This morning the Los Angeles Unified School District put on a Food Service Division dog and pony show intended as an obvious response to the criticisms levied against them in last night's Season Two Premiere of the Emmy-award winning "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution." Major television press outlets, English and Spanish speaking, were invited to attend. LA's number one blog? Well, we weren't allowed to go. more ›

It's a miracle! The Superior Street Elementary student who was told he could not perform an interpretive dance to a Christian pop song because the lyrics made numerous references to Jesus has been told the show will go on...with him in it. Following a lawsuit filed on his behalf by a coalition of Christian attorneys, school officials managed to work things out. more ›

Last December, LAUSD agreed to have the new school year start on August 15th instead of starting the day after Labor Day to allow students to complete final exams before the winter break. The "Early Start Calendar" plan has just been delayed, according to a statement released by LAUSD Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. more ›

This morning, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines issued an apology following the arrest last night of school police officer Jeffrey Stenroos, who went from victim to perp after allegedly filing a false report about his shooting outside El Camino Real High School last week. more ›

With a 6-0 vote, the Los Angeles Board of Education approved the appointment of Dr. John Deasy as the next Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Deasy has been serving as the deputy superintendent since August 2, 2010, and will begin his new post on April 15th, following the departure of Superintendent Ramon Cortines, who announced his retirement last July. more ›

Calling it a "new and creative approach in raising revenue for the general fund," Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines is applauding the School Board's unanimous vote yesterday to approve pursuing corporate sponsorships to support programs. The Board's vote authorizes Cortines to seek corporate sponsorships of up to $500,000 to generate revenue that will go towards sustaining sports and arts programs. more ›

More high school students attending LAUSD schools are dropping out before graduating, according to the Daily News. However, figures compiled by the LAUSD show there are more dropouts, but by a decreasing rate, as opposed to what's reported in figures released by the California Department of Education. more ›

As the new school day begins at Roosevelt High School, officials are speaking out about yesterday's deadly accident involving a LAUSD school bus. more ›

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines dangled a threat of resignation yesterday, then took it back, reports LA Now. more ›

It was, indeed, a race, and once again California's public schools aren't among the winners. more ›

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines has announced that "it's time to retire," according to cbs2. Cortines has worked in education for six decades, the last of which has been spent in Los Angeles, where he has served as the Interim Superintendent of Schools; Deputy Mayor for Education, Youth and Families; and has been the head of the LAUSD since 2009... more ›

Yesterday, LAUSD's Board of Education voted in support of condemning neighbor-state Arizona's controversial immigration law, SB 1070, on the grounds that its enforcement is likely to promote racial profiling. more ›

During yesterday's regular LAUSD Board of Education meeting the officials voted 6-0 in favor of condemnation of Arizona's immigration law, SB 1070, according to the LA Times. more ›

In October of 1989, Michael Jackson attended a dedication ceremony at Gardner Street Elementary in Los Angeles to name the auditorium of the school where he was once a sixth grader in his honor. During the ceremony, his sixth grade teacher, Laura Gerson, lauded Jackson, remarking the honor came "as a token of our respect, and our love for you, not only as a performer, but as a fine human being." more ›

The federal government wants to know if the nation's second-largest school district "denied educational opportunities to students learning English," according to the Daily News. The Department of Education's civil rights branch is expected to launch an investigation focused on schools in Southeast LA and the west San Fernando Valley to determine if they are complying with expectations of equal opportunity in regards to providing instruction to English-language learners. more ›

At 8 a.m., LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines is scheduled to give his State of the District speech, outlining four strategies, including a funding model that gives money to schools based on each student's needs, according to the LA Times. more ›

In order to save jobs and money, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent, Ramon Cortines, is proposing reducing the school year by six days, according a press release issued by the District. more ›

LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines, who is paid $250,000 a year (it should be $300,000, but he voluntary staved off $50,000 for budget reasons), is once again leading by example by taking his furlough day next Monday. “How can I ask LAUSD employees to take what amounts to a pay cut if I am not willing to share the sacrifice?" he said. "These are dire times. The savings accrued from furlough days are needed to keep deeper cuts away from students and the classroom." more ›

The school year is well underway now, and campuses in the vast LAUSD system are coping with the consequences of this year's massive budget cuts. But in the state as a whole, "the impact of California's budget cuts has varied from school to school. Because of the patchwork of federal and state funding for education, some campuses have felt the pinch far less than others," explains Mitchell Landsberg in yesterday's LA Times. more ›

Leave it to Sacha Baron Cohen to stir things up. The comic entertainer and his upcoming new feature film Bruno is the subject of a few raised eyebrows at the Los Angeles Unified School District when they realized he'd posed for pictures at the Valley's Birmingham High, according to KCOP. In the publicity photos, Cohen is reportedly "wearing not much more than a paper cup as a jockstrap and pretending to sexually abuse a prone football player." more ›

Today marks Day 8 of the Hunger Strike initiated by several LAUSD teachers and community members. In addition to the hunger strike, protesters have held, and will continue to hold, "camp-out" events, bringing supporters and community members together to "celebrate and protect the culture" of area schools; one such evening is planned for tomorrow from 6-8:30 p.m. at Miguel Contreras Learning Center. more ›

Plans for a one-day teacher walk out and protest planned for Friday had the kibosh put on them today by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. Unionized teachers wanted to protest anticipated layoffs and large class sizes and LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines doesn't want to disrupt school environs, especially in light of state and advance placement testing. more ›

It was as close to a split as a panel of 7 can get: In a 4-3 vote, the LAUSD Board of Education voted late yesterday afternoon to approve layoffs that will affect thousands of teachers and other district staff. more ›

With one day left before the LAUSD Board is due to vote on the postponed motion for thousands of layoffs district-wide at their regularly scheduled meeting, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to meet later this morning with teachers and parents to talk about ways to avoid the ax falling so mightily. more ›

So far, so good? Or maybe not? New Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Ramon Cortines has entered into his job at a tough time while facing a $718 million budget deficit--that's a bigger red number than the city of Los Angeles. Cortines was once the interim superintendent back in 2000 and he drafted up plans he is only getting to implement this time around: "Its central office would be lean; decisions would be made on campus by teachers and principals; communities would play a key role in boosting neighborhood schools," the Daily News lists in a nice profile of him. Of course, that looks good on paper, but the process to get there is not without controversy, especially from the infamous teachers union. more ›

Under pressure from United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing educators working in the LAUSD, the Board of Education agreed on Tuesday during their regular meeting to postpone voting on proposed layoffs. The Board, in a gesture meant to show alignment with Superintendent Ramon Cortines, decided to pursue meetings and discussions of alternatives with bargaining units, and will bring the motion to the table once more on April 14th. more ›

LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines is looking for ways to help the beleaguered district function on a budget deficit and in the wake of more state-level cuts. To do so, he is considering laying off "a great many employees," according to abc7.com. "The first wave of possible cuts will likely be made among non-teaching personnel. They include management and staff throughout the district." If approved by the school board by vote on March 10, the pink slips will go out shortly after, although not all those employees notified will immediately lose their jobs. Cortines insists that instruction will continue in the classrooms and that he is focused on doing what he can to minimize how these layoffs will affect the kids. more ›

The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) is calling for a boycott of periodic assessment tests mandated by the LAUSD, and have "directed teachers to refuse to give them to students on the grounds that the tests are costly and counterproductive," according to the LA Times. more ›

Just a few days after David Brewer's buyout of over a half million dollars, the LA Unified School District voted to give Ramon C. Cortines, the second man down the line, the job on a three-year contract. "We will not do things the same way," he said. "[The district will find] new ways of providing services to parents and working with teachers and working with administrators and working with community. We are the urban sprawl but it is time that we lock arms on behalf of our children. We must put the students first--not special interests. And so there will be change and change will be good for all of us." more ›