Community groups want a say in the LAUSD superintendent search
Thirty seven community groups under the umbrella of the nonprofit organization Communities for Los Angeles Student Success (CLASS) are asking the LA Unified school board to form a committee of community leaders to participate directly in the search for a new superintendent. The organization wants the committee to have the opportunity to interview top candidates and provide...
By Craig Clough | October 6, 2015
3 groups planning major rallies at Tuesday's LAUSD board meeting
School may be out for the summer, but things are not cooling down for the LA Unified school board as no less than three organizations are planing rallies or protests at Tuesday's scheduled board meeting. The LA teachers union, UTLA, the Ethnic Studies Now Coalition and a conglomerate of organizations in favor of the district...
By Craig Clough | June 5, 2015
Hundreds expected at rally today for LAUSD college-prep plan
As the LA Unified school board today prepares to debate fixes to its implementation of college prep graduation requirements, hundreds of people are expected to rally outside the district's downtown headquarters in favor of the proposal. The rally is scheduled for 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., roughly the same time the board is expected to...
By Craig Clough | May 12, 2015
Sara Mooney
School board election 2015
2,700 LA Unified students register to vote in student-led drive
One of the most depressing outcomes of the Los Angeles primary elections in March was that only roughly 10 percent of registered voters participated. But a group of LA Unified students connected with the United Way Student Leadership Program took the news to heart and decided to do something about it. Over the course of two...
By Craig Clough | May 6, 2015
Ramon Cortines
Ryan Smith
Urban League
Community groups that liked Deasy are OK with Cortines so far
It's only been about a month since former LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy resigned, but leaders of two organizations that strongly supported his focus on low-income students are saying they like what they see from interim Superintendent Ramon Cortines so far. Los Angeles Urban League President and CEO Nolan V. Rollins, who strongly supported Deasy due to...
By Craig Clough | November 17, 2014
LAUSD School Board
Two groups urging LAUSD board to be objective, transparent
With all the uncertainty about how the LA Unified school board intends to evaluate Superintendent John Deasy in his next annual performance review, two new voices have entered the debate, urging the board to act with transparency, put student interests first and keep Deasy where he is. In separate letters to the board today, both...
By Vanessa Romo | September 29, 2014
low-income parents
New report: School info difficult for low-income parents to access
There's bad news for parents whose kids go to schools in the poorest areas of LA Unified. A new report by a coalition of organizations lead by the United Way found that it's harder for parents and guardians in low-income neighborhoods to obtain school information, get answers to their questions and access parent resources, than it...
By Vanessa Romo | April 24, 2014
Garcetti
Teachers to Watch
United Way honoring 25 'Teachers to Watch'
In the United Way's first Inspirational Teacher Awards, 25 LA Unified "teachers to watch," will be honored this evening at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, with Mayor Eric Garcetti and Superintendent John Deasy expected to attend. The United Way staff and a panel of district teachers chose the recipients from a pool of nearly 200...
By Chase Niesner | January 23, 2014
Mike Trujillo
Vladovic Willing to Meet with Groups on Spending Plan*
Richard Vladovic, president of the LA Unified School Board, has agreed to meet with a coalition of community groups that claimed Vladovic was ignoring their requests to meet over spending issues. The meeting has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Oct. 18, and it follows a sequence of events that began with a letter the coalition, known as CLASS,...