The polls close tonight at 8 p.m. for the LA Unified school board primary elections, with races also taking place for some LA City Council seats, Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District seats and two proposed charter amendments that would give this year’s winners 5 1/2 year terms. Check back here with LA School...

While ballots are being cast in today’s LA Unified school board elections, here’s a quick look at how successful each candidate was in financial support through Feb. 25, according to the LA Ethics Commission. The first list shows how much candidates received from individual donations. The second shows how much independent expenditure groups spent to...

Opponents of election date measures worry only special interests will benefit Charter Amendment 1 and Charter Amendment 2 would only benefit deep-pocketed special interests, opponents say. City News Service The Times’ L.A. city election ballot endorsements Voters in Los Angeles head to the polls Tuesday. Los Angeles Times LAUSD board president outpacing challengers in finances,...

The Los Angeles Times| By Eric Sondheimer  Here’s a statistic from the Los Angeles Unified School District that should set off alarm bells: 58 percent of its coaches from 83 high schools were walk-ons or non-certificated employees during the 2013-14 school year. Only 42 percent were teachers, according to Trenton Cornelius, the district’s coordinator of...

Moving beyond a single measure of a school The State Board of Education is seizing the chance to redefine student achievement and reframe how schools are held accountable for performance. Ed Source Editorial: Mayor Eric Garcetti’s silence on L.A. issues helps no one Averse to controversy and hesitant to take sides, Garcetti has often avoided...

The Los Angeles Times | By Teresa Watanabe California may be a blue state, but a Republican-led effort to scale back federal intervention in educational reform is drawing support here. As the House of Representatives moves to vote this week on reauthorizing a 50-year-old education reform law, Republicans are pushing to sharply curtail what they...

In LAUSD board election, it’s charter schools vs. labor unions  Direct campaign donations from individual contributors make up 18 percent of the money spent in the LAUSD’s District 5 school board race. KPCC Report: New Teacher Prep Rules ‘Too Stringent’ Proposed federal changes to teacher preparation requirements have generated numerous comments from education leaders and...

The Los Angeles Unified School District has reached agreement with the union on a new labor agreement. No, not that union The district and Unit E, Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Trades Council, which represents 1,300 electricians, plumbers, carpenters, roofers and other skilled workers, have agreed to terms on a three-year deal that includes a...

School board District 7, runs up a narrow swath from San Pedro at its southern tip to South LA as its northern boundary (see map here). On the way, it encompasses parts of Wilmington, Harbor City, Carson, Harbor Gateway, Lomita, Gardena, Florence, and Watts, and is home to some of LA Unified’s historically troubled high...