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Watch: The Zimmer Attack Ad That Never Was
For all the time and effort spent trying to unseat District 4 School Board member Steve Zimmer in the primary, the Coalition-funded TV ad campaign relied almost entirely on the single “Talking Benches” ad. Here’s an alternative that might have had more effect — or backfired: a YouTube video showing Zimmer touting his independence at the...
By Alexander Russo | March 15, 2013
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Mayor Overreached Against Zimmer, Says Reformer
Last week’s School Board primary outcome wasn’t a win or even a mixed result for Mayor Villaraigosa and his merry band of reformers, according to former state senator Gloria Romero. It was a big loss. Romero has had public disagreements with Villaraigosa in the past, and she first made her negative assessment of the outcome...
By Alexander Russo | March 12, 2013
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April 11 Next Disclosure Date for Independent Committees
Now that the dust has started to settle around last week’s LAUSD Board primary election, you might be wondering what outside spending groups have in store for the May runoff election for the District 6 (East San Fernando Valley) Board seat. However, it may be awhile. The Coalition for School Reform and UTLA-PACE won’t have...
By Samantha Oltman | March 12, 2013
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Read: Misplaced Focus on LAUSD & Deasy
Rather than focusing on the school board election and the preservation of a superintendency, the coalition and the union should have attended to building a new education system in Sacramento and Washington, where the money and power reside. — Claremont University professor Charles Taylor Kerchner in the LA Times.
By LA School Report | March 11, 2013
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Morning Read: Mixed Reactions Follow Board Elections
Victorious LAUSD Incumbent Vows to Keep Challenging Deasy Having presented the Los Angeles School Board election races as a referendum on Superintendent John Deasy’s future, the club of six- and seven-figure donors in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Coalition for School Reform may have succeeded in making Deasy’s life more complicated. EdSource See also: LA Daily News,...
By Samantha Oltman | March 7, 2013
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Morning Read: Voters Head to Polls for School Board, Mayor
With Reform Fervor in the Air, Local School Board Elections See Record Outside Spending This year, huge amounts of money and passion are flowing down the ballot into the school board elections — part of an all-out war over public school reform. KCET See also: LA School Report Late Donations Bolster Pro-Deasy School Board Candidates...
By Samantha Oltman | March 5, 2013
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Outside Spending Up $400K Since Friday – Nears $5 Million
Outside interest groups have spent $4.8 million so far on the three LAUSD Board races — an increase of $400,000 just over the weekend. So far, UTLA has spent $994,000 on two races — District 2 (East LA) and District 4 (Westside/Hollywood) — but has stayed out of the District 6 (East San Fernando Valley)...
By Samantha Oltman | March 4, 2013
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Coalition Fields Effort to Avoid Runoffs
In a tall office building overlooking Olympic Boulevard, a group of more than a dozen volunteers sat in a circle in a conference room being trained on how to best reach voters on the phone and in the field. One of the keys to the Coalition’s new field campaign is to send volunteers out into...
By Karen Jordan | March 4, 2013
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Insider Predictions: Two Runoffs & A “Jump Ball”
Predicting the outcome of any political campaign is notoriously difficult — and predicting closely contested School Board races may be especially so. The turnout is generally low, and the polling is weak. The majority of voters tend to make up their mind while they’re looking at the ballot, and forget who they’ve voted for 10...
By Hillel Aron | March 1, 2013
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Zimmer Irate Over Reform Coalition Attacks
It was perhaps no surprise that District 4 School Board member Steve Zimmer was visibly upset when he happened to run into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Deputy Mayor for Education, Joan Sullivan, at today’s United Way education event. “RFK, Joan? Really?” said Zimmer as the two rode the escalator together. “That’s just wrong.” “I don’t know what...
By Hillel Aron | February 27, 2013