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2 teens drown in LA River, district provides counselors at school
Two teenage boys were found dead this weekend after drowning in the Los Angeles River near Cypress Park. For the second time in five weeks, Superintendent Michelle King issued a statement of condolences over the drowning of an LA Unified student. “On behalf of the district, I express my deepest condolences to the boys’ families...
By Mike Szymanski | May 2, 2016
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Ethnic studies classes get renewed after stalling
Although an ethnic studies mandate was approved by the school board in 2014, LA Unified is only now taking steps to fulfill their hope of getting ethnic studies into every high school. But it won’t be a graduation requirement any time soon, and it won’t be a requirement for the class of 2019, as the school...
By Mike Szymanski | April 13, 2016
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LAUSD makes plans for simpler enrollment but doesn’t include charters
On Friday morning, more than 100 parents were lined up outside Walter Reed Middle School in Studio City waiting for a permit to get their child into one of the district’s Schools for Advanced Studies. One dad spent the night on the school steps. No, it’s no April Fool’s joke. Getting into one of LA...
By Mike Szymanski | April 1, 2016
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District explains how per-student funding doubles, but LAUSD still faces financial crisis
How can the funding more than double per student, yet LA Unified still be facing a financial crisis? Chief Financial Officer Megan Reilly posed that question as she explained the intricacies of the budget and laid out new numbers at Tuesday’s special board meeting. For example, she pointed out that by the end of the recession in 2009,...
By Mike Szymanski | March 31, 2016
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Porter Ranch schools probably won’t move back until end of the school year
The two schools with 1,850 students that were relocated due to a methane gas leak in Porter Ranch probably won’t be moved back to their locations before the end of the school year. Although the district continues to weigh options about returning the students back to their schools, there are no plans to move the...
By Mike Szymanski | March 15, 2016
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Q&A: Michelle King discusses LAUSD’s plans for helping foster youth
By Jeremy Loudenback In January, the Los Angeles Unified School District chose longtime local teacher and administrator Michelle King to head the nation’s second largest school district. The first African American woman to serve as district superintendent, King will oversee about 650,000 students at more than 900 schools across the city. LAUSD students include more...
By Guest contributor | March 3, 2016
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Michelle King on charters: ‘It’s not us versus them’
At her first community town hall as LA Unified’s superintendent, Michelle King received the most applause when she called for a healing between charter and district school factions. Seven weeks into her job, she met Tuesday morning with more than 700 parents, teachers, principals and local residents in a relatively low-income area in the north San Fernando Valley...
By Mike Szymanski | March 2, 2016
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Porter Ranch leak is over, but when will schools move back?
LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King issued a statement commending Thursday’s announcement that the Porter Ranch well that has been leaking methane gas since October has been sealed, but there was no clear indication of when the two relocated schools and their 1,850 students would return home. Two schools were moved to temporary locations over the winter break...
By Mike Szymanski | February 18, 2016
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Students, educators rally for public education across LAUSD
As part of demonstrations taking place at schools around LA Unified and in cities across the country, a group of roughly 100 protesters made up of parents, students, district leaders and politicians gathered outside Hamilton High School Wednesday morning to rally in support of public education. “Every day at this school I’m exposed to someone with different...
By Mike Szymanski | February 17, 2016
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How this math teacher helps kids get perfect scores
It was cause for celebration when 17-year-old Cedrick Argueta was one in 12 students in the entire world to ace one of the toughest college-level calculus tests. But it wasn’t just one test. Cedrick also earned perfect scores on the English and math sections of the American College Testing entrance exam. And it wasn’t just...
By Mike Szymanski | February 12, 2016