The LA Unified school district is analyzing why certain charter schools operate on split campuses. In a report being presented to the school board at a meeting today, the staff found 24 charters using shared facilities on two traditional school sites, and one-third of them are divided among three sites. Representatives of LA Unified charters...

By John Fensterwald  Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices were what news reports called hostile in their questioning of union lawyers Monday during arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that could undercut the financial stability and the political clout of public employee unions in California and nearly two dozen states Ten teachers in...

* UPDATED After a three-month nationwide search, the LA Unified school board today kept it all in the family, naming Michelle King, a district teacher and administrator for nearly 30 years, to serve as its new superintendent. She succeeds Ramon Cortines whom she served as chief deputy until he stepped down last month. The 54-year-old...

Michelle King, the new LA Unified superintendent, is a district “lifer,” having worked all of her professional career in the district as a teacher, principal, magnet coordinator and top administrator. She also is a product of LA Unified, having attended Palisades High School. King, 54, served as senior deputy superintendent of school operations under former...

The LA Unified school board is meeting today at 4 p.m., after which it might announce who will replace Ramon Cortines as superintendent. Cortines retired in December and his deputy, Michelle King, was named acting superintendent. The district plans to livestream any announcement and press conference that would follow.  

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case that could undermine the financial stability of teacher unions in California and 23 other states. The lawsuit, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, challenges the right of states to require public sector employees to pay compulsory dues to unions doing collective bargaining on their behalf. Even employees who...

*UPDATED One day later than the rest of the district, students from two schools in Porter Ranch impacted by a major gas leak are expected to begin classes tomorrow at two different schools miles away after LA Unified crews worked over the winter break to prep the sites. The 1,850 students from Porter Ranch Community School and Castlebay...

* UPDATED LA Unified’s selection of a new superintendent could end as early as this afternoon with the board announcing a successor to Ramon Cortines after a months-long search. The finalists are believed to be Michelle King, the current interim, and Kelvin Adams, superintendent of public schools in St. Louis. A special board meeting has been...

By Lisa Leff Soaring tax revenues have carried per-pupil education spending in California beyond where it stood before the recession, but even the record sum proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown is unlikely to reverse the state’s standing as a comparative miser when it comes to investing in public schools, advocates and education officials said. Brown,...