Oops. Despite efforts by Superintendent Ramon Cortines and LA Unified‘s Information Technology team to get MiSiS back on track — or at the very least, semi-functional — it seems that the data management system remains unreliable. The system went down between 2 pm and 4 pm yesterday, he said in a memo to staff. It...

Would-be candidates for next year’s LA Unified school board elections have until noon on Saturday, Nov. 8 to file a Declaration of Intention to run with the Los Angeles City Clerk.  Only those candidates who meet the deadline and submit a qualifying nominating petition will appear on the March 3, 2015 primary ballot. The deadline for...

Can LA Unified be saved? This difficult question is examined in the in latest episode of the PBS SoCal show, “Studio SoCal.” The episode features an in-depth discussion among the hosts Elizabeth Espinosa and Rick Reiff, reporter David Nazar and California Teachers Empowerment Network President Larry Sand, a frequent critic of UTLA, the LA teachers union. It also...

Ron Chandler, LA Unified’s Chief Information Officer and the public face of the district’s two biggest technology programs, iPads and the new student-tracking system, resigned today in a shuffling of the district’s Information Technology Department. The move is the latest and most decisive change during Ramon Cortines‘s first two weeks as superintendent, and it comes as...

* UPDATED Ron Chandler, LA Unified’s Chief Information Officer and the official responsible for the implementation of MiSiS, the new student-tracking system, has has resigned after four years with the district. The move represents the most decisive change in Ramon Cortines’s first two weeks as superintendent. It comes as the district continues efforts to clean...

After the downpour of bad news coming out of the district here’s a ray of sunshine: Graduation rates for all race and ethnic groups in LA Unified were up by double-digit margins last year. Across the board graduation rates for the class of 2013-14 rose by 12 percent over the previous year, the highest increase...

A consultant to the committee that oversees how LA Unified spends taxpayer bond dollars today recommended a complete overhaul of the district’s Information Technology operations, suggesting the district might consider outsourcing the entire department. Tom Rubin delivered the report to the Bond Oversight Committee, blasting the IT department and asserting that the recent bungled rollout...

As support in the state for the idea is growing, the LA Unified school board next month is scheduled to vote on a resolution requiring an ethnic studies course for all district students as a high school graduation requirement. The resolution was introduced by board member Bennett Kayser and would begin the process with a pilot...

Governor Jerry Brown today dropped by John Marshall High School to talk about energy efficiency and the millions of dollars LA Unified schools can expect to receive from the state as a result of Proposition 39. The governor, who’s up for re-election next week, was on the Los Feliz campus with Tom Steyer, the Democratic...

LA Unified is unveiling a new program today, one directed at a small group of students with exceptional needs: those returning to schools from juvenile justice programs. Designed to serve students from probation camps, juvenile halls and residential situations, the program aims at helping them mount a successful return to school, with a special emphasis...