LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy yesterday offered unqualified support for the proposed regulations governing how state money for public education will reach individual school districts. Speaking at a meeting of the California Board of Education in Sacramento, he said the new Local Control Funding Formula “strikes the right balance” between districts and the communities they serve,...

Alex Johnson has made his decision. Johnson, who is the Assistant Senior Deputy for Education and Public Safety to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, confirmed to LA School Report that he is running for LA Unified’s District 1 seat in the special election this June. In a statement he said: “I’m running because the children...

The clock is ticking on deadlines, now that the City Council has approved a June 3 special election for the LA Unified school board. The candidate fundraising window opened today, according to a press release from the LA City Ethics Commission. Anyone running must form a candidate committee and file a Statement of Economic Interests with the...

The UTLA House of Representatives last night voted to demand a significant salary hike for teachers — an increase of nearly 20 percent. Teachers last received a pay raise in early 2007; their last contract with LA Unified expired in 2011. The union says higher salaries are long overdue, especially since voters passed Prop. 30...

David Holmquist essentially agrees with board member Steve Zimmer. It’s just not right, Holmquist said, that existing laws keep the LA Unified District 1 board seat vacant until after a special election in June, denying families equal representation for months. But if Zimmer is expecting Holmquist, LAUSD’s General Counsel, to navigate around the LA City Charter, he is...

With unusual dispatch, the Los Angeles City Council will address the issue of a special election tomorrow to fill the vacant seat at the Los Angeles Unified school board left by the death of Marguerite LaMotte. The City Council must approve the action taken by the LA Unified school board earlier this week, after spirited...

Happy New Year! 2014 is going to be an amazing year; I know it because I found LA Unified’s list of New Year’s Resolutions scribbled on a napkin at Philippe’s French Dip. Okay, I didn’t. But wouldn’t it be great if I did? I mean, if anyone needs to change, isn’t it LAUSD? Here’s what...

When 2013 comes to a close, LA Unified will stop offering GED tests over concerns about cost and computer-only access. Until the state chooses an alternative that provides a version with paper-and-pencil, degree seekers will have to visit schools outside the district. “The populations that we serve, especially the adults, are among those who need...

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...