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The 18 most popular articles we published in 2018 about Los Angeles schools & the state of education across California
For Los Angeles, 2018 ushered in a new superintendent, new promises to students, new hiring freedoms for principals and new warnings about the school district’s precarious finances. In education news around California, graduation rates rose but the state showed no improvement in getting its high school seniors eligible for state universities — even though California students...
By Laura Greanias | December 17, 2018
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As Latino and immigrant families leave the country for an early holiday, tens of thousands of LA students go missing from classrooms, costing schools millions in funding
Winter break was still almost two weeks away when a parent came into Principal Adan Martínez’s office to tell him he was taking his child out of school that day and wouldn’t be back until January. “It started today! One of our students left in the middle of the school day to go to Mexico...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | December 12, 2018
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Commentary: Instead of striking, our energy is better used in finding consensus and building support for our public education
In the spring of 1970, I voted with other teachers to strike for teachers’ rights. At the time, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) was a newly formed organization. I was in my second year as a teacher and I believed wholeheartedly that being on strike was the right thing to do. I would later come...
By Roberta Benjamin Edwards | December 12, 2018
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New look for the California School Dashboard is ‘an improvement’ — but it’s still not geared toward parents, advocates say
The much-anticipated redesign of California’s maligned school dashboard is live — but some education advocates aren’t convinced it went far enough to improve usability for parents. The California School Dashboard is a state-run platform that rates districts, schools and student groups on indicators such as test scores and student suspensions — and, as of this...
By Taylor Swaak | December 11, 2018
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Commentary: Progress on unified enrollment creates the opportunity for Los Angeles to work toward a system based on equity
Thousands of families across Los Angeles have just finished submitting applications for the schools they hope their children will attend next year. The decision of where to send your child to school is one of the most important decisions that a family makes. For many children in our city, the school that they attend will...
By Seth Litt and Oscar Cruz | December 11, 2018
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Antonucci: LAUSD support employees union claims it can hold ‘sympathy strike’ with UTLA
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. With no hope of a settlement in sight in the contract dispute between LA Unified and United Teachers Los Angeles, attention has turned to the conduct of the expected teacher strike in January. The district distributed a “family resource guide” to parents to help them prepare for...
By Mike Antonucci | December 11, 2018
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LAUSD’s plan to stave off financial ruin and a potential county takeover: Cut 15 percent of central office staff and save $86 million
Updated Dec. 11 L.A. Unified is facing a new deadline to prove to its county overseers that it will be able to stay afloat. By Monday, Dec. 17, the district must submit a revised plan to show how it will address its structural deficit that could render L.A. Unified insolvent within three years, meaning it...
By Laura Greanias | December 10, 2018
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Commentary: Our schools need more funding — but we also need to be able to make sure the money is spent on the children it’s meant to help
Steve Lopez’s series in the Los Angeles Times shines a light on two important issues that are far too easy for the public to ignore: The reality of poverty that too many California children experience and the absolute imperative that schools, teachers and principals have the resources they need to fully support children growing up...
By Seth Litt | December 10, 2018
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LAUSD parents stuck ‘in the middle’ as Los Angeles braces for a likely teacher strike
*Updated Dec. 10 As L.A. Unified and its teachers union ratchet up preparations for what is increasingly looking like the first teacher strike in 30 years, district parents are torn — and frustrated that the two sides can’t negotiate a solution. While parents love and appreciate their teachers, they also don’t want their children’s education...
By Taylor Swaak | December 9, 2018
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10 candidates will be on the ballot in March to fill LAUSD’s vacant school board seat
*Updated Dec. 13 Ten of the 17 individuals who filed their intention to run for the upcoming special election for LA Unified’s vacant school board seat have officially qualified to be on the March 5 ballot in Board District 5. The winner will fill out the term of Ref Rodríguez, serving only a year and a...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | December 5, 2018