The slow pace of progress toward a new contract in the teachers union negotiations with LA Unified is, so far, costing Board President Richard Vladovic any possibility of union support for his reelection. The UTLA political action committee met last night, and a motion to recommend an endorsement to the union’s House of Representatives failed to...

Even with more charter schools than any district in the country, LA Unified still only received a “C-” grade in school choice in a new report from the Brown Center on Education Policy. The grade is a slight fall from the C grade it earned last year from the Brown Center, which is part of the Brookings...

As the teachers union’s negotiations with LA Unified drag on, one of the nation’s leading voices for teachers appeared at an event last night hosted by district board member Steve Zimmer and made a strong case for union activity and solidarity. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, delivered a fire-and- brimstone-type address to...

Bennett Kayser, who represents District 5 on the LA Unified school board, is front and center tonight, facing his two rivals for the first time in a much anticipated candidate forum at Eagle Rock High School. After suddenly pulling out of two forums last week, Kayser is appearing in the wake of a recent attack mailer...

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 Ankur Patel, a candidate for the District 3 seat. At 29-years old, Ankur Patel is the youngest candidate running for the LA Unified School Board, and he’s using that...

Close to 300 LA Unified students who would have ended up in the criminal justice system for minor infractions in years past have been successfully diverted from it this school year, Los Angeles School Police Chief Steven Zipperman told a school board committee yesterday. The effort toward a reduction in student citations and arrests, part of...

UTLA, the LA Unified teachers union, is offering tonight an unvarnished public view of its bargaining position in negotiations with LA Unified for a new teachers contract. Board member Steve Zimmer is scheduled to moderate a panel discussion at Occidental College that includes UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and...

By Steve Zimmer The vicious lies contained in the California Charter School Association (CCSA) mailer represent a new low in school board campaign tactics. They attack not only Bennett Kayser’s service to his district but his heart and his soul as well. I know these attacks.  They were leveled at me, my life work and...

The chairman of the the political action committee for the LA teachers union, UTLA, said today that, for now, the union has no plan to endorse Board President Richard Vladovic for reelection to the LA Unified District 7 board seat. Marco Flores said the committee’s next meeting, tomorrow, does not include a recommendation to endorse...

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 Scott Schmerelson, a candidate for the District 3 seat.  Scott Schmerelson is bad at being retired. After more than 35 years as an educator — he’s been a teacher,...