*Updated March 27 After what she called a challenging campaign, Heather Repenning — an L.A. Unified parent and former mayoral aide — is “optimistic” she will defeat frontrunner Jackie Goldberg in the May runoff for the District 5 school board seat. “I want to be a fighter, especially for the kids that are the underdog...

*Updated March 25 Former L.A. city official Heather Repenning and teachers union-pick Jackie Goldberg are officially headed to a May runoff for L.A. Unified’s Board District 5 school board seat, as the county registrar certified the March 5 primary results on Friday. Goldberg had been leagues ahead of the race’s nine other candidates since election...

School board members have approved L.A. Unified’s latest budget, even though the district is still far from being financially sustainable. The revised fiscal stabilization plan lays out the district’s response to county concerns about deficit spending, inadequate reserve levels and reliance on non-guaranteed funds to keep itself afloat in coming years. But instead of providing...

If you had the money, would you bribe a college official to get your child admitted? Fifteen percent of all American adults would answer yes, according to a new poll. And that number rises to 25 percent for adults who actually have children ages 18 and under. It’s a hypothetical question, but certainly a revealing...

*UPDATE: The county announced Thursday, March 21, that six more ballots have been counted in the race this week, and all went to Jackie Goldberg. There is still a 31-vote difference between Heather Repenning, who is in second place and thus eligible for the runoff election, and the closest competitor, Graciela Ortíz. The county will...

When some teachers in the Long Beach Unified School District hear students say they’re bad at math, they rephrase. You’re not bad, you’re just not understanding it yet. It’s not too difficult, it’s just challenging right now. These educators are helping students develop a growth mindset, a belief that they can improve their skills through...

It was nearly three decades ago when the New Jersey Supreme Court found the state’s school funding formula shortchanged its poorest students, and lawmakers directed more money to districts serving large shares of low-income children. Now, a new report suggests the state didn’t go far enough. Despite the landmark decision, the state has one of the nation’s largest...

*Updated March 15 The top three finishers in L.A. Unified’s Board District 5 election retained their positions after Tuesday’s vote count, though the race for second place narrowed to only 35 votes. A runoff election on May 14 is now certain, as Jackie Goldberg is 596 votes shy of a majority and there are fewer than...

*Updated March 7 The Board District 5 special election in L.A. Unified is almost certainly headed to a runoff, with teachers union favorite Jackie Goldberg clinching just shy of half the votes while her future opponent remains undetermined. Goldberg, a former school board member and vocal charter critic, received 48.26 percent of the vote with...

On Tuesday, L.A. Unified’s Board District 5 will hold a special election to fill a school board seat that’s been vacant since last year, potentially determining whether the board swings more pro-reform or more pro-union. The board district’s students — who are nearly 90 percent Latino — haven’t had a representative since last July, when education reformer...