her duty...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. California State Auditor Elaine Howle can’t be making too many friends among the state’s education policy establishment. After releasing a report concluding that the state’s system for financing public education “has not ensured that funding is benefiting intended student groups and closing achievement gaps,” Howle...

In almost every school program, every teacher is teaching STEM in one way or another. Not just because it’s a hot topic or because of the down-the-road career opportunities for students; educators mix science, technology, engineering and math with just about everything because of its clear value to learning itself. Many even sneak the artsy...

The first time Courtney Everts Mykytyn and I spoke, we almost didn’t get around to talking about schools. I was trying to interview her for an Atlantic Monthly article I was writing about privileged families hoarding access to dual language immersion programs. But we couldn’t stop talking about our kids. Hers were about a decade...

For advocates, change hardly happens fast enough. But over a five-year period, a key barrier to the success of many college students has eroded considerably, opening up the door for thousands of new students to progress through college at higher rates. The share of community colleges and four-year public universities that have started to use...

From strikes to financial woes to inspiring educators and shifting graduation requirements, it was a busy year at LA School Report, charting the course of the country’s second-largest school district. As we turn the page on a new year, a quick look back at the 10 stories that resonated most with readers across California in...

The rift in the Democratic party over charter schools will be on sharp display again Thursday, as advocates, parents and students rally outside a Los Angeles presidential primary debate to protest what they say is an attack on their freedoms. Advocates frame Democrats’ increasingly sharp rhetoric against charter schools — present at all levels of...