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.

According to the prepared version of the speech released by the mayor’s office this afternoon, Villaraigosa will express why he thinks “it has been so disheartening to see our mayoral candidates devote so little time to a serious discussion of how to deliver a quality education for all our children.”

In the prepared speech, Villaraigosa goes on to say, “Education reform can’t be a footnote on a campaign mailer or fodder for an attack ad. Improving our schools must be front and center of a real debate and discussion. It is time for our candidates to demonstrate the ‘fierce urgency of now’ when it comes to ensuring that all, not some, not many, but all of our children have access to great schools.”

Click here to read the full prepared text of Villaraigosa’s speech. Or, starting at 5 p.m., go here to watch a livestream of the speech. And check back later at LA School Report for any reactions from the candidates to being chided for their perceived lack of focus on this issue.

Wendy Greuel Re-Starts Campaign With Aggressive Tone
On schools, Greuel said: “I will aggressively and creatively fight to ensure that every dollar is spent in the classroom. I will make sure that our neighborhood teachers, parents and principals are in charge – not downtown bureaucrats.” KPCC (See also LADN)

LAUSD Adds 400 Security Aides at Elementary Schools
Los Angeles Unified has hired more than 440 safety aides to provide security at local elementary schools, part of its plan to bolster campus safety in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings, officials said Tuesday. LA Daily News
See also: CBS LA

NRA Report Sees Guns as Path to Safety in Schools
A National Rifle Association task force released a 225-page report on Tuesday that called for armed police officers, security guards or staff members in every American school, and urged states to loosen gun restrictions to allow trained teachers and administrators to carry weapons. NY Times
See also: LA Times, KPCC

Southland School District Latest to Buy iPads for Every Student
Coachella Valley Unified got the green light Tuesday from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to spend bond money to put an iPad in every student’s hand and a Macbook in every teacher’s lap. KPCC

Aspire and State Board Give Up Fight Over Controversial Charters
After a six-year legal battle, Aspire Public Schools and the State Board of Education have agreed to give up the permit that enabled Aspire to open a half-dozen charter schools without local district approval. EdSource

Let’s Stop Cheating Our Kids With High-Stakes Testing
The institutionalized cheating and corruption that led to indictments last week of a former Atlanta superintendent and 34 others are stunning, but no aberration. It’s more like the tip of an iceberg, with chilling implications for our children, their teachers, and our public schools. Take Part Op-Ed

Wrestling Down Stereotypes
The wrestlers on the Panorama High girls’ team have broken into a male-dominated sport that doesn’t fully welcome them. They’re breaking up old notions of femininity — in their school, and in their families. LA Times

Do Charter Schools Serve Special-Needs Students?
Policymakers rightly want to know whether charter schools serve their fair share of students with disabilities. The fairest answer may surprise some people, however. In some cases, charter schools serve the same number of special-needs students as their regular public school peers; in others, as many have charged, charters serve fewer of these students. EdWeek Commentary

Listen: Ability Grouping and Tracking Make a Return to U.S. Schools
What are the benefits of ability grouping and tracking? What are the potential drawbacks? How do programs that rely on ability grouping work in LAUSD? KPCC

Workshop to Help Undocumented Students Stay in U.S. to Be Held at Cleveland High
A free workshop will be held Thursday for undocumented students interested in applying for deferred action so they can remain legally in the United States. LA Daily News

Advocates Launch State Push for Obama’s Early Education Plan
A campaign to support President Barack Obama’s universal preschool initiative was launched in Sacramento on Tuesday by early childhood education advocates, a coalition of superintendents from around the state and Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, D-Concord. EdSource

Bennett Kayser

Picking up on a comparison LA School Report first made last month, LAUSD Board Member Bennett Kayser published an op-ed in the LA Daily News last week in which he compared his 2011 runoff against Luis Sanchez to this year’s runoff between District 6 candidates Antonio Sanchez and  Monica Ratliff:

“I beat the big money.  My campaign coffers never topped $35,000. My opponent Luis Sanchez raised more than five times as much.”

Read the full Kayser op-ed in the LA Daily News here. Kayser neglects to mention the $1.4 million the teachers union spent on his behalf, which you can read about here, or the stubborn reality that UTLA has endorsed both Sanchez and Ratliff. For Luis Sanchez’s recollections about the 2011 race — and how it compares to 2013, read here.

California’s Largest Teachers Union Now Backs Bill to Ease Firing
Districts have long complained that the process is cumbersome and expensive, but unions have stridently fought attempts to change it.  Union leaders say the new proposal would shorten the dismissal process in a way that still allows charges against teachers to be handled fairly. San Jose Mercury News

Want to Teach Better? New Study Says Use Your Hands
One key to more effective teaching could be as simple as talking with your hands, according to a new study from the University of Iowa and Michigan State University. KPCC

Final Count in L.A. Election Due Tuesday After Three-Week Delay
Three weeks after the Los Angeles primary election, the city will announce the final vote count Tuesday in races for mayor, City Council and other local offices. LA Times

State Still Has a Role in Supporting and Holding Districts Accountable
With the passage of Proposition 30 and almost nine out of 10 local ballot measures last November, the voters of California gave our schools an almost unprecedented chance to begin rebuilding after years of budget cuts. EdSource Commentary

Students Would Do Well to Learn Cursive, Advocate Says
For many, cursive handwriting is a thing of the past, an archaic method taught in the days before keyboards and touch screens. But some argue that writing longhand could help in placement exams. LA Times

Three Former Wilmington Elementary School Students File Suit Alleging Abuse
A lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of three former students at Wilmington’s George De La Torre Jr. Elementary School alleges they were sexually abused by their fourth-grade teacher and that school district officials engaged in a cover-up. Daily Breeze

On the School of Second Chances: a Q&A With Mike Rose
Each spring across America, thousands of students who once lagged behind their peers get accepted to top-notch universities, thanks to what author Mike Rose calls “second chance” learning. LA Times

LiveSchool Behavior Tracking App Helps KIPP LA Shift School Culture
KIPP LA middle schools have a powerful tool in a behavior-tracking app that helps reward students for good choices and build a school culture that supports learning. PR Newswire

With GOP Advocate, Ed. Issues Could Gain Steam in Congress
Education issues—which haven’t gotten a lot of attention from Congress over the past four years—may have picked up an unlikely but powerful advocate: U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor. EdWeek

Schools Struggle to Provide Dental Health Safety Net
Hundreds of thousands of low-income children suffering from dental disease, some with teeth rotted to the gum line, are presenting California school districts with a widespread public health problem. EdSource

May 6, 2013 (Monday): The last day to register to vote in the May runoff election. (If you still haven’t registered, go here to register to vote online.)

May 14, 2013 (Tuesday): The last day to apply by mail for a vote-by-mail ballot in the May runoff election.

May 20, 2013 (Monday): The last day to drop off a vote-by-mail ballot at the Los Angeles City Clerk’s election division office. (You can also fill out and mail in the vote-by-mail ballot application on the back of an official sample ballot.)

May 21, 2013 (Tuesday): Runoff election day. It’s also the last day to drop off a vote-by-mail ballot at any polling place by closing time at 8:00 p.m.

As you may recall, Board Member Steve Zimmer won his primary challenge against Kate Anderson by building up a large advantage in early vote by mail ballots. At stake in the runoff is a School Board seat representing the East San Fernando Valley’s District 6, the mayor’s office, city controller, city attorney, and several city council seats.

CTC to Survey New Teacher Prep Grads for Data on System Improvements
Concerned that too many of California’s teacher preparation programs don’t measure up to the state’s high standards, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing is set to undertake a data collection program aimed at pin-pointing strengths and weaknesses of specific institutions. SI&A Cabinet Report

California School Districts Send out Far Fewer Pink Slips
Thanks to a boost in money for public education, California school districts have issued just 3,000 pink slips to teachers this year, a dramatic drop from the 20,000 sent out last year, the California Teachers Assn. reported Monday. LA Times

School District Discriminated Against Gay Students, ACLU Alleges
In a letter from the ACLU, the Hesperia Unified School District is accused of discriminating against gay and lesbian students, including refusing to allow girls to wear tuxedos to the prom. LA Times
See also: AP

Lockyer Seeks Legal Opinion on School Construction Bond Campaigns
California Treasurer Bill Lockyer sought a legal opinion Monday to determine if some local education officials and the municipal finance firms they employ are violating state law by campaigning to get school construction bonds passed. LA Times

Highland Park School Wins $110K in National Educational Contest
A Highland Park high school is $110,000 richer after two students beat 1,600 other schools to win a national educational contest. CBS LA

Failure to Protect Kids Costs Millions
Los Angeles Unified School District, the state’s largest district and largest recipient of the Proposition 30 tax increases, figures to be writing a big check soon. Unfortunately, this check won’t be going to support math, reading or arts programs. OC Register Column by Gloria Romero

CDE, Torlakson Lead Effort to Forge Ahead on Common Core Despite Challenges
There’s no shortage of skeptics when it comes to the plan to begin testing students in the new common core curriculum standards beginning in the spring of 2015. SI&A Cabinet Report

Committee Wrestles With Incorporating Graduation Rate Into API
As part of a push to measure how well a school is educating its students based on more than just test scores, California for the first time is planning to factor graduation rates into the state’s main measure of a school’s academic achievement. EdSource

Police Union Backs Nury Martinez for LA City Council
The union that represents officers with the Los Angeles Police Department endorsed a school board member for an open L.A. City Council seat in the San Fernando Valley Monday. KPCC

2011 School Board runoff competitors Bennett Kayser and Luis Sanchez

At first glance, the upcoming District 6 (East San Fernando Valley) runoff election between Antonio Sanchez and Monica Ratliff looks like it might share many similarities to the District 5 election two years ago.

The 2011 runoff (for an area running from Los Feliz to Maywood) pitted reform candidate Luis Sanchez (no relation to Antonio) against union-backed candidate Bennett Kayser.

Like this year’s District 6 election, the race attracted substantial outside spending, went into a runoff, and its battle lines were drawn around issues like teacher evaluations, budget plans, and school choice.

This year’s race has “a similar dynamic” to 2011, according to Luis Sanchez, who now works with the California Endowment.

There are a number of big differences, however — including that the 2013 race hasn’t yet been dominated by candidates and outside advocates attacking each other.

The 2011 showdown between Luis Sanchez and Bennett Kayser was a particularly nasty contest — including negative mailers and mutual accusations of ethical lapses — even though control of the LAUSD School Board wasn’t considered to be at risk of switching from one side to the other.

The 2011 spending was also substantial on both sides. Sanchez was endorsed by Mayor Villaraigosa and SEIU Local 99 and was chief of staff for School Board President Monica Garcia. Kayser was endorsed by the teachers and administrators unions.

The teachers union spent almost $1.4 million to help Kayser win his Board seat — half of which was spent on attack ads against Sanchez. The Coalition for School Reform and the LA County Federation of Labor also spent big, pouring $1.6 million into the race on Sanchez’s behalf.

So far this year, the teachers union hasn’t spent any money on the District 6 race.

Last but not least, voter turnout for the 2011 runoff was less than 10 percent, according to the Los Angeles Times — in part because the race was not thought to determine control of the seven-member Board.

This year’s District 6 School Board runoff election is expected to have a relatively high turnout because City Hall is up for grabs.

“I don’t think it will be as contentious,” Sanchez said. “The only way it could be is if there was nothing else on the ballot and there was really low voter turnout.”

At this point in the process, nobody knows yet if UTLA-PACE will raise or spend funds on the District runoff. But even if UTLA-PACE does start spending — and even if it’s only on behalf of one candidate — Sanchez may be in a better position to win because he has a UTLA endorsement, and the Coalition for School Reform and the LA County Fed have already spent $1.2 million to support him.

Previous posts: District 6 Candidates Struggle to Differentiate Themselves; Union Endorsements Unchanged for District 6; Just How Connected Is Antonio Sanchez?; Memo to Voters: Attack Ads on the Horizon

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.

Runoff Campaigns Kick Off, City Hall Girds for More Cuts
The mayoral campaign entered a new phase Wednesday, as Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel began positioning themselves for the May 21 runoff. LA Times

Both Sides Claim Win in Costly L.A. School Board Race
The coalition, a political action committee aligned with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, raised nearly $4 million to spend in support of of Ms. Anderson, Ms. Garcia, and Antonio Sanchez, a candidate for an open seat in District 6. Mr. Sanchez will be back on the ballot in May for a runoff against Monica Ratliff. EdWeek

Higher Standards Coming for State’s Intern Teachers
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing signaled Thursday its intention to increase training requirements for intern teachers, including Teach for America members, before they’re allowed to teach any of the state’s 1.4 million students who are English learners. EdSource
See also: LA Times, SI&A Cabinet Report

Essential Steps for Charter School Authorizing Outlined
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers has released its 2012 Index of Essential Practices for charter school authorizers. EdWeek

Parents, Students Concerned Amid Mass Teacher Layoffs
More than 60 educators in El Monte received pink slips, prompting protests. NBC LA

Teens Get Free Gowns, Jewelry to Sparkle on Prom Night
Lizette Espino is a Cinderella story.  For that matter, so is Young Sun. And Rya Ekberg-Wust. And the more than 50 other Los Angeles Unified teens who entered a Hollywood dressing room on Thursday wearing their usual jeans-and-T-shirts and emerged modeling sleek satin gowns, beaded one-shoulder formals and soft chiffon party dresses. LA Daily News

Review: ‘Girl Rising’ Shows the Power of Education
“Girl Rising” mixes documentary and narrative filmmaking to show how education lifted nine girls out of poverty and cruel circumstances. LA Times

Citywide, only 16 percent of LA voters cast ballots at the polls, according to figures from the LA City Clerk’s office.

This was far below initial expectations. According to political consultants LA School Report spoke with before the election, insiders had been projecting a 20 – 25 percent turnout rate.

The last time there was an election resembling this year’s was 2005’s primary election, when LA had an open mayoral seat, several city council positions, and three LAUSD Board seats on the ballot. Citywide turnout was 29 percent, and an average of 28 percent of voters voted in the Board races — even though the three Board races were uncontested.

That’s almost double the turnout in this year’s primary.

In the three hotly contested Los Angeles School Board races yesterday, average turnout was only 13 percent.

East LA’s District 2 race between incumbent Board President Monica Garcia and four challengers had a 13 percent turnout, and her 56 percent win avoided a runoff.

The Westside/Hollywood District 4 election between incumbent Steve Zimmer and Kate Anderson drew a slightly higher turnout — 15 percent. Zimmer bested Anderson with 52 percent of the vote.

And in District 6’s East San Fernando Valley, only 12 percent of voters cast votes for the three candidates, none of whom emerged as a clear winner.

The District 6 Board seat is headed for the runoff election in May. If yesterday’s turnout was any indication, it will take a different approach than the standard election mailers and phone banking to get more voters to the polls in the next election round.

Previous posts: Insider Predictions: Two Runoffs & A “Jump Ball”; FINAL LAUSD ELECTION RESULTS; Outside Spending Up $400K Since Friday – Nears $5 Million

$5M in Outside Funds Helps Reelect LAUSD Board Members
Incumbents Monica Garcia and Steve Zimmer survived a bruising reelection campaign with millions in funds from non-local sources. CBS LA

Dismal Turnout Puts Greuel and Garcetti in Mayoral Runoff, Sales Tax Bombs
After months of build-up and millions of dollars spent on a blizzard of television ads and mailers, Los Angeles voters went to the polls Tuesday and selected Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti as their next potential mayor. Turnout in the city races was dismal at 16% in a contested mayoral primary. LA Times
See also: LAist

Local Fixes for ‘Failing’ Schools
Nine California school districts are drawing up a more comprehensive way of measuring student progress. LA Times Editorial

If It’s Monday, the L.A. Unified School Cafeteria Is Meatless
Los Angeles public schools have just gone meatless on Mondays. But unlike the Los Angeles City Council’s resolution in November that simply urges people to observe a Monday without meat, the school system really has issued an edict. LA Times Opinion

LAUSD Searches for Funding for San Pedro Science Center Facility
Wanted: Someone with enough money, expertise and vision to take over and expand a struggling 3.5-acre Los Angeles school district science center in San Pedro.  Did we mention money? Daily Breeze

News Corp Bids for Education Market With New Classroom Tablet
News Corp’s education division, Amplify, on Wednesday introduced the first tablet computer built specifically for the classroom, in a bid to capture a slice of the billions of dollars spent in U.S. public schools. Amplify’s sister company, News America Inc, this week donated $250,000 to support a slate of candidates running for the Los Angeles school board. Reuters

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