School Board candidates have stepped up their game in direct fundraising in the past month — even as their campaign coffers continue to be eclipsed by the skyrocketing unlimited independent expenditure (IE) contributions. According to new figures posted to the LA City Ethics Commission, some candidates are far outpacing others – and candidates who support reform...

The Coalition for School Reform has been running TV ads and hitting voters with a blizzard of glossy flyers.  But — having closely lost 2011’s big-money campaign between Bennett Kayser and Luis Sanchez — the reform-oriented campaign committee is also taking its field organization very seriously. Field organizing — also sometimes called a campaign “ground game”...

In the summer of 2011, the Jewish Journal wrote a long cover profile of District 4 School Board member Steve Zimmer. One of the most interesting focal points of the 2011 feature was Zimmer’s vote to support a revised version of Public School Choice, the process through which LAUSD attempts to rescue failing schools (in some cases by...

Governor Jerry Brown’s new proposal for distributing education dollars to school districts could be a major win for LAUSD, according to Superintendent John Deasy. “It’s the single greatest education policy shift in the last 35 years in California,” Deasy told LA School Report on Thursday. “It’s really brilliant by the Governor in so many ways.”...

Mayors Cory Booker of Newark, Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, and LA’s Antonio Villaraigosa are all scheduled to appear at the education summit hosted by United Way of Greater Los Angeles on Wednedsay, February 27 at the LA Convention Center. Four of Los Angeles’ mayoral candidates — Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel, Kevin James, and Jan Perry —...

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy is working hard to secure federal approval for a waiver from some of the key provisions of No Child Left Behind, taking a whirlwind trip to Washington, DC to meet with Education Secretary Arne Duncan earlier this week. Among other things, a waiver for LAUSD would free up an estimated $80...

“In L.A. Unified, 22,932 students took at least one AP test last year — an increase of more than 8% over the previous year.”  Via LA Times

This is a guest commentary from Unai Montes-Irueste, a former classroom teacher who spent much of last year blogging for Leadership for Educational Equity, the political recruitment spinoff of Teach For America, and is now a contributor to Politic365.com: A school board race in the second largest public education system in the nation has become the...

Last night, the increasingly star-studded effort to improve education in Los Angeles got a boost from several members of the cast of “Les Miserables” and other Hollywood stars, who turned out for a party hosted by Vanity Fair to raise money for the LA Fund for Public Education. Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha...

While no one yet knows who will ultimately win the three contested School Board races, there are already some big winners among campaign consultants (who get paid no matter what). As you can see below, big money has been flowing out from independent expenditure committees and campaigns to consultants who specialize in mailers, TV ads,...