“For the last eight years, education reformers have had a staunch ally in the L.A. mayor’s office,” writes LA Weekly reporter Gene Maddaus in a recent roundup of the Mayoral candidates’ education priorities. “But in a few months, Villaraigosa will be gone, and at the moment it appears that his successor will not be as strong an advocate...

Campaign questionnaires don’t always yield reflective or candid responses from candidates, but a majority of LAUSD Board candidates have now responded to a questionnaire on the League of Women Voters’ Smart Voter website and their answers shed some light on what they think are the biggest issues facing LAUSD — as well as what’s needed to improve...

Earlier this month, the political arm of the Los Angeles teachers union known as UTLA-PACE unveiled a new “Join PACE” website devoted almost entirely to the upcoming LAUSD elections. But there is no sign yet that it has filed disclosure paperwork with the City Ethics Committee. As a tax-exempt labor organization, the union is allowed to advocate...

Lots of different folks want to help 24th Street Elementary School turn things around, according to Parent Revolution — including LAUSD itself and a former 24th Street educator.  EdSource notes that Celerity was one of the outfits that expressed interest in Compton back when the trigger was being attempted there. A number of these outfits will likely...

The Coalition for School Reform reported over $1.2 million raised during the first 19 days of the year, according to campaign disclosure statements obtained from the City Ethics Commission (download document here). The Coalition is, which is supporting School Board candidates Monica Garcia, Kate Anderson and Antonio Sanchez, was also major force in the 2011 School...

All three remaining LAUSD School Board candidates vying for a seat representing District 6 are scheduled to appear at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ second Board candidate forum on Thursday, January 31. Ryan Smith, United Way’s director of education programs and policy, told LA School Report that over 150 R.S.V.P’s have already been...

District 6 candidate Antonio Sanchez  is vowing to be a new, different kind of School Board member. In his second interview with LA School Report, Sanchez listed some fairly standard policy priorities — lowering dropout rates and increasing resources – but also emphasized his youth, enthusiasm, and honesty. Sanchez argues that these attributes are among the...

The race over who will replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in June has thus far focused on non-education issues, but the five main City Hall candidates have taken some positions on education topics and the USC School of Journalism news blog has a quick roundup. Some highlights: Councilmenber Eric Garcetti supports a school funding revamp to...

Late on Friday, the Coalition for School Reform, an Independent Expenditure (IE) committee, filed paperwork indicating that it had spent its first money:  $45,457 for District 4 candidate Kate Anderson, $33,431 for District 6 candidate Antonio Sanchez and $29,238 for District 2 incumbent Monica Garcia. Most of the money went to The Feldman Group, which has...

The latest campaign contribution disclosures filed with the City reveal that LAUSD employees are not shy about kicking in money to support their favorite School Board candidates — a practice which is legal as long as the contribution is not solicited: Steve Zimmer, the incumbent running on the Westside for the District 4 seat, has...