Tom Waldman is moving on, although he’s not going far. The Director of Communications for LA Unified is stepping into a new role with the district: the newly created post as Executive Director of Board Communications. Taking on the role, which was Superintendent John Deasy’s idea, means Waldman will work with the school board, exclusively....

This story is updated throughout the day In a stunning defeat for California’s public school teachers unions, a state superior court today ruled in favor of students challenging teacher protection laws in Vergara v California. It was a total triumph for the nine student plaintiffs, giving them a victory on all counts in an equal...

*UPDATED While UTLA, the Los Angeles teachers union, has endorsed three candidates in next week’s District 1 school board race, one has emerged as first among equals. Sherlett Hendy-Newbill has won the endorsement of the Network for Public Education, a public education advocacy group led by Diane Ravitch, one of the strongest voices in the...

Los Angeles Unified has named 22 educators as a Teacher of the Year for 2013-2014, and they will be honored at an event in September. Here’s the list: Angeles Cajayon, Bryson Avenue Magnet Elementary School, a second-grade teacher there for 12 years. Maricar J. Fortuno Catalán, Dr. Julian Nava Learning Academy – Business and Technology, is...

SEIU Local 99, the union of cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, special education assistants who work for LA Unified announced today it is seeking a minimum of $15 an hour for all workers who currently earn less than that and a 15 percent raise for all workers who earn more. The union thus became the...

A bureaucratic mistake at LA Unified has led to a degree of anxiety among affiliated charter schools in the West Valley, which will begin paying for classroom basics they had previously gotten for free from the district. A lack of oversight and confusion among several departments with little experience in understanding how affiliated charter school...

In the face of reports that Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt molested many more children than previously known, according to an LA County Sheriff’s investigation, LA Unified today said it followed prescribed legal regulations in dealing with reports of the allegations. The sheriff’s report included the assertion that the school district in 2008 destroyed...

Commencement season is upon us and with it, the rush to find moving speakers to lead graduating students through the expensive right of passage. Sometimes schools get lucky, such as UC Irvine, which this year reeled in President Barak Obama by sending 10,000 postcards from students, staff and alumni, inviting him to be the guest...

LA Unified Board member Bennett Kayser is not only thinking about the LCAP, arts education, and transitioning to Common Core standards, he’s also thinking about soap. Specifically, unscented soap. According to Kayser, who has championed a variety of health issues since joining the board, the almond-scented, goopy, pink soap found in nearly every restroom, classroom...

Nearly two dozen LA Unified schools were among the 424 elementary schools cited by the state today as California Distinguished Schools. The announcement came from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson who said, “I applaud these strong, thriving schools that are making such impressive strides in preparing their students for continued success.” The 2014...