By Nicholas Melvoin If members of the LAUSD Board of Education are curious as to why the district’s enrollment is declining, they should review how the district treated parents over the last few days in the Playa Vista and Westchester neighborhoods for some clues. In a tale that is unfortunately all too familiar to many LAUSD...

* UPDATED In what may be his last public appearance as superintendent of LA Unified, Ramon Cortines last night spoke to about 300 people in a wide-ranging discussion that touched on many of the hot-button issues now confronting the district. Sitting alongside Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, who served as moderator, Cortines said Eli Broad’s...

After one meeting last Sunday, two yesterday and another scheduled for the Sunday ahead to winnow the field of candidates for the superintendent job, LA Unified board member are moving along “on schedule,” board President Steve Zimmer said today. “We’re on target,” he said. “It would not be a mischaracterization to see we’re on schedule.”...

* UPDATED The Broad Foundation plan to expand charter schools in LA Unified made an ominous debut before the LA Unified board yesterday as one opponent after another ripped into it as unwanted, unnecessary and destructive to the district and public education in general. The widespread attack came in several forms after the board postponed...

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines and board President Steve Zimmer joined a chorus of praise today from state education leaders as the Senate passed a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which is now known as the Every Student Succeeds Act. The bill now awaiting the signature of President Obama cuts back on...

* UPDATED The LA Unified school board continued its search for a new superintendent early this morning, moving into another closed session after a one minute open meeting that might have been the shortest in district history. Joining the seven board members in the private session were Hank Gmitro and Darline Robles of the search...

Parents and students at Playa Vista Elementary staged a protest today over an unexpected change in the district’s Westside expansion efforts that directly affect Playa students. Some families held a “sit out” and kept their kids out of school. The LA Unified school board is scheduled to vote tomorrow on an expansion plan for Playa that also involves...

It’s a week since the school board set criteria for the next LAUSD superintendent, but that didn’t stop about 100 parents, students and community advocates from weighing in on what kind of person they think the candidate should be. A group from South Los Angeles and the Eastside gathered at district headquarters yesterday to campaign...

In the wake of the mass shooting yesterday in San Bernardino, both LAUSD school superintendent Ramon Cortines and school board president Steve Zimmer today reaffirmed the district’s commitment to safety at local schools. In a statement, Cortines emphasized, “Every building and school within this District has a safety plan in place.” Zimmer pointed out that extra support...

LAUSD School Board President Steve Zimmer has sent out an email reminder that midnight tonight is the deadline for students to apply to the University of California and California State University systems. “Tonight’s deadline is one of the most important demarcation points in our struggle,” noted Zimmer, whose personal newsletter reaches parents, teachers, counselors and students....