L.A. Unified delays first day of school year - latimes.com

Budget cuts have resulted in a shorter school year and unpaid furlough days for teachers and other employees. That reality, combined with the Jewish High Holy Days, has pushed things back to Sept. 13.

So why are students already attending public schools in some parts of the nation's second-largest school system?

That's because of another recent development: a desire by some principals to start school earlier so their students have more instructional days before the annual state standardized tests in May.