* UPDATED In a quiet effort that could help mitigate the proliferation of charter schools, the LA Unified board is scheduled to vote tomorrow on what would be first two gifted/highly gifted high school magnets in the San Fernando Valley. Taft High in Woodland Hills and Kennedy High in Granada Hills would join 14 other magnet...

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines is praising the high performance of the district’s magnet schools on on the recent Smarter Balanced standardized tests, which based on a district analysis shows 65 percent of them scoring higher than the state average in English language arts and 56 percent of them scoring higher than average in math. “The performance...

As LA Unified awaits millions more dollars from Governor Jerry Brown‘s revised budget, district officials are beginning to cobble together a spending plan for the next academic year. It’s a task that involves reinvesting in programs that were gutted in the aftermath of the Great Recession. But as advocates for many worthy causes are calling...

As they rallied for the ouster of their school principal this morning, parents at Carthay Center Elementary School were told their efforts had paid off: Crystal Campbell-Shirley was removed from her post. Instructional Director Autri Streeck notified teachers at the school, then met parents at the rally to tell them what happened. “Everyone’s celebrating that...

Think your child may be gifted but missed the magnet application window last fall? Now’s a chance for LAUSD parents to act: the SAS program, which stands for “Schools for Advanced Studies,” is accepting applications until April 30. SAS programs are, in essence, gifted programs that reside within a traditional school. Offered at dozens of...

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson was in town today visiting the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES) as part of his week-long “AP Excellence Tour.” Torlakson said the visits to high schools with innovative Advanced Placement courses are a “celebration” of a 10-year report from The College Board, showing impressive growth in enrollment statewide,...

Currently, more than 64,000 students are enrolled in LA Unified magnet schools. That number is almost guaranteed to climb. The application deadline to enroll in one of the district’s 191 theme-based magnet schools for the 2014-15 school year is fast approaching. Online information and applications are available at echoices.lausd.net, with paper applications available at local...