An expert on the the role that teachers play in academic performance today became the latest defense witness in Vergara v California to testify that students in high-poverty area schools face higher challenges to learning. Ken Futernick, Director of the WestEd School Turnaround Center, a research organization, and a former professor of education at California...

The Los Angeles Unified Board voted 6-0 today to appoint Vivian Ekchian to the newly created position of chief labor negotiator. The district’s chief human resources officer since 2007, she will be responsible for negotiating agreements with all labor unions that hold contracts with the District. She begins her new job immediately. “I congratulate Vivian...

For the second year in a row, LA Unified is losing fewer teachers, and district projections indicate that the trend will continue through the current school year. Vivian Ekchian, the district’s Chief Human Resources Officer, told a committee meeting yesterday that the trend is largely due to more diligent work at the front end of...