Recently in Schools Category

One in five Angelenos between the ages of 16 and 24 is unemployed and not in school, putting a severe drain on the city's limited resources, a study released Thursday said. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Statewide, about one in 6.25 people in that age group are out of work or school, and can expect to live in poverty for about nine years, according to the study produced by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.

"If people are living in poverty they are probably not paying taxes, they are drawing on welfare and they're more of a drain to the city," said study author Paul Harrington, a Northeastern professor

Facing their own financial crises amid the state's budget crunch, most of California's largest school districts are increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, eroding the most expensive education reform in the state's history. California Watch in the Daily News.

California Watch surveyed the 30 largest K-12 districts in the state and found that many schools are pushing classroom enrollment to 24 students in some or all of the primary grades. Other districts have raised class sizes to 30 students - reverting to levels not seen in more than a decade.

In cash-strapped Los Angeles Unified, each of the district's 524 elementary schools could choose between retaining all their teachers and keeping class sizes low - or laying off teachers and retaining support staff such as nurses, math coaches and "intervention coordinators."

Dozens of charter school operators, non-profit groups and even the teachers union have made it clear that they think they can do a better job running L.A. public schools than Los Angeles Unified bureaucrats.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

All met a Monday deadline to submit bids to operate some or all of the 36 schools up for grabs under an ambitious reform plan that lets outsiders - and insiders - take daily operational control of public schools.

"Today we have finally stopped talking about reform and we've taken a deliberate and strong step towards ending business as usual at this district," said LAUSD boardmember Yolie Flores-Aguilar, who authored the School Choice plan.

As Los Angeles Unified officials scrambled to avert up to 8,500 layoffs, leaders of the teachers' union demanded Monday that the district slash bureaucracy and disclose spending before imposing furloughs and deep pay cuts. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced last week that layoffs are the only way to close a looming $500 million budget deficit unless employees take a four-day furlough this year and a 12 percent pay cut next year.

A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, on Monday rejected Cortines' ultimatum, but said the union was "willing to talk" about options.

Community groups and Los Angeles Unified officials on Tuesday condemned an anonymous flyer handed to Latino parents that threatened them with deportation if they supported plans to convert their neighborhood school to a charter. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Calling it an escalation in a series of "scare tactics," district officials and community advocates said distribution of the flyer was timed to weaken one of LAUSD's boldest efforts to reform public education in Los Angeles.

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines tried to reassure parents in a statement that nothing would happen if they signed a petition to support a charter school.

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines leaves for China today to participate in an international educators forum, district officials said Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Cortines will join other American educators at the "International Forum on Educational Leadership and Equality," organized by the Education Department of Shandong Province and the Education Bureau of Jinan.

Cortines is also expected to visit school sites of all grade levels, including higher education institutions, during his weeklong stay in China.

Almost a third of all English-language learners in Los Angeles Unified are not considered proficient by the end of eighth grade - putting them at higher risk of dropping out, according to a report released Wednesday by USC. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

And more than half of students placed in the remedial language programs were born in the United States, the study said, while three-quarters remained in the classes for at least eight years while attending LAUSD schools.

Empowering parents to take control of their children's education, the Los Angeles Unified board voted Tuesday to expand a controversial reform plan and potentially allow the outside takeover of any underperforming school in the district. Connie Llanos in the Dailoy News.

The move comes just weeks before the launch of the School Choice Resolution program, which allows teachers, nonprofit groups and charter operators to bid to run new and underperforming district campuses.

While three dozen campuses had been identified, the board decided that a simple majority of parents could vote to nominate a school for inclusion in the reform plan if they are dissatisfied with student performance

The Youth Policy Institute, a local nonprofit that works with more than a dozen schools and hundreds of San Fernando Valley students, received a $26 million grant Tuesday for after-school programs at 21 Los Angeles schools.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The money from the California Department of Education will benefit two Valley schools - Fenton Avenue Charter School and Pacoima Charter Elementary - allocating more than $800,000 for intervention and enrichment programs on the campuses.

Already facing a $258 million budget gap for next year, Los Angeles Unified School District now has to begin grappling with an additional $221 million in potential cuts, officials said Tuesday.Daily News.

The new round of debate was triggered by a warning from Los Angeles County officials that a series of projected revenue increases and savings in the 2010-11 budget should be excluded because there is no guarantee they would actually occur next year. Those included items, such as employee concessions that depend on future union negotiations, and a parcel tax, would depend on voter approval.

The Los Angeles Unified District is just weeks away from launching its deepest reform effort to date - allowing nonprofits and other outsiders to run 36 new and underperforming schools. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

As the Nov. 15 deadline for the first phase of bidding approaches, targeted campuses are asking themselves a big question: Do we let others bid for us or do we put up a plan of our own to retain control?

Many educators anticipate publicly funded, but independently run, charter school operators to bid for a number of schools under the LAUSD's Schools Choice Plan. But teachers, administrators and community members at dozens of affected campuses see the plan as an opportunity to kick-start long-stalled innovation within the massive district.

Describing it as a "crisis averted but delayed," Los Angeles Unified officials said they can make up for a recent $140 million cut in state funding by using federal stimulus money - but they'll feel the pinch next year. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The $140 million cut, the equivalent of closing seven high schools, follows Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's weekend veto of a bill that would have temporarily retained special funding for school districts that serve low-performing students.

Those funds, totalling $400 million statewide, were initially taken away in July by lawmakers who argued the school districts could use stimulus money to make up the difference

With special math and science programs for girls and "brain breaks" for boys, Los Angeles Unified embarked Monday on an educational experiment as it opened a campus that segregates students by gender. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony formally recognized the opening of Young Oak Kim Academy Middle School in the Pico-Union District, where 750 boys and girls attend academic classes on separate floors and come together only at lunch.

"This is yet another element of reform," school board President Monica Garcia said. "We have to try as many strategies as possible to see what helps our students excel and grow ... We cannot continue to do one-size-fits-all."

WEST HILLS - If it's true that the best things come in small packages, Enadia Way Elementary School is pure gold. Connie Llanos in Daily Newsl

With just 155 students, Enadia Way is the smallest school in Los Angeles Unified - with fewer kids on campus than many other schools have in a single grade level.

The teachers at the West Hills campus can all sit at just one table in their staff lounge. And all the students can sit together at lunch and still have tables and benches to spare.

A citizens panel slammed Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines Wednesday for his efforts to revamp the district's massive building program, saying it caused the district's construction chief to resign and threatens future projects. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

In a special meeting of LAUSD's Bond Oversight Committee, panelists urged Cortines to reconsider changes he's made to the district's facilities department.

In recent years, the department has earned praise for successfully building dozens of schools with $20 billion in voter-approved bond funds and overcoming a history of problems with school construction projects in the 1990s.