Sequestration: What Southern California Stands to Lose The Southland is bracing for massive cuts in federal spending at the end of the week, with education and airport officials in particular worried about the impact of the impending reductions. LA Daily News See also: LA Times, KPCC, SI&A Cabinet Report Senator Proposes Pushing Back Teacher Layoff...

Could a Single School Board Race Determine the Future of LAUSD? If Zimmer loses to challenger Kate Anderson, both sides agree, that will permanently tip the scales 4 to 3 in favor of a board that pushes for more charter expansion and data based teacher evaluations.KPCC Donations From Independent Groups Shaping City, LAUSD Elections Independent...

Michelle Rhee Group Donates $250,000 to Candidates in LAUSD Races A group led by former District of Columbia schools chancellor Michelle Rhee donated $250,000 Wednesday to contests for seats on the Los Angeles Board of Education, adding further political fuel to a battle over the direction of reform efforts in the nation’s second-largest school system....

As we reported here last week, the union independent expenditure committee called UTLA-PACE has sent out a campaign mailer to attack LAUSD Board candidate Kate Anderson, who is challenging incumbent Steve Zimmer in the Westside/Hollywood’s District 4. But according to Anderson, the claims being made are “completely misleading:” The mailer scrutinizes Anderson’s attendance record while she served on...

Outside spending in LAUSD race tops $2 Million Outside spending for the Los Angeles Unified school board campaign has soared past $2 million – including $1 million in the contentious District 4 race that has shaped up as a pitched battle between reform and union interests. LA Daily News See also: LA School Report Huge...

When the LAUSD Board voted last week to approve 12 new “pilot schools,” it was a small but positive sign of change in a school district long troubled by battles among key stakeholders about to how to best improve LA’s many underperforming schools and create successful new options. Pilot schools are the most flexible of...

The latest independent expenditure (IE) committee numbers posted on the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission website show an eye-popping $2.2 million in spending by outside groups thus far. That number is sure to grow in the next two weeks before the March 5 primary election date. The messaging has already gone negative in the more contentious...

Union Fights Mayor Bloomberg in LA Mayor Bloomberg and teachers union boss Randi Weingarten are going head-to-head again — this time in a high-stakes, bitter national fight over school reform in Los Angeles. NY Post The Mayoral Endorsement That Isn’t Los Angeles Unified School District board member Tamar Galatzan has spent the last few weeks...

Deasy Wants 30% of Teacher Evaluations Based on Test Scores L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy announced Friday that as much as 30% of a teacher’s evaluation will be based on student test scores, setting off more contention in the nation’s second-largest school system in the weeks before a critical Board of Education election. LA Times...

An election mailer sent out this week by UTLA-PACE is just the latest negative entry in the high-stakes LAUSD election. UTLA-PACE’s new mailer targets candidate Kate Anderson, who is running against LAUSD Board incumbent Steve Zimmer for a seat representing the Westside and Hollywood’s District 4. Among other things, the mailer accuses Anderson of wanting...