L.A. Unified Fight Focuses on Breakfast Program
Los Angeles Unified will eliminate a classroom breakfast program serving nearly 200,000 children, reject more school police, cut administrators and scale back new construction projects unless the school board votes to approve them, according to Supt. John Deasy. LA Times
See also: LA School Report, Sac Bee, LA Daily News, KPCC

‘Super PACs’ Negate Spending Limits in L.A. Mayor’s Race
As groups raising funds for Greuel and Garcetti pour money into the race — a record $6.1 million so far — voter-approved contribution restrictions become meaningless. LA Times

Eric Garcetti for Mayor
Perhaps most important, Garcetti has demonstrated the capacity to grow, learn and improve his performance. He admits mistakes, such as his vote in favor of a settlement allowing, for a time, virtually unregulated digital billboards. LAT (editorial page)

L.A. Schools Finish One-Two in National Academic Decathlon
After months of preparation, Granada Hills Charter High wins the title for the third straight year. Finishing second was El Camino Real Charter High, a six-time national champion. LA Times
See also: Sac Bee

iPads in School: a Toy or a Tool?
Whether equipping all students with iPads is a gimmick or a great idea, one San Fernando Valley school that’s using them is sold. LA Times Column (Steve Lopez)

Gov. Brown As Robin Hood
His plan to shift money from suburban to urban districts might help disadvantaged students but it could hurt other kids. LA Times Opinion

Want to Build a Better Teacher Evaluation? Ask a Teacher
To generate more effective teaching through evaluations, teachers, principals, and school system leaders need to embrace a culture of ongoing two-way feedback and a commitment to continuous improvement. EdWeek Commentary

School Health Centers Are Not Just for Students
Lack of access to health care is a national problem, but it’s a particular problem in poor neighborhoods like South Los Angeles. California Report

California Legislature Ignoring Teacher Pension Gap
Those who occupy the Capitol have an infinite ability to evade reality, even something as seemingly stark as a huge deficit in the teacher pension system that’s growing, by its own numbers, by $17 million each day.  Sac Bee Opinion

Downey Teacher, Arrested for Allegedly Molesting 3 Girls, Out on Bail
A 55-year-old teacher at a charter school in unincorporated Willowbrook was out on bail Monday after his arrest for allegedly molesting three girls at the school between October 2012 and last March, authorities said. Daily Breeze

California Gets Mediocre Grade for Preschool Access and Quality
California got a mediocre grade in both access to preschool and the quality of the programs in a new study released today by the National Institute for Early Education Research. The state meets only four of the group’s ten benchmarks for quality preschool. KPCC

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Donates $350,000 to LAUSD Reformer’s Campaign
With the runoff now less than a month away, Bloomberg has given the coalition an additional $350,000 – again at Villaraigosa’s request – to support the election of Antonio Sanchez to the District 6 seat. LA Daily News
See also: LA School Report

Teacher Evaluation Bill Opposed by Unions Dies in Committee
Legislation that would have required more frequent evaluations of educators was killed by a state Senate committee Wednesday under strong opposition from teachers’ unions. LA Times
See also: LA School Report, SI&A Cabinet Report

Jerry Brown Vows Battle With Democratic Critics of Education Plan
Gov. Jerry Brown offered a spirited defense of his plan to overhaul the state’s education system Wednesday and warned Democratic critics of his plan that they were “going to get the battle of their lives” if they attempt to change key parts of his proposal. LA Times
See also: EdSource, Fresno Bee

Law That Holds Parents Accountable for Kids Truancy Applied Differently Across Southern California
Last week, six parents in Orange County who had let their kids miss up to 22 days from school were charged with two misdemeanors: contributing to the delinquency of a minor and failure to reasonably supervise or encourage school attendance. KPCC

Calif. Neglecting Thousands of English-Learners, Lawsuit Claims
More than 20,000 English-learners in California’s public schools are not receiving language instruction and the state department of education is failing in its role to ensure that schools educate such students, alleges a lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union. EdWeek
See also: LA Times, KPCC

Tom Bartman, Who Helped End LA School Busing, Dies
Tom Bartman, who helped end forced busing for integration in the Los Angeles Unified School District, has died. He was 67. KPCC

Funeral Today for Sal Castro, Who Led ’68 Chicano Student Walkouts
Funeral services will be held Thursday morning for former teacher Salvador “Sal” Castro, who played a central role in the 1968 Eastside school walkouts to protest inequalities in education for Latinos in the Los Angeles Unified School District. LA Times

Arrests Made in Fatal Stabbing at High School
An 18-year-old man was playing handball at Cleveland High School in Reseda when he was fatally stabbed and three suspects were arrested in connection with the death, police said on Thursday. NBC LA

In terms of direct campaign fundraising, Ratliff hasn’t raised any money at all since the primary election, and Sanchez has raised just $15,000 since early March.

As for the IE committees, the latest financial reports from the LA City Ethics Commission cover a time period between mid-February and April 6:

*UTLA-PACE, the teachers union’s political arm, received $237,000 in contributions, as well as $628,000 in “miscellaneous cash increases” but only has $73,000 left for the runoff because the union spent heavily in the weeks leading up to the primary. (See report here.)

*The Coalition for School Reform received $712,000 in contributions during the same time period. But it also spent heavily on the primary, so the Coalition has $230,000 in its account to spend on the District 6 election. (See report here.)

*And the Local 99 branch of the Service Employees International Union collected $398,000 between February and April. It has $261,000 to spend on the runoff. (See report here.)

In terms of spending, outside groups including the Coalition for School Reform and the LA County Federation of Labor spent almost $1.3 million to support Sanchez in the primary, but they have spent only $66,000 on him since then.

However, it may be awhile. The Coalition for School Reform and UTLA-PACE won’t have to report contributions or expenditures again until April 11, when the next round of pre-election reports will be due at the LA City Ethics Commission. UTLA-PACE, which is a longstanding general purpose committee that is active throughout different election cycles, doesn’t have to provide updates until it begins spending, so we may have to wait until after April 11 to see its reports.

Previous posts: Union Schedules Special Session To Reconsider Endorsements; School Board Primary Averaged $55 Per Vote

However, the rate varied widely across the three races:

According to numbers from the LA City Clerk’s office and the LA City Ethics Commission, the per-vote cost in District 2 (East LA) was the highest, at $71 per vote — the result of low voter registration, 13 percent turnout, and the $1.9 million that candidates’ campaigns and outside groups spent.

The cost per vote was $52 dollars in the District 4 Westside race. Though overall spending was the biggest of the three races — $3 million — so was the turnout, which kept the vote cost from surpassing District 2’s.

In the East Valley’s District 6, where the race will go into a May 21 runoff, the price per vote was, comparatively speaking, a modest $42. The union did not spend any money in this race, and so spending was limited to “just” $1.3 million.

The rates come out even higher when calculated by candidate, as done by the Daily News. The campaign to elect Steve Zimmer cost $33 per vote, compared to the pro-Anderson effort’s $52 per vote.  The effort to support Monica Garcia cost about $85 per vote, and the effort to support Antonio Sanchez cost $90 per vote.

Late Donations Bolster Pro-Deasy School Board Candidates
Two eleventh hour donations have added financial muscle to a campaign seeking to bolster Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy through the results of Tuesday’s Board of Education elections. LA Times

Election Day: L.A. Voters Trickle to Precincts, Vote for New Mayor
Voters and candidates trickled into Los Angeles polling places Tuesday morning, casting ballots in the city’s most sweeping leadership turnover in more than a decade. LA Times

Angelinos Head to Polls to Elect Mayor, School Board
In a little-watched but contentious election in Los Angeles Tuesday, city residents will vote to select a new mayor from five leading candidates, though the race is expected to head to a runoff.Another vote in Los Angeles Tuesday will be for school board, a race that’s garnered national attention and dollars. CNN

Fewer California School Districts Going Broke; But So. Cal. Tops the List
The number of districts with a  “negative certification” – meaning they’re unable to meet financial obligations for this year and the next two — declined from 12 to seven. But four of them  are in southern California. KPCC
See also: EdSource, LA Times

L.A. Mayoral Candidates Scramble to Reach Undecided Voters on Last Day of Campaign
Sam Katan, 71, grimaced Monday when asked to name his favorite candidate in the mayor’s race. The Encino resident didn’t like any of the five leading candidates, he said. He wasn’t sure he’d even vote in Tuesday’s primary. LA Daily News

Scaling Up Education Reform
This past week, over 1,200 people crowded into the Los Angeles Convention Center to attend the United Way Education Summit. A few consistent themes emerged from the day: a student’s zip code shouldn’t determine the quality of their education, parents deserve quality options for their children, we must elevate the teaching profession, and accountability should be both real and fair. HuffPo Opinion

Students Learning Lessons in Social Responsibility
World-renowned inventors, explorers and artists encourage student teams participating in the Aspen Challenge to develop solutions to social problems. LA Times

Best and Worst Teachers Can Be Flagged Early, Says Study
New teachers become much more effective with a few years of classroom experience, but a working paper by a team of researchers suggests the most—and least—effective elementary teachers show their colors at the very start of their careers. EdWeek

Parents Allege Massive Enrollment Fraud at Carpenter Community Charter in Studio City
Los Angeles Unified will let schools use public records to verify student addresses after a high-performing charter in Studio City complained that scores of parents from outside the neighborhood committed fraud to get their kids admitted, officials said Monday. LA Daily News

So far, UTLA has spent $994,000 on two races — District 2 (East LA) and District 4 (Westside/Hollywood) — but has stayed out of the District 6 (East San Fernando Valley) race so far. (See spending totals here.) The union hasn’t reported any sizable late contributions.

The Coalition for School Reform has spent almost $3.1 million on three candidates. Late contributions it has received include $300,000 from the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) and $250,000 from Rupert Murdoch’s News America Inc. (See contributions report here and spending totals here.)

Primary election day — March 5 — is only a day away, but the total amount of outside spending is likely to rise as these groups make their final primary pushes today and tomorrow.

Previous posts: Coalition Fields Effort to Avoid Runoffs; Analysis: Air War Vs. Boots On the Ground

Outside Cash Prominent in L.A. School Board Races Outside spending is dominating campaigns for three seats on the Los Angeles Board of Education, surpassing $4.4 million through Friday. LA Times

Profiles of Candidates for Los Angeles Board of Education A brief look at candidates for three L.A. school board seats. LA Times

Tuesday’s Election Could Redefine Los Angeles City Government In an election that will redefine Los Angeles for up to the next eight years, voters on Tuesday will have the rare opportunity to elect three new citywide leaders, plus a majority of the City Council and the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Daily Breeze

Election 2013: Reform at Center of LA Unified Race The race for three seats on the LAUSD board has shaped up into a pitched battle for control of the city’s public schools, with reform-minded candidates hoping to maintain the momentum of Superintendent John Deasy and union-backed rivals trying to halt it. LA Daily News

Candidates for Mayor Take Different Tacks on Education Eric Garcetti has the backing of the teachers union and wants to unite the union and reformers. Wendy Greuel wants local decision-making. Jan Perry wants a non-voting seat on the board. LA Times

Standardized Testing Becomes the Great Divide in Schools Policy Use of standardized tests in schools is growing, but so is push-back – an issue playing out in L.A. school board elections. LA Times

One of Nation’s Oldest teachers retires in LA at 94 Rose Gilbert wanted to be a schoolteacher since she was in the first grade and was inspired by the teacher who taught her to read and write. AP

City Section Schools Must Come up With Money for Sports Dues When the City Section breaks apart from the Los Angeles Unified School District on July 1, the 92 LAUSD schools that are part of the City Section will have to start paying sports dues that range from $2,300 a year to an estimated $7,000 for the largest schools. LA Times

Teacher-Evaluation Plans Bedevil Waiver States Even though 34 states and the District of Columbia have No Child Left Behind Act waivers in hand, many of them are still negotiating with the U.S. Department of Education over their teacher-evaluation systems—a crucial component if they want to keep their newfound flexibility. EdWeek

How Outside Spending Is Changing the Race to Represent Northeast San Fernando Valley Schools
Sanchez has been able to hire three paid staff members, had more than a dozen mailers go out on his behalf and was the subject of a commercial that aired during Lakers games. KPCC

Steve Zimmer and Kate Anderson Face off on AirTalk
Both candidates talk about where they stand on Deasy, why Zimmer does not agree with charter school expansion and Anderson is pushing for it, and if teacher evaluations can be tied to student performance.. KPCC

L.A. Unified, Other School Districts Seek New Measures of Success
Nine California school districts, including Los Angeles Unified, will apply to the U.S. Department of Education for relief from rules that, over time, have labeled most schools that receive federal funds as failing, officials announced Thursday. LA Times
See also: LA Daily News

Arne Duncan’s Education ‘Sequester’ Claims Questioned
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has long been seen as an administration asset. But this past week, he’s also been the chief spokesman for the White House claims about the potential impact of sequestration on education jobs. Now those estimates have run afoul of fact-checkers. EdWeek

California Students Leave Hundreds of Millions in Aid Untapped
Only about half of California’s high school seniors applied for federal and state financial aid last year — leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table, according to a report by Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based nonprofit advocacy group. LA Times

Los Angeles Parents Powerless as Candidates Ignore Abuse
Seven Los Angeles public school teachers and aides have been charged with molesting more than 50 children in just over a year, though you’d hardly know it from the campaigns for next week’s municipal election. Bloomberg

California Schools Earn Bronze When It Comes to Serving Healthy School Lunches
The results of the latest HealthierUS School Challenge for schools are in, and California schools didn’t do too badly. They didn’t do too well, either. KPCC

LAUSD Adding Security Aides to Boost Safety
Specially trained security aides are being added to all elementary school campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and it’s all in an effort to boost school safety. ABC LA

Student Panel Offers Expert Advice to Lawmakers on Evaluating Schools
If the state wants an accurate accounting of how its schools are performing, it should find a way to include student input in its Academic Performance Index, said those perhaps closest to the issue – the students themselves – at a state hearing Wednesday. SI&A Cabinet Report

Jazz Day at 24th Street Elementary
The Los Angeles Jazz Society is hosting concerts at three LAUSD elementary schools as part of the Black History Month celebration. These concerts are a part of a larger initiative to bring jazz programs to public schools. South LA Intersections

Mayoral Rivals Talk Like Supply-Siders; Spending Roars
While the candidates are going to pains to try to differentiate themselves before the March 5 election, they found one issue to agree upon unanimously at an education forum in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday — their desire to retain John Deasy. LA Times

Mayoral Candidates Discuss Ways to Improve Schools at Education Summit
The five candidates running to succeed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa each vowed Wednesday to continue his commitment to public education, along with his strong support of LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy and vision for reform. LA Daily News
See also: LA Times, Neon Tommy

Keep Questions Coming About L.A. Candidates’ Union Cash
Official records show union political action committees account for the vast majority of the more than $7.5 million spent on citywide, City Council and L.A. school board races so far in the form of unrestricted independent expenditures. Business groups can’t keep up. LA Daily News Editorial

LAUSD Write-In Candidate Jeneen Robinson Ends Campaign
Write-in candidate Jeneen Robinson has ended her campaign for the District 4 seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District board and is endorsing incumbent Steve Zimmer in Tuesday’s election. LA Daily News

California Districts Make Bid for NCLB Waiver
Nine California school districts today will seek a waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act that would set up a radically different school accountability system from the rest of the state and present the biggest political and legal test yet of the U.S. Department of Education’s ability to grant flexibility in exchange for promises to enact certain reforms. EdWeek

Districts Drop At-Large Elections to Comply With Voting Rights Law
Next week, Pasadena Unified voters will elect school board members by trustee areas for the first time, switching from at-large elections in which all candidates compete districtwide. EdSource

Voters Weren’t Told About Plan to Redistribute Education Money
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to use Prop. 30 tax revenues to help poorer students. It’s a laudable goal but shouldn’t come at the expense of more prosperous school districts. LA Times

School Districts Can’t Charge Parents for Basic Education
Out of necessity, cash strapped schools have for years been asking parents to cover some of the most basic classroom needs:  craft supplies, a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, an Algebra book.  But it turns out that is illegal. KPCC

California Appellate Court Dismisses School Budget Challenge
In the ongoing tussle over budget rules, a state appellate court has dismissed a challenge from school groups who said California leaders had illegally manipulated the state constitution when they wrote the 2011-12 budget. SacBee

New Survey Finds Teachers Aren’t Prepared for Upcoming Common Core Standards
Starting in 2014, students in California and 45 other states will face a whole new set of standards called the Common Core. They represent a major shift in K-12 education across the country. KPCC

An anti-Garcia UTLA mailer

The teachers union political action committee has allocated the majority of its expenditures in the East LA District 2 School Board election — almost $90,000 — to attack incumbent LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia and bolster the chances of forcing a runoff between Garcia and one of her three union-endorsed candidates.

But are the attacks accurate or, as LA Times columnist Steve Lopez recently noted about both sides’ campaign mailers, misleading?

In an interview with LA School Report, Garcia refuted most of the claims made against her and took responsibility for those that were accurate.

“I think the other side is using a strategy that is focused on not offering anything, but on just saying no to reform, to change.”

One set of mailers, which purports to support candidates Robert Skeels, Annamarie Montanez, or Abelardo Diaz, has a clear message: “Anyone but Garcia.” (View here.)

In a different mailer, the union criticizes Garcia for supporting charter schools and teacher layoffs and for voting to cut after school programs and libraries. (View mailer here and the story here.)

Garcia said that many of the votes the union has criticized her for were “difficult and painful” decisions she was compelled to make in the face of harsh budget limitations in a state that already ranked 49 out of 50 for per-pupil spending.

But she also noted that none of these decisions were unilateral. “Everyone knows no member of the Board acts alone,” she said. “It takes at least four votes.”

Indeed, UTLA-backed Board Member Steve Zimmer made some of the same difficult votes as Garcia (and is being attacked by the Coalition for making them).

Another political mailer has an even more biting tone: Featuring an unflattering photo of Garcia, it calls her “guilty” and accuses her of “breaking the law and our schools” (a reference to a 2009 situation in which Garcia’s campaign, Friends of Monica Garcia, was fined for accepting three contributions from one company that cumulatively exceeded the $1,000 limit and for contributing once each to the campaigns of two fellow School Board candidates at the time. (View mailer here. See LA City Ethics Commission report here.)

Garcia said her campaign treasurer wasn’t aware the campaign was breaking any rules when it gave to fellow Board candidates, but she takes responsibility. “We returned the money when we were aware of the error in accounting,” Garcia said. When asked how she plans to avoid reporting errors this election cycle, Garcia said her intention is to be “flawless — we’re scrutinizing everything.”

Previous posts: Coalition TV Ad Attacks Zimmer over Robert Kennedy School; UTLA Focus: Defend Zimmer, Defeat Garcia; Here Come the Misleading / Attack Mailers

Low voter turnout and a fierce battle between two groups split along ideological lines could make this race one of the costliest per-voter in nation. Based on turnout figures from past elections, outside groups could spend more than $29 for each vote in this School Board election. That dwarfs the outside per-vote spending in the 2012 Presidential race, which was estimated by ProPublica to cost $8 a vote.

Continue reading for details on the big influx of money.

District 2 (Downtown, East LA)
Lines are drawn sharply in District 2, where the teachers union has vowed to unseat incumbent School Board President Monica Garcia, a strong advocate for school reform. The Coalition for School Reform has spent $615,000 on her behalf, an increase of more than $200,000 since last week. SEIU and AFL-CIO have spent another $218,000 on her behalf. Meanwhile, UTLA-PACE, the political arm of the teachers union, has spent about $90,000 on negative advertising. But the union is doing little on behalf of her challengers — three of which it has endorsed. The approach seems to be wait and see: with five names on the ballot, this race will certainly go to a runoff in May.

District 4 (Westside to Hollywood)
This Westside race has seen a big jump in spending. The two candidates, Kate Anderson, a reform candidate, and incumbent School Board member Steve Zimmer, who is teacher union supported, are in an all out sprint to the finish, and with just two candidates on the ballot, the race is certain to be decided on March 5.  To support Zimmer, the teachers union has teamed up with SEIU and AFL-CIO (who support the reform candidates elsewhere) to spend $484,000. In addition, it has spent $260,000 to oppose Anderson. On the other side, the Coalition for School Reform has spent $700,000 on behalf of Anderson, and another $130,000 to oppose Zimmer.

District 6 (East San Fernando Valley)
In this race, all candidates are supported by UTLA. But the reform group has singled out Antonio Sanchez to throw its weight behind, perhaps because Sanchez is the only candidate in District 6 who has voiced support for LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy. Here, the Coalition has teamed up with SEIU and AFL-CIO to spend almost $900,000 on his behalf, up from about $600,000 last week. The reform group may be betting that with such heavy spending Sanchez can win outright, but with three candidates in the field, this race is likely to go into a runoff.

Previous posts: Outside Spending Tops $2 Million, Grows Negative; Robust Fundraising Numbers for Candidates

Donations From Independent Groups Shaping City, LAUSD Elections
Independent expenditures continue to dominate the school board election, with reform- and union-backed organizations battling to guide the future of the nation’s second-largest school district. LA Daily News
See also: LA School Report

In Their Words: L.A. Mayor Candidates Answer the Times’ Questions
Readers will find that some answers are clear and emphatic, and some are carefully hedged. A couple of candidates left questions unanswered. But in a race where the competitors are scrambling to break away from the pack, voters can find a few revealing contrasts. LA Times

California Trails Nation in Reading, Math and Science, Report Finds
California has largely trailed the rest of the country in reading, mathematics and science in the last decade, according to an analysis released Thursday of test results from the five most populous states. LA Times
See also: SI&A Cabinet Report

Charter Discipline: A Tale of Two Students
Does penalizing students for a laundry list of common infractions—both minor and more serious—train students to be self-disciplined, or lead some to become disaffected from school?  At one Chicago charter school, the school community’s verdict is mixed. EdWeek

Fathers Read to Children at South L.A. School
Many 99th Street Elementary students don’t have fathers at home, so police and California Highway Patrol officers fill in at the Donuts With Dads event. LA Times

LAUSD Considers Carpenter for Pilot Program to Combat Enrollment Fraud
More than 200 present, past and future parents of students at Carpenter Community Charter School in Studio City came to meet seven of the top Los Angeles Unified School District officials to answer questions about the future of their school, and how they can combat fraudulent enrollment. Sherman Oaks Patch

Study Compliments and Questions Brown’s Funding Formula
An analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California, released Wednesday, praises Gov. Jerry Brown’s overall plan for school finance reform, while raising questions about elements of the formula that would steer substantially more money to disadvantaged students. EdSource

Kate Anderson

As we reported here last week, the union independent expenditure committee called UTLA-PACE has sent out a campaign mailer to attack LAUSD Board candidate Kate Anderson, who is challenging incumbent Steve Zimmer in the Westside/Hollywood’s District 4.

But according to Anderson, the claims being made are “completely misleading:”

The mailer scrutinizes Anderson’s attendance record while she served on the LA County Child Care Planning Committee and accuses her of running for the School Board simply because she’s angling for a higher political office.

According to Anderson, however, her husband Peter often showed up at the meetings in her stead – a common practice. The mailer also neglects to mention that the attendance of other members at Committee’s meetings was similarly inconsistent. “For me, it was a volunteer work. I was serving on the committee as a parent, while also working at my law firm,” Anderson said.

As for the claim that she’s not dedicated to education issues? “The idea that I’m not committed to kids to ludicrous,” Anderson said.

Previous posts: UTLA-PACE Attacks District 4 Challenger Anderson; Outside Spending Tops $2 Million, Grows Negative; Attack on Zimmer Wasn’t from Anderson Campaign

That number is sure to grow in the next two weeks before the March 5 primary election date.

District 2: This is a key school board race, as the teachers union is determined to oust incumbent school board President Monica Garcia, who has been a major supporter of reform efforts.

But in an unorthodox approach, the political arm of the teacher’s union has spent $20,500 sending out a mailer with the headline, “Anyone but Monica Garcia” (view here), featuring all three UTLA-endorsed challengers (Robert Skeels, Annamarie Montanez, and Abelardo Diaz) rather than identifying any particular candidate it supports.

That isn’t even the negative spending: according to City Ethics, UTLA-PACE has spent an additional $88,700 to oppose Garcia with unspecified negative messaging.

The groups spending in support of Garcia have stepped up: the Coalition for School Reform has almost doubled its spending last week to $412,600; SEIU Local 99 has spent $98,500; and the LA County Federation of Labor has spent $44,300 on her behalf.

Candidate Isabel Vazquez, who has not been endorsed by the teachers union or the Coalition, hasn’t received any outside spending at this point.

District 4: This Westside race between incumbent School Board member Steve Zimmer and his challenger Kate Anderson is also a contentious race. According to City Ethics, UTLA-PACE has spent $207,000 to help Zimmer win his reelection bid, and it has spent an additional $125,000 to directly oppose Anderson.

Zimmer is also getting support from SEIU Local 99, which has spent $119,700, and the LA County Federation of Labor, which has spent $46,100 on his behalf.

While Anderson may not have union backing, she’s been getting serious support from the Coalition for School Reform, which has spent a total of $501,000 to boost her race.

District 6: Perhaps because all three candidates are endorsed UTLA, this race has not gone negative, and only one candidate, Antonio Sanchez, has benefited from IE money.

To support Sanchez’s bid, the Coalition has spent $487,000; SEIU Local 99 has spent $91,500; and the LA County Federation has thrown in $44,300 on his behalf. Sanchez and his two opponents, Monica Cano and Maria Ratliff, have all been endorsed by UTLA, but so far, the City Ethics website has not reported any spending on their behalf.

Previous posts: UTLA-PACE Attacks District 4 Challenger Anderson; East LA Forum: District 2 Candidates, Issue By Issue; Here Come the Misleading / Attack Mailers

School Board Candidates Debate Bloomberg’s $1-Million Donation
A record-setting donation to Los Angeles school board contests quickly became a topic Wednesday night at the first candidate forum after word broke of the $1-million contribution by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. LA Times
See also: LA School Report

Education Reformers Speak out About Garcetti and Greuel’s Silence on Parent Trigger
After Los Angeles Unified School District board members approved a Parent Trigger earlier this week, mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel refused to comment on the historic vote, which allows parents to take over a chronically failing elementary school in West Adams. LA Weekly

LAUSD, Deasy Find Solution to Save 200+ Jobs
A last-minute move saved hundreds of Los Angeles Unified School District employees from getting pink slips. ABC LA

FAA Greenlights $1 Lease for LAUSD’s Aviation Mechanics School at Van Nuys Airport
A plan to save a threatened aviation mechanics school at Van Nuys Airport inched toward takeoff this week after a tentative go-ahead from the FAA for a lease proposal. LA Daily News

How Should We Rebuild the U.S. Education System?
A good education is worth investing in—that has always been true. To get some perspective on what a quality learning experience could look like, and how we can turn that vision into reality, I reached out to a few people who are fighting to build a better education system here in the United States. Forbes

A Push For Higher Student Expectations Is Needed for Education in Los Angeles
Recent data out of San Jose Unified School District regarding the implementation of it’s college preparatory coursework, which requires students to complete 15 courses with a C grade or better in order to graduate from high school, has led many skeptics and traditional opposition voices to question the model’s effectiveness, and locally, whether L.A. Unified officials were too quick to adopt the new policy. SF Chronicle Commentary

President Unveils Plan for Expanding Early Childhood Education
Two days after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union vow to work toward universal high-quality preschool, the White House released its plan early Thursday morning. KPCC

Obama’s Expanded Preschool Plan Likely to Be Costly
President Barack Obama has yet to issue any cost estimates for his proposal to expand access to preschool for 4-year-olds, but there is one certainty should Congress approve the program: It will be expensive. EdSource

Union Wins Right to Represent Valley Charter School
The Los Angeles teachers union announced Wednesday night that it has won the right to negotiate a contract for teachers and counselors at a West San Fernando Valley charter school. LA Times

Open Letter to New York Mayor Bloomberg
Perhaps I haven’t pleased everyone in my pursuit to make our student’s education a priority, and by eschewing politics to pursue education reform I’ve offended the extremes of the education debate. Venice Patch Op-Ed by LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer

Slate Mailer Sleaze in L.A.
If you are on record as ever having voted in an L.A. municipal election, this month your mailbox will jam up with photo-filled mailers in advance of the March 5 primary for mayor, City Council, city attorney, controller, Los Angeles Unified School Board and community college trustees. LA Weekly

For First Time, a ‘Parent Trigger’ Without a Hitch
For the first time, a group of parents has succeeded in pulling a “parent trigger” on a struggling school without resistance. On a 7- 0 vote, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday afternoon quickly approved a petition to overhaul 24th Street Elementary. Hechinger Report

California Drops Out of ELL Assessment Consortium
California education officials have dropped out of a group of a dozen states that had organized around the need to develop a new English-language proficiency assessment that will measure the language demands of the Common Core State Standards. EdWeek

Beverly Hills High Wins County Academic Decathlon
Beverly Hills High School has won the Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon, earning a spot in the state competition in Sacramento next month. LA Times

Charter School Petition Is Approved
Plans to bring a charter school to Downtown got the green light from the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education this week. LA Downtown News

Changing the Debate on Charter Schools
As charter schools have dominated public discussion on education in the past several years, the debate at times has appeared to be between charter schools for the whole country or no charter schools at all. EdWeek Commentary

Judge May Dismiss Sex Lawsuit Against Former LAUSD Chief Ramon Cortines
A judge said Wednesday he was inclined to grant a motion by lawyers for former Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the educator made unwanted sexual advances to a male LAUSD employee.  LA Daily News

API Rewrite Getting Fast-Tracked, Graduation Rates Come First
Under pressure to quickly add new indicators for school success into the Academic Performance Index, a state advisory panel recommended Tuesday a point-scoring system that would reflect the number of students who’ve graduated. SI&A Cabinet Report

Report Questions Impact of Brown’s Finance Formula on Career Tech
In proposing to give school districts money with fewer strings attached, Gov. Jerry Brown is confident that local school boards and superintendents are best able to make the right decisions so that all students can graduate ready for college and work. A report released today questions that assumption. EdSource

LAUSD Board Votes Down Proposed Staff Layoffs; Approves iPads
The LAUSD school board voted Tuesday to cancel more than 200 proposed pink slips, ensuring the district will not lose any more health and human services employees in the coming academic year. KPCC
See also: LA Daily News, CBS LA, LA School Report

With Few Details, Obama Calls for Vastly Expanded Preschool
In one of the most sweeping policy proposals in his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for access to high-quality preschool programs for “every child in America.” EdSource
See also: KPCC, HuffPo

Calpers Holds $5 Million in Gunmaker Equity it May Divest
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension, has about $5 million invested in two gun manufacturers that would be sold under a divestiture proposal spurred by recent mass shootings. Bloomberg

An Opportunity to Talk About Testing
The teacher-led boycott of the Measures of Academic Progress assessment at Seattle’s Garfield High School advances a critical dialogue about testing in our schools, but it also risks further marginalizing teachers as education leaders. EdWeek Op-Ed

When Helping Kids Threatens Teachers
The New Jersey Education Association has declared war on two Newark charter schools, Merit Prep and Newark Prep. It sued to shut them down, but lost in court — so now the union’s asked the state Legislature to kill them. NY Post

In the meantime, the Coalition for School Reform has just announced a $1 million contribution from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Mayor Bloomberg is the most important voice in education reform today,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a Coalition press release. “It is an honor to have his support, and we deeply appreciate his willingness to invest in our students’ futures here.”

District 2: This race in downtown LA could top records when all is said and done. So far, City Ethics reports that UTLA-PACE has spent $51,000 against LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia. Garcia herself has lots of outside help: the Coalition for School Reform has spent $251,000; SEIU has spent $71,000, and the LA County Federation of Labor spent $44,000, for a total of $366,000 on her behalf.

District 4: The biggest combined spending is in this Westside race, where incumbent School Board member Steve Zimmer faces an expensive challenge by Kate Anderson. According to City Ethics, UTLA-PACE has spent $86,000 on direct mailers and phone banking to support his reelection bid. He’s the only candidate who is getting combined union backing: in addition to UTLA, SEIU Local 99 has spent $87,000, and the LA County Federation of Labor has spent $42,000, for a total of $215,000 of outside money on his behalf. His opponent, Kate Anderson, is also getting big help from the outside: the Coalition for School Reform has spent a total of $269,000 to boost her race.

District 6: Outside money in the East San Fernando Valley race centers on one candidate, Antonio Sanchez, who has gotten help from the Coalition for School Reform to the tune of $280,000, with SEIU kicking in $69,000 and the LA County Federation spending $44,000 for a total of $393,000 on his behalf. Sanchez and his two opponents, Monica Cano and Maria Ratliff, have all been endorsed by UTLA, but so far, the City Ethics website has not reported any spending by UTLA-PACE in this race.

Previous posts: District 4 Candidates Air YouTube Ads, Schedule Appearances; Coalition, SEIU, County Fed Spend on Candidates; UTLA Focus: Defend Zimmer, Defeat Garcia

Late today, a city official from the Ethics Commission called LA School Report to say that UTLA-PACE had in fact disclosed its IE spending to the Commission on time, but due to a clerical error, the paperwork was not filed properly at the Commission.

According to election disclosure laws an independent expenditure committee must report spending made on behalf of candidates within 24 hours, and requires the information is made public on the City Ethics website.

How much money has UTLA-PACE spent to help candidates? All we know for sure is that the numbers reported today by the LA Times (read here), and reported on our site (read here) last week are rendered inaccurate. Beyond that, we’ll have to wait and see.

*Update: An earlier version of this post directly quoted the Ethics Commission when it should have been a paraphrase; the post has been corrected.