A Van Nuys High School student mounted a petition drive to avoid taking finals this week after an emailed threat of violence closed down all LA Unified schools. It didn’t work. Final exams went on, as they did at all other schools. Still, the organizer got more than 1,300 students to sign it over the past...

The state today released the latest California High School Exit Examination results, and the news for LA Unified is either encouraging or disappointing, depending on your point of view. The percentage of district 10th-grade students who passed the on their first attempt, remained at near-historical highs, according to state figures showing that 68 percent of...