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Schools to hold election to fill LaMotte seat
After listening to hours of public testimony Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to call a special election to fill the seat of Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, who died last month. LA Times

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A $71 billion teacher pension liability won’t shrink
Editorial: The California State Teachers’ Retirement System estimates that the cost to fully fund the teachers’ pension debt will be almost $4.5 billion in the coming year, $4.6 billion the year after that, and more in each subsequent year. The Sacramento Bee

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LA Unified staff received free iPad before contract
LA Unified School District employees received free iPads from the global curriculum company Pearson as part of a 2012 conference sales pitch – and one of them later served on a district team that selected Pearson and Apple for a contract to provide every student and teacher with a tablet, according to testimony Tuesday. KPCC

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Senate Democrats introduce bill to expand transitional kindergarten
Highlighting early education as a top priority, state Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that would create a new grade level – a pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds – in California’s public schools.“This is at the top of the list. I can’t think of anything more important,” Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg said at a news conference announcing the new bill Tuesday. EdSource

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U.S. Criticizes Zero-Tolerance Policies in Schools
The Obama administration issued guidelines on Wednesday that recommended public school officials use law enforcement only as a last resort for disciplining students, a response to a rise in zero-tolerance policies that have disproportionately increased the number of arrests, suspensions and expulsions of minority students for even minor, nonviolent offenses. The New York Times