As KPCC reported on Friday, United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) has endorsed Eric Garcetti for Mayor but has no plans to spend any money to campaign for him. “We’re focusing our money on the School Board races,” UTLA secondary Vice President Gregg Solkovits explained to LA School Report. But UTLA won’t be focusing equally on...

Today’s KPCC notes that a handful of big-name Hollywood types have begun donating campaign funds to the LAUSD School Board race for the first time — most of it in support of School Board President Monica Garcia. If recent history is any guide, they won’t be the only relative newcomers who write checks (or make endorsements) in the...

While campaign donations, policy positions, mailed flyers, debates, and endorsements all make up a big part of a school board race, the candidates for the three LAUSD School Board races also rely on a lot of phone calls, door knocking, and other kinds of “retail’ politics – some of which are coordinated out of storefront...

Today, February 4, is the first day voters can apply for and vote with a vote-by-mail ballot in the March primary election — one of several upcoming deadlines as we head towards March 5. To help you keep things straight, LA School Report has made a handy schedule of the important election dates voters should remember: February...

In a conversation with LA School Report, City Council member and mayoral candidate Jan Perry praised Mayor Villaraigosa’s efforts in the field of education and “pursuing better outcomes for students.” Perry said she would support the Mayor’s Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, and she hopes Villaraigosa will continue to play a role in the organization. “When...

Over the weekend, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) Director of Communications Suzanne Spurgeon emailed us a statement about our Friday story on how UTLA has been reporting and spending its money so far in the LAUSD School Board campaign: “To our knowledge PACE has reported expenditures in a timely and proper manner. If there have...

In her new book, Follow the Money, political scientist Sarah Reckhow discusses the rise of a new generation of education philanthropists, the differences among them, and how their work has played out in some big city school systems.  In a recent blog post, Lessons From Los Angeles, Reckhow asserts that reform efforts in Los Angeles have...

Watch East Valley District 6 candidates Antonio Sanchez, Maria Cano, and Monica Ratliff at the United Way candidate forum on Thursday, where they shared their opinions on big election topics, including classroom resources, Superintendent John Deasy, teacher evaluations, and how to handle teachers accused of misconduct:  

According to new documents unearthed by LA School Report (but not otherwise available online), the political action arm of United Teachers Los Angeles, called UTLA-PACE, has amassed a war chest of $671,000 and begun spending funds on polling and consulting. However, UTLA-PACE has yet to deem any of its campaign spending as “independent expenditures,” which must be...

Before Monday’s debate, the topic of education had been largely AWOL from the Mayoral campaign.  This might have seemed odd, considering what a huge role education issues played in outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s eight years in office. However, the five leading candidates are now beginning to stake out positions on education in order to attract...