LA School Report has learned that the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission is at fault in an election disclosure discrepancy reported here earlier today. According to the Commission, due to human error, the City Ethics site did not make public independent expenditures (IEs) made by the teachers union political arm, UTLA-PACE, for LAUSD school board...

After a slow start, the District 4 (Hollywood and Westside) race between School Board Member Steve Zimmer and challenger Kate Anderson is heating up. On Tuesday, Anderson unveiled her first campaign ad on YouTube. Zimmer’s campaign manager, Ari Ruiz, said his campaign team also plans to launch ads supporting Zimmer on YouTube this Saturday. Zimmer...

There is, arguably, just one School Board candidate running a truly grassroots campaign built on dozens of volunteers and more than a hundred* small contributions of as little as $5 — and little else by way of outside support. His name is Robert Skeels. Skeels is one of several candidates running for the Eastside District...

LA School Report has learned that the teachers union’s political arm, UTLA-PACE, has sent a direct mail piece on behalf of a Westside District 4 candidate, Steve Zimmer, in what appears to be its first election expenditure. The mailer is notable because UTLA-PACE is expected to spend big on behalf of UTLA-backed school board candidates, but...

At a candidate forum in Northridge yesterday, Mayoral hopeful Eric Garcetti did some serious dodging when asked if he would vote for School Board President Monica Garcia, who is running for re-election in East Long Angeles’ District 2: “I admire Monica Garcia a lot,” said Garcetti, who has complained about teacher-bashing and recently received an endorsement...

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten (pictured) is visiting Woodland Hills Elementary School this morning, along with School Board member Steve Zimmer. As we reported yesterday, Weingarten is in town to announce a $150,000 grant to United Teachers of Los Angeles for improved school improvement plans. While UTLA and AFT are trying to prevent...

On Wednesday, the Coalition for School Reform launched a campaign ad in support of School Board President Monica Garcia, the District 2 candidate who is one of UTLA’s top targets in the March 5 election. The announcement says that the ad will begin airing immediately.  This is the Coalition’s second TV ad. No word yet on...

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten is scheduled to hold a Friday, February 8 press conference at Woodland Hills Academy to announce a $150,000 grant to the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). The grant is aimed at helping teachers create strong school improvement plans and prevent the need for any additional “parent trigger” actions...

If you were running for School Board it might seem obvious you would need to be prepared to answer this simple question: “Do you support current LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy?” But at last week’s District 6 candidate forum for the Los Angeles School Board race in the San Fernando Valley, this question made for some...

A Washington, DC-based think tank called Education Sector has a new report out touting the strengths and challenges of the blended learning program at Alliance Tennenbaum Family Technology High School.  (See The Right Mix: How One Los Angeles School is Blending a Curriculum for Personalized Learning.  Watch some video here: A Look Inside Tennenbaum.) Blended learning combines...