On Friday, former LAUSD Board Members Yolie Flores and Marlene Canter weighed in with an oped in the LA Daily News:  “When people with no vested, personal interest in the outcome try to help elect reform-minded candidates, they are branded as “outsiders” who are trying to “buy elections.”… Yet, when “insiders” who do have a...

Two education outlets — Hechinger Report (affiliated with Columbia University) and Education Week — have recently published stories out about the LAUSD School Board races focused on the large amount of money that’s been raised by the Coalition for School Reform. Mainstream  outlets — the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post — are almost sure to follow. If they do, however, they...

Follow LA School Report‘s Hillel Aron and others at the United Way Education summit going right now!

Anyone (like me) who thought that American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten was going to follow up on her recent trip to LA with a big, fat Lotto-sized check for District 4 candidate Steve Zimmer and UTLA-PACE is going to be sorely disappointed. Word is out that the AFT has sent a $75,000 check to...

In the summer of 2011, the Jewish Journal wrote a long cover profile of District 4 School Board member Steve Zimmer. One of the most interesting focal points of the 2011 feature was Zimmer’s vote to support a revised version of Public School Choice, the process through which LAUSD attempts to rescue failing schools (in some cases by...

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy is working hard to secure federal approval for a waiver from some of the key provisions of No Child Left Behind, taking a whirlwind trip to Washington, DC to meet with Education Secretary Arne Duncan earlier this week. Among other things, a waiver for LAUSD would free up an estimated $80...

Here’s some footage of Eva Longoria and District 4 School Board challenger Kate Anderson: According to the clip, the “Desperate Housewives” star was encouraged to get involved in the LAUSD race by none other than Education Secretary Arne Duncan. No word back yet from Duncan on this yet.

Watch School Board member Tamar Galatzan interview each of the mayoral candidates. It’s about a half-hour long.

Gloria Romero, the former Democratic state legislator who is now heading the California chapter of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), announced her support for School Board President Monica Garcia last Wednesday, urging supporters to contribute to Garcia’s campaign. The pro-charter, pro-accountability group issued a report card on Garcia and incumbent Steve Zimmer on Thursday morning. However, DFER-California isn’t providing...

Reactions so far to the LA Times editorial page endorsements have been mixed. Nearly everyone agrees that newspaper endorsements aren’t likely to make or break a close School Board race.  Opinions differ on whether the LA Times editorial page is pro-union or pro-reform. Indeed, the Friday endorsements were a mixed bag and doled out criticism of both UTLA...