LAUSD

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Jul 12 2012

Lawyers file on 2002 case

More than a dozen mothers of former Miramonte Elementary School students have sued Los Angeles Unified for negligence, claiming their lives also were affected by the acts of a teacher accused of lewd conduct with their children.

The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and comes two months after another suit was filed on behalf of 20 offspring of the plaintiffs in the latest case.

Jul 12 2012

New schedule allows students to finish first semester before winter break

Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will start classes this coming school year sooner than ever before.

Pupils in K-12 will begin the 2012-13 school year on Tuesday, Aug. 14, three weeks earlier than usual. The so-called early start calendar had been previously adopted by about 20 schools, mostly in the San Fernando Valley, and now will be rolled out districtwide.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Apr 5 2012

Named ‘Distinguished’ schools

 As schools nationwide struggle with shrinking budgets and injecting academic rigor into curriculums, California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson last week announced that 387 exemplary public schools were named 2012 Distinguished schools for their innovative education programs that both encourage students to learn and help close the achievement gap.

Six of the awardees this year are local schools from the Compton, Inglewood, Hawthorne and Los Angeles unified school districts.

Mar 1 2012

Superintendent announces plans to revisit all discipline cases

A Theodore Roosevelt High School Spanish teacher was free on bail this week following her arrest on suspicion of having sex with two students—the latest in a string of sex-abuse cases that have bedeviled the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Gabriela Cortez, 42, was arrested Feb. 22 and booked on suspicion of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, said Montebello police Lt. Luis Lopez. She posted $140,000 bail and was ordered to appear in court March 22.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Feb 16 2012

Union hopes to see most Miramonte teachers returned

With the Los Angeles Unified School District reeling from three recent revelations of sexual improprieties with students comes the latest allegations from John C. Fremont High School in South Los Angeles.

Alain Salas, 40, a teacher’s aide and coaching assistant, was arrested on suspicion of three counts of lewd acts and one count of contacting a minor for a sexual offense, according to officials. The arrest was made Monday by members of the FBI’s Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement team.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.