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Analysis: Aquino’s Resignation Turns a Spotlight onto Deasy
Jaime Aquino‘s surprise announcement Friday that he’ll resign from Superintendent John Deasy‘s staff at the end of the year has sent shockwaves throughout LA Unified. Tomorrow, the district school board will take up the matter in closed session. It’s unclear what they’ll discus – but his impending departure has exposed the district and its fractured...
By Hillel Aron | September 16, 2013
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Campaign 2013: Turnout Tells a Tale in District 6
There’s a great interactive map on KPCC’s website showing citywide voter turnout for every single precinct. Meant to shine a light on the Mayor’s race, the map is also pretty useful in trying to figure out what happened in the District 6 School Board race. In essence, the map seems to indicate that precinct-level turnout...
By Hillel Aron | May 29, 2013
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Campaign 2013: Cheers — and Confusion
At about noon on Wednesday, District 6 School Board candidate Antonio Sanchez conceded the race to his opponent, Monica Ratliff, and wished her good luck — an hour or two after the Coalition for School Reform had already done so. “From what I’ve seen, from the reports, I believe Monica’s the winner,” he told LA School...
By Hillel Aron | May 23, 2013
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Campaign 2013: How Ratliff Won (& Reformers Lost)*
The results are (mostly) in, and the LAUSD School Board District 6 election looks like the shock result of the evening, with Monica Ratliff having apparently defeated Antonio Sanchez, 52 percent to 48 percent — a complete reversal from the primary results in which Sanchez bested Ratliff by 10 points. Sanchez has now conceded the...
By Hillel Aron | May 22, 2013
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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Before They Were School Board Candidates
If you haven’t already read Hillel Aron’s profiles of the District 6 candidates Monica Ratliff and Antonio Sanchez on the campaign trail this past weekend, be sure and do so here and here. Did you know, however, that one of the two candidates was in a 2012 Nazi revenge film (straight to DVD) and the...
By LA School Report | May 21, 2013
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Election Day: Voter Turnout Will Determine Outcome
In today’s School Board District 6 election, Antonio Sanchez remains the strong favorite over his opponent, Monica Ratliff, thanks in part to the overwhelming advantage in campaign contributions to both Sanchez’s campaign and two independent campaigns on his behalf. Sanchez’s Latino surname and fluency in Spanish is also a built-in advantage (though Ratliff’s mother is from Mexico). “You’re...
By Hillel Aron | May 21, 2013
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Campaign: Walking San Fernando with Antonio Sanchez
Antonio Sanchez always introduces himself to voters the same way, telling them within ten seconds that he grew up in Pacoima, went to San Fernando High School, and graduated form Cal State Northridge before going on to UCLA. And so when he canvases precincts in San Fernando on Saturday, he knows most of the streets. He...
By Hillel Aron | May 20, 2013
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Campaign: Door-to-Door in Sunland with Monica Ratliff
Going door-to-door in the Sunland section of the East Valley one evening this past weekend, District 6 School Board candidate Monica Ratliff‘s pitch to voters goes something like this: “Hi, my name is Monica Ratliff. I’m a teacher, and I’m running for the Board of Education. Do you have any questions or concerns about the school district?”...
By Hillel Aron | May 20, 2013
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Still No School Board Endorsement From Garcetti
At last week’s KCRW debate, host Warren Olney asked the two Mayoral candidates who they’d endorsed in the School Board District 6 runoff taking place on Tuesday. Wendy Greuel answered without hesitation: Antonio Sanchez. Eric Garcetti said he had only met with one of the candidates, but was “due to talk to the other one shortly,...
By Hillel Aron | May 16, 2013
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East Valley Power Politics Shaped District 6 Runoff
As you may have read in last week’s LA Weekly about School Board member Nury Martinez’s bid for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, there are surprisingly few women left on the Council thanks in large part to a rivalry between two male-dominated East San Fernando Valley political clans. The rivalry between these two Latino...
By Hillel Aron | May 16, 2013