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What awaits California schools in the new year: The 6 big education stories we’re following in 2019
For California students, parents, teachers and education advocates, 2019 looks to be opening with a bang. In the first full week alone, a new governor will be inaugurated and teachers in the state’s largest school district are poised to strike — and Los Angeles could soon be followed by Oakland. Also, just months after the...
By Laura Greanias | January 6, 2019
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LAUSD’s plan to stave off financial ruin and a potential county takeover: Cut 15 percent of central office staff and save $86 million
Updated Dec. 11 L.A. Unified is facing a new deadline to prove to its county overseers that it will be able to stay afloat. By Monday, Dec. 17, the district must submit a revised plan to show how it will address its structural deficit that could render L.A. Unified insolvent within three years, meaning it...
By Laura Greanias | December 10, 2018
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10 candidates will be on the ballot in March to fill LAUSD’s vacant school board seat
*Updated Dec. 13 Ten of the 17 individuals who filed their intention to run for the upcoming special election for LA Unified’s vacant school board seat have officially qualified to be on the March 5 ballot in Board District 5. The winner will fill out the term of Ref Rodríguez, serving only a year and a...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | December 5, 2018
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From teachers to elected officials to parents, the 17 candidates who want to fill the vacant seat on LA’s school board
*Updated Nov. 26: Bennett Kayser and City of Bell Mayor Fidencio Gallardo have dropped out of the race to support Jackie Goldberg. Teachers, elected officials and parents are among the 17 candidates who have filed their intention to run in LA Unified’s special election in March to fill the board seat that has been vacant since Ref Rodríguez...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | November 14, 2018
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LAUSD board approves study of housing homeless students and their families on district properties
*Updated Nov. 28 LA Unified’s school board voted Tuesday to study using district property to house homeless students and their families, despite split public opinion. In a 4-1 vote with one abstention, school board members approved a resolution giving Superintendent Austin Beutner six months to research the feasibility of using district sites to: Allow overnight...
By Taylor Swaak | November 13, 2018
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LAUSD ends fees for parent volunteers
LA Unified on Tuesday ended the requirement that parents have to pay to volunteer in their children’s schools. The school board voted unanimously to approve a resolution by Superintendent Austin Beutner, who exercised his authority to waive the $56 fee for fingerprinting and background checks. The district will also nearly double — from seven to...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | November 13, 2018
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LAUSD to consider housing homeless students and their families on district properties
LA Unified is poised to consider using district property to house homeless students and their families. Kelly Gonez, who authored the resolution that’s up for a school board vote Tuesday, said that to her knowledge, this would be a first for the district. The resolution, co-sponsored by Mónica García and Nick Melvoin, would ask Superintendent Austin...
By Taylor Swaak | November 12, 2018
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LAUSD’s ‘signs of fiscal distress’ trigger two new warnings, including risk of going broke within three years
*Updated Nov. 9 LA Unified’s budget has been approved for now by its county overseers, but they gave the district a new deadline for it to address its structural deficit or face a takeover. In a letter delivered late Thursday, the Los Angeles County Office of Education said the district’s continued use of deficit spending —...
By Laura Greanias | November 9, 2018
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Commentary from LAUSD board member Kelly Gonez: With our investment in dual language programs, ‘Our diversity is our strength’
I was entering elementary school when the Spanish spoken in my home slowly disappeared. Up to that point, my mother, an immigrant from Peru, had taught me both Spanish and English at home. But soon after I began school, the only times Spanish was spoken was during overheard calls with my family members in Peru...
By Kelly Gonez | November 7, 2018
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Saturday school and 1,000 Rams tickets — how LAUSD is trying to turn around a stubborn attendance problem
*Updated Oct. 17 LA Unified is continuing to lose about $630 million a year because students aren’t coming to school. So this year, district officials are rethinking strategies and trying new ones, including Saturday school to make up lost days and handing out 1,000 tickets to Los Angeles Rams football games for students with excellent...
By Laura Greanias | October 17, 2018