In her latest OC Register column, California Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) President Gloria Romero (pictured) wonders if voters are finally “awakening to the adverse electoral influence of special-interest power and money.” “The outgoing Mayor unabashedly raised millions to elect his former political aide and keep control of the School Board,” she writes. “But an...

The chart above, courtesy of EdSource, shows how the group of nine California school districts including LAUSD propose to create their own accountability system, based on a broader range of measures than allowed under current federal law. “Standardized test scores, now the sole factor in current state API system, would now be one of three...

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...

Last Wednesday, mere hours after Antonio Sanchez conceded to her, School Board member-elect Monica Ratliff showed up at a UTLA House of Representatives meeting to thank all the teachers who volunteered for and donated to her campaign. Though the video above (shot on UTLA spokesperson Suzanne Spurgeon’s iPad) is incomplete, it shows Ratliff specifically thanking Jose...

A recent LA Times piece looks at Amy Wakeland, wife of newly elected Mayor Eric Garcetti, calling her “a powerful player in [Garcetti’s] political life” and noting that in the past she has worked for unnamed L.A. Unified School District board candidates. A helpful tipster pointed out to us that in 2003, Wakeland served as spokesperson for former...

No other issue will have a greater effect on LAUSD than how much money it receives from the state of California – and how that money is distributed to schools. All California school districts are set for a funding boost, thanks to the 2012 passage of the Proposition 30 ballot initiative and an improving economy....

Outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had breakfast with incoming Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti yesterday at the Getty House in what the LA Times called the beginning of the “formal transition of power.” We don’t know a whole lot these two disagree on in the area of education, but we can point to one thing: Board member Steve Zimmer. Villaraigosa...

Though it seems like ages ago, it was actually just last week that the School Board voted, 5-2, to revise LAUSD’s discipline policy. The move, among other things, means that LAUSD schools will no longer be able to suspend kids for a catch-all category of misbehavior called “willful defiance.” While the move was lauded by...