*UPDATED A contingent of LA parents, armed with a petition of about 420 signatures, will ask the state Board of Education this week to adopt a summative rating to evaluate schools in addition to a number of proposed measures that move beyond ranking schools solely based on test scores. The Board of Education is expected...

LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, LA Unified school board President Steve Zimmer and other leaders called a press conference this morning at Eagle Rock Elementary School to tout the results of the newly released standardized test scores. Scores in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) went...

More than 40 agencies, representing a diverse coalition of bipartisan support, are urging California Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill requiring preschool for all children in low-income families. The governor has until Oct. 11 to sign or veto the bill. The bill is sponsored by Early Edge California, an educational advocacy group that is working...

Major news outlets in the Los Angeles area did a “Los Angeles Unified heads back to school” story this week. But there was no unanimity among them on the number of students the district serves. Three local television stations — NBC, ABC and CBS — all pegged the number at roughly 550,000, likely ignoring students enrolled...

State politicians and educators are scrambling to cope with the fallout after the abrupt cancelation of an exam by the California Department of Education left over 5,000 high school students across the state — 492 of them in LA Unified –unable to graduate, despite having completed all other necessary course work. The California High School...

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson came to the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce today to announce his latest action plan for California’s education system. The five-year plan is a continuation of his 2011 effort, called A Blueprint for Great Schools, which has been updated and rebranded as A Blueprint for Great Schools Version 2.0. The...

For anyone bemoaning current trends in state public education, hold your complaints, at least until tomorrow. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has scheduled an event downtown at the LA Area Chamber of Commerce to unveil “a new action plan,” that his office says will provide “the steps to take in the next four years...

A state lawmaker is challenging California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson‘s recent assertion that grants intended to help low-income, English learners and foster youth can be used for across-the-board teacher raises. Assemblymember Shirley Weber, a Democrat from San Diego, says Torlakson’s interpretation of the law could completely erode the purpose of the grants, opening...

*UPDATED LA Unified’s Luther Burbank Middle School in Highland Park was honored today as a model middle school by the state program, “Schools to Watch-Taking Center Stage.” Luther Burbank was one of only seven new schools given the designation by the program, which is sponsored by the California Department of Education, California League of Middle Schools and  California Middle Grades Alliance....

Comedian and actor George Lopez has started a campaign on Omaze.com to raise money for the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education, a charity that contributes to LA Unified. Anyone interested can enter a contest to go “lowriding” with Lopez around Los Angeles in a vintage lowrider, join him for a meal at one of his favorite LA...