* UPDATED This is the next in a series of profiles on candidates running in the March 3 primary for the LA Unified school board. Today’s focus is Carl Petersen, a candidate for the District 3 seat.   If Carl Petersen does not win the crowded LA Unified school board race for District 3, it...

A campaign flyer implying that LA Unified board member Bennett Kayser is racist is drawing more fire, as two more would-be beneficiaries renounced its message, and an LA Times editorial accused the sponsoring organization of engaging in “slimy tactics on behalf of children.” Produced by an arm of the California Charter Schools Association, the flyer...

By The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board It’s not a big deal for a local political candidate to skip a debate or two during a campaign. But the last-minute disintegration of a planned three-man debate last Wednesday was another matter. Bennett Kayser, campaigning to retain his seat on the Los Angeles Unified school board, pulled...

Canoga Park High could be latest to become a charter school After more than 100 years with LAUSD, the western San Fernando Valley’s oldest high school could become an independent charter this fall. Los Angeles Daily News Commentary: Don’t punish other districts for L.A. Unified’s problems It’s very clear from readers that many don’t equate...

In the aftermath of the Miramonte Elementary sex abuse scandal, which has so far cost LA Unified roughly $170 million in settlements, was the creation of a special unit to handle all future sexual abuse allegations. The Student Safety Investigative Team passed its one-year anniversary of active investigations on Jan. 7, and to date has investigated...

SEIU Local 99 has a new leader to steer the union’s 45,000 LA Unified employee membership. Max Arias has been named Executive Director starting Feb 16. He is replacing Scott Washburn who has been serving as interim executive director since July, 2014. The union represents teachers assistants, custodians, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers among other service positions....

Let the negative campaigning begin! An arm of the California Charter Schools Association‘s political action committee has unleashed the first campaign attack with a full color, glossy flyer aimed at District 5 board incumbent Bennett Kayser. The message targets a very specific demographic: Latinos. It features five sad looking brown-skinned kids with their heads in their...

The slow pace of negotiations between LA Unified and the teachers union, UTLA, continued yesterday, with the district proposing new language on employee evaluations, transfers and early retirement incentives and no counter-offers this time from the union on those issues or anything else. That leaves the talks about where they’ve been, with all 12unresolved issues...

Via The New York Times | By Susan Pinker  President Obama’s domestic agenda, which he announced in his State of the Union address this month, has a lot to like: health care, maternity leave, affordable college. But there was one thing he got wrong. As part of his promise to educate American children for an...

Districts seeking reimbursement for Common Core test cost The state could be liable for as much as $1 billion per year in costs. Ed Source 2 of 3 candidates for L.A. school board seat don’t show up for debate Absenteeism was a big problem Wednesday night at a forum for Los Angeles Unified school board...