-
Defiant Mayor Promises Continued Involvement
Before and during a Wednesday evening education event held at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, a tired-looking Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa expressed frustration about the previous day’s election results — and pledged to keep working on school reform issues even after his term expires. “Obviously I was disappointed with the results in the fourth district,” Villaraigosa told LA School...
By Hillel Aron | March 7, 2013
-
SEIU Local 99 Wins Highlight Value of Field Operations
Unlike the closely watched Coalition for School Reform and the teachers union, SEIU Local 99 — which represents LAUSD classified employees like cafeteria workers and custodians — came out of Tuesday’s election an unequivocal winner. The union was two for three on election night, having backed both Monica Garcia and Steve Zimmer — and could...
By Hillel Aron | March 7, 2013
-
After Election, Board Status Quo Remains Intact
After months of campaigning, thousands of trees chopped down and turned into glossy direct mail, and nearly $6 million spent, last night’s LAUSD Board election left the ideological makeup of the School Board essentially untouched. Incumbent Monica Garcia won her re-election outright, garnering a very healthy 56% of the vote. In District 6, Antonio Sanchez is heading toward...
By Hillel Aron | March 6, 2013
-
Deasy in Danger? It Might Depend on Vladovic
Much of the media coverage in the runup to today’s School Board primary election has focused on its possible impact on the fate of Superintendent John Deasy, who is appointed by the seven-member Board. The focus isn’t all that surprising — Deasy is as charismatic as he is divisive. He makes for good copy. Indeed, the...
By Hillel Aron | March 5, 2013
-
Westside Teachers Dial for Zimmer
About 20 teachers sat down in the back room of a Carrow’s restaurant in Santa Monica last night making phone calls reminding registered voters to vote for UTLA-backed District 4 incumbent Steve Zimmer. Volunteers were given cell phones, a list of phone numbers and were allowed to order a meal for up to $10 plus a...
By Hillel Aron | March 5, 2013
-
Multiple Union Endorsements Give Runoff Options
The teachers union’s entire strategy for defeating District 2 incumbent Monica Garcia is predicated on the race going to a runoff. They’ve spent much of their money attacking her record, and if — as most insiders are predicting — Garcia fails to reach the 50 percent threshold required to avoid a runoff, UTLA has already endorsed...
By Hillel Aron | March 5, 2013
-
Insider Predictions: Two Runoffs & A “Jump Ball”
Predicting the outcome of any political campaign is notoriously difficult — and predicting closely contested School Board races may be especially so. The turnout is generally low, and the polling is weak. The majority of voters tend to make up their mind while they’re looking at the ballot, and forget who they’ve voted for 10...
By Hillel Aron | March 1, 2013
-
Reform Coalition Attacks Sanchez Opponents in District 6
District 6, which covers the East San Fernando Valley, is the one School Board race where the big special interest groups — the Coalition for School Reform, SEIU and UTLA — have all endorsed the same candidate: Antonio Sanchez. But that hasn’t stopped the Coalition from going negative with a new, double-sided glossy mailer attacking Sanchez’s opponents, Maria Cano and Monica...
By Hillel Aron | February 22, 2013
-
Reformers Try to Match Union “Ground Game”
The Coalition for School Reform has been running TV ads and hitting voters with a blizzard of glossy flyers. But — having closely lost 2011’s big-money campaign between Bennett Kayser and Luis Sanchez — the reform-oriented campaign committee is also taking its field organization very seriously. Field organizing — also sometimes called a campaign “ground game”...
By Hillel Aron | February 22, 2013
-
Board Candidates Fault Process, Not 30% Figure
On Friday, LAUSD issued a new guidance telling principals to make student achievement 30 percent of a teacher’s evaluation starting next year. Almost immediately, UTLA President Warren Fletcher objected, arguing that the 30 percent figure was too high and a district-wide process was overly prescriptive. Since then, the LA TImes has reported that District 4 School Board...
By Hillel Aron | February 18, 2013