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,...

Here’s some footage of Eva Longoria and District 4 School Board challenger Kate Anderson: According to the clip, the “Desperate Housewives” star was encouraged to get involved in the LAUSD race by none other than Education Secretary Arne Duncan. No word back yet from Duncan on this yet.

Watch School Board member Tamar Galatzan interview each of the mayoral candidates. It’s about a half-hour long.

Gloria Romero, the former Democratic state legislator who is now heading the California chapter of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), announced her support for School Board President Monica Garcia last Wednesday, urging supporters to contribute to Garcia’s campaign. The pro-charter, pro-accountability group issued a report card on Garcia and incumbent Steve Zimmer on Thursday morning. However, DFER-California isn’t providing...

In a conversation with LA School Report, mayoral candidate and City Controller Wendy Greuel said she believes “the role of the Mayor should be a strong one in dealing with education.” She was short on policy specifics, although she did say that she would lobby Sacramento to get “more dollars into the classroom.” Greuel, running to...

As we reported here last week, the union independent expenditure committee called UTLA-PACE has sent out a campaign mailer to attack LAUSD Board candidate Kate Anderson, who is challenging incumbent Steve Zimmer in the Westside/Hollywood’s District 4. But according to Anderson, the claims being made are “completely misleading:” The mailer scrutinizes Anderson’s attendance record while she served on...

When the LAUSD Board voted last week to approve 12 new “pilot schools,” it was a small but positive sign of change in a school district long troubled by battles among key stakeholders about to how to best improve LA’s many underperforming schools and create successful new options. Pilot schools are the most flexible of...

After issuing strong objections on Friday, the teachers union is now taking a wait-and-see attitude to LAUSD’s new guidelines saying principals should prepare to evaluate teachers with as much 30% of the evaluation based on student achievement. “We have to see how this rolls out,” UTLA President Warren Fletcher told LA School Report. “There’s a right way...

A new section of LA School Report launches today, devoted to the three hotly contested Los Angeles School Board races. Election 2013, features in-depth information about each of the ten candidates, including questionnaires, biographies, endorsements, and the latest news on campaign contributions and spending. The enhanced coverage provides readers with easy access to information as the March...