“The Reformers Are Dead, Long Live the Reformers,” ran the headline to a story by Howard Blume, noting that reformers faced an “uncertain future” after losing two out of three School Board races. But that story was actually written in 2003 — back when Blume was writing for the LA Weekly rather than his current gig...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has added his voice to a group of education leaders who are reluctant to support the current union-supported teacher dismissal bill being considered in Sacramento unless it’s amended to address key issues. In an April 19 letter sent to the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), Villaraigosa praises Buchanan for...

LAUSD Board Votes to Improve Abuse Investigations With 278 Los Angeles Unified educators sitting in “teacher jail,” the school board voted Tuesday to streamline and improve the investigations of those accused of serious physical abuse or sexual misconduct. LA Daily News See also: LA School Report, LA Times L.A. Unified Board Ratifies ‘Parent-Trigger’ Partnership The...

California Democrats Blast Efforts to Overhaul Schools California Democrats on Sunday condemned efforts led by members of their own party to overhaul the nation’s schools, arguing that groups such as StudentsFirst and Democrats for Education Reform are fronts for Republicans and corporate interests. LA Times L.A. School Reform Effort Draws Diverse Group of Wealthy Donors...

What LA’s next Mayor should do to help make the schools better has been on everyone’s minds this week, and KPCC interviewed three education leaders to get their views. Elise Buik, president of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, wants the mayor to help the district “replicate high-performance schools and transform low-performing schools more...

Greuel to Release Education Plan Greuel might have wanted her staff to do a little better advance work, because Garcetti is well liked at the school — Camino Nuevo Charter Academy — which he helped get a $700,000 grant to help build a new soccer field,” reports The Times. KPCC Eric Garcetti Avoids Schoolyard Tussle...

Graduations Up, Dropouts Down in LAUSD, Statewide High school graduation rates for Los Angeles Unified and districts across California increased last year, with Latino students showing larger gains than their white and Asian classmates, the state Department of Education said Tuesday. LA Daily News See also: LA Times, KPCC Villaraigosa Criticizes Mayoral Candidates Over Education...

Outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to deliver his final State of the City address at UCLA tonight, and he plans to use the speech to criticize mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel on their education plans. Villaraigosa spokesperson Peter Sanders told the LA Times that the mayor will “take to task”...