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School board’s high-drama discussion: Are we fair to charters?
If anything, it was good television. LA Unified school board members confronted each other headlong in a dramatic discussion Tuesday night over whether charter schools were being treated fairly by the district. The discussion opened calls for a deep dive into how district staff comes up with its recommendations for denials or approvals of charter schools....
By Mike Szymanski | February 10, 2016
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School board OKs first steps for Hale expansion at Highlander site, rejects charter school
In dual votes Tuesday about a long-vacant school in the west San Fernando Valley, the LA Unified school board halted a charter school that was previously proposed for the site and instead allowed a district school to pursue it. The school board gave a unanimous thumbs-up for Hale Charter Academy to pursue a proposal to develop a performing...
By Mike Szymanski | February 9, 2016
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School board may deny more charter requests than grant approvals at Tuesday’s meeting
* UPDATED The LA Unified school board is expected on Tuesday to deny more applications for new charter schools and charter renewals than they may approve. This is the first time the recommended denials exceed approvals since the new configuration of the school board was seated last July. Already, the board has denied as many charters in...
By Mike Szymanski | February 8, 2016
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Parent trigger tries takeover at South Central school, again
For the first time, a Parent Trigger has been threatened twice for the same school. The parents of the 20th Street Elementary School in South Central Los Angeles are fed up with the lack of response from LA Unified after their first attempt two years ago to take over the school and on Monday filed...
By Mike Szymanski | February 3, 2016
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Linked Learning has helped these LAUSD students thrive
Students explain how Linked Learning works at LAUSD schools
By Mike Szymanski | February 2, 2016
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LAUSD superintendent says district unaware of any immigration raids
LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King is calling for calm in the face of rumors of impending raids on schools with authorities seeking out undocumented immigrants. “Neither the Los Angeles Unified School District nor the Los Angeles School Police Department is aware of any planned raids or other action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at any...
By Mike Szymanski | January 29, 2016
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LAUSD board told charters attracting more federal dollars than magnets
For all the successful magnet schools in LA Unified and elsewhere, they are not attracting as much federal support as charter schools. That was a stark message from the district’s federal lobbyist, who told a district board committee this week that Washington is increasing national support for charter schools by nearly 32 percent but by...
By LA School Report | January 28, 2016
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Zimmer tells staff to take advantage of CA leadership with LA ties
It’s a such unique moment with the leadership of Sacramento that LAUSD should find a way to take advantage. That was the message from LA Unified board President Steve Zimmer to district staff at a board committee meeting yesterday: figure out how to ask for more money from the state, even more than the district’s fair...
By Mike Szymanski | January 27, 2016
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LAUSD considers charging for the release of public records
LA Unified receives fewer public records requests per year than other governmental agencies or school districts of similar size, but district staff is now suggesting that the board consider pushing for legislation that would set a fee for complying with some of the requests. The recommendation came from Christine Wood, the assistant general counsel and...
By Mike Szymanski | January 27, 2016
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Giant chicken contract ‘test case’ for LAUSD’s new food guidelines
It appears that the LA Unified school board is headed for a showdown with the giant chicken industry. As the second largest school district in the nation, LA Unified has traditionally been one of the largest purchasers of chicken in the country but in late 2014 adopted much stricter guidelines for the food it buys....
By Craig Clough | January 26, 2016