Over 2,000 parents, students and supporters of charter schools are expected to attend a “Rally in the Valley” on Saturday to advocate for pro-charter policies, as well as to celebrate the 25th anniversary of charter schools coming to LA Unified. The first several charter schools to open in the district were in the San Fernando Valley,...

This is part of a series looking at the various types of schools in LA Unified. For facts, comparisons and maps of charters in LA, click here. Follow the series with magnet schools and affiliated charters. Independent charter schools have come to often dominate the conversation surrounding LA Unified. Proponents hail them as a savior to...

This is part of a series looking at the various types of schools in LA Unified. Read more on charters, magnet schools and affiliated charters.  Question: What is an independent charter school? Answer: Independent charter schools at LA Unified are publicly financed but independently run educational institutions. Charters are authorized and overseen by a local school district, county...

California’s voters have an improved view of public education in the state and want to increase the funds schools get, according to an annual PACE/USC Rossier School of Education poll. Researchers noted that voters’ optimism regarding their local public schools has reached a high point since the poll began five years ago. Twenty-three percent of Californians...

LA Unified officials and a team of volunteers hit the streets Friday, knocking on the doors of high school dropouts in an effort to get them re-enrolled in school as part of the district’s Student Recovery Day. Among the door knockers was Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who along with LA Unified Board President Steve...

After LA Unified skyrocketed from a projected 49 percent graduation rate last fall to a record-setting 75 percent for the 2015-16 school year, academic experts, California public universities, editorial boards and even the school board president are all asking hard questions about one major aspect of the turnaround — online credit recovery. How rigorous are those...

When Gregory Vallone took over as principal of Mulholland Middle School in Lake Balboa five years ago, it had experienced years of enrollment decline. The school once had 1,850 students but was down to 1,250. Then Vallone started a magnet. Vallone — a principal, teacher and administrator with LA Unified since 1974 — had been involved...

For the second year in a row, LA Unified’s independent charter schools outperformed the district’s traditional schools on California’s standardized math and English language arts (ELA) tests, according to data released Monday by the California Charter Schools Association. The district’s magnets topped both.  The district’s independent charters saw 46 percent of its students meet or...

LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King said at a news conference last week that the district’s improvement over last year on the state’s standardized tests was among “the highest gains that were achieved among urban districts in California.” But was it really? LA Unified was fourth among the 10 largest districts in the state in overall improvement,...

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...