LA Unified and the teachers union, UTLA, met in another bargaining session today, but from the union’s perspective, not much happened to draw the sides closer. The union announced late this afternoon that it was “rounding out” its list of demands, to include supports for displaced educators, improved UTLA representation for substitute educators facing termination,...

Members of the LA Unified school board as well as several administrators suggested today that the district should delay using the results of the 2014-15 Smarter Balanced computerized test as means of measuring academic growth next year. Their views came a day after officials from statewide educational organizations told the California Board of Education that...

Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, the largest charter network in LA Unified is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and based on performance, there is much to celebrate. The Alliance schools, which include 17 high schools and 9 middle schools, are all located in low-income neighborhoods but have an overall high school graduation rate of 94...

It’s shaping up to be a furious campaign next year. With a few late additions at Saturday’s filing deadline, four incumbents plus 14 other people are now competing for the four LA Unified school board seats coming up in 2015. The latest to enter the race are two more challengers in District 5 — James...

With tomorrow’s noon deadline approaching to file for next year’s LA Unified school board elections, the races are coming into view. Seats in four of the board’s seven districts — 1, 3, 5 and 7 — are up for grabs, making the elections hugely influential on future district policies. All four of the incumbents are...

While this year’s students fared better than last year, LA Unified kids scored below the state average on the California Physical Fitness Test. According to figures released yesterday by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, the LA Unified fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders who participated in the six-part test during the 2013-14 school year are significantly...

* UPDATED In a scathing critique of LA Unified’s implementation of its new student data tracking system, a team of independent analysts found problems from the beginning, including an overall “lack of communication or understanding of application stability” critical to the project’s success. In short, Arnold Viramontes, an outside expert hired by former superintendent John...

The bargaining session scheduled for today between LA Unified and the teachers union, UTLA, has been cancelled, due to an illness of a union staff member, a district official said. The agenda had included discussions of teacher support and evaluation, parent empowerment and adult education. What was not expected to be part of the dialogue...

After Tuesday’s two-hour MiSiS meltdown, Superintendent Ramon Cortines called for Microsoft to send in the cavalry and the Seattle-based company responded by sending a total of one — count ’em, one — expert to help with the glitch-plagued student data program serving 650,000 students. The system crashed when too many teachers logged on to update...