Without any debate on Tuesday, the LA Unified school board approved five new charter schools and renewed eight existing charters. One other renewal came with an asterisk: The Alliance Ouchi-O’Donovan 6-12 Complex, a low-performing middle school and high performing high school that merged this year, was asked to return next year for a review after...

The LA Unified school board today postponed until next month any consideration of how to fill the board seat left vacant by the death of Marguerite LaMotte, bowing to a wave of pleas from speakers asking the board to wait until after her funeral. A 3-3 vote on a motion to allow discussion to begin...

The LA Unified school board is back together tomorrow, with a long agenda highlighted by several high-stakes and, very likely, contentious issues. Foremost is the discussion and probable vote on how to fill the vacant District 1 seat. Marguerite LaMotte’s death on Dec. 4 has left the board with the options of filling the seat...

LA Unified School board member Tamar Galatzan had hoped to sway her colleagues to change the way the district distributes Title 1 funds for low-income students. But her motion, co-sponsored by Monica Ratliff, failed to get majority support at yesterday’s board meeting. The vote was split, 3-3, with Galatzan, Ratliff and Steve Zimmer, all of...

Over eight hours today, in another tedious LA Unified board meeting, members one-by-one pledged to forge ahead with the district’s ambitious technology program to bridge the digital divide for some of the nation’s poorest students. But for the first time, some board members signaled that the way forward may not include Apple iPads. The meeting...

Let’s say an alien spaceship somehow descended on yesterday’s two LA Unified meetings concerning the district’s iPad program. It is entirely possible the ETs would end up with the impression that the district was months, perhaps even a year away from launching one of the most expensive and high profile projects the school board has...

It’s a big meeting day at LA Unified’s downtown headquarters, with three committees convening one after another starting this afternoon. At 1 o’clock, it’s the Curriculum and Instruction Committee, chaired by Marguerite LaMotte; followed at 3 p.m. by the Budget, Facilities and Audit Committee, led by Bennett Kayser; and at 5:30 by the Common Core...

Eight weeks ago Mayor Eric Garcetti named his new education deputy, Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana. In that time, only a few people have any idea who she is what she does or how she’s going to do it. She has met with various board members and some community groups in her official capacity as...

Bennett Kayser has taken over as chairman of the LA Unified School Board budget committee, replacing Tamar Galatzan, who stepped down after two years. Galatzan said that she saw no reason for the budget committee — formally, the Facilities, Audit and Budget Committee — to meet at the moment, now that the district is conducting a a...

Responding to incidents of iPad misuse at district schools and widespread public criticism over problems with the rollout, the LA Unified board yesterday approved setting a special meeting later this month to “publicly grapple” with iPad issues. The 5-2 vote on a resolution from Monica Ratliff, who chairs a committee that oversees the iPad initiative,...