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School Board Meeting Wrap Up: More Discussion Than Votes*
What began as a breezy LA Unified School Board meeting on Tuesday turned, not surprisingly, into a long, tedious, sometimes rancorous session, with a host of issues discussed but rarely resolved. A number of key votes were postponed, and Superintendent John Deasy’s highly anticipated budget presentation was postponed until the Sept. 10 board meeting so it could...
By Hillel Aron | August 20, 2013
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Vladovic Defeats Galatzan for Board President
In one of the more dramatic meetings in recent memory, the newly installed 2013-2014 LAUSD School Board selected Dr. Richard Vladovic (standing, left) as its next President by a vote of 5 to 2. Newly sworn-in Board member Monica Ratliff joined Steve Zimmer, Marguerite LaMotte, Bennett Kayser and Vladovic himself in the majority. Outgoing Board...
By Hillel Aron | July 2, 2013
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Zimmer to Celebrate Re-Election at Hollywood High*
After an against-all-odds re-election against challenger Kate Anderson in the District 4 primary earlier this year, School Board member Steve Zimmer is celebrating at Hollywood High School on Wednesday afternoon. “This was a very significant re-election because of the national involvement,” said a spokesperson from Zimmer’s office. “We want to celebrate the teachers, students, parents...
By Brianna Sacks | June 26, 2013
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Deasy Skirmish With Board Members a Long Time Coming
Tensions are still simmering between a group of School Board members and Superintendent John Deasy following comments made by Deasy to LA School Report last week. Three Board members — Bennett Kayser, Steve Zimmer and Dr. Richard Vladovic — sent Deasy a letter asking him to clarify his remarks. The trio — who co-sponsored a resolution to...
By Hillel Aron | June 24, 2013
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School Board’s Strange Parent Trigger About-Face
A couple of odds things happened towards the end of the School Board’s late-night meeting on Tuesday: Around 8:00 pm, as seven weary Board members were debating a proposal put forth by Board member Steve Zimmer calling on the district and state to bring greater transparency to the parent trigger signature-gathering process, Superintendent John Deasy...
By Hillel Aron | June 20, 2013
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Marathon Board Meeting Signals Changes to Come
As anyone following us on Twitter knows all too well, Tuesday’s School Board meeting was a marathon session that lasted well into the night — much of it accompanied by the sound of protesters drumming on the street outside. Among several key decisions the Board arrived at during the lengthy session were votes to award a...
By Hillel Aron | June 19, 2013
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Special Board Meeting Not So Special After All
There was an air of excitement surrounding today’s special Board meeting to discuss LAUSD’s budget, resulting in no less than four television crews in addition to KNX radio and three (count ’em!) education reporters live-tweeting the proceedings. The cause of all the excitement? The expected clash between Board members who want LAUSD to rehire teachers...
By Hillel Aron | June 4, 2013
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Look: An Unbalanced Breakfast for Mayors Villaraigosa & Garcetti
Outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had breakfast with incoming Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti yesterday at the Getty House in what the LA Times called the beginning of the “formal transition of power.” We don’t know a whole lot these two disagree on in the area of education, but we can point to one thing: Board member Steve Zimmer. Villaraigosa...
By Hillel Aron | May 24, 2013
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Mayoral Candidates Schedule May 7 Education Debate
The Mayoral debates now flow like wine as the campaign enters its final month. A recent poll put candidate Eric Garcetti ahead by 10 points, so it was his opponent, Wendy Greuel, who was largely on the attack last night as the candidates debated on the USC Health Sciences campus. (She also admitted, twice, to...
By Hillel Aron | April 23, 2013
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Anderson: Turnout Projections Crippled Field Budget
Former District 4 (Westside/Hollywood) School Board candidate Kate Anderson sounded relaxed and content during a phone interview yesterday afternoon. The Mar Vista parent laughed easily and often, and said she was getting to see her children a lot more in the month since the March 5 primary. But she wasn’t without ideas and regrets in terms...
By Alexander Russo | April 4, 2013