Outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to deliver his final State of the City address at UCLA tonight, and he plans to use the speech to criticize mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel on their education plans. Villaraigosa spokesperson Peter Sanders told the LA Times that the mayor will “take to task”...

On Tuesday, Mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel launched what LA Weekly‘s Gene Maddaus is calling a “reboot” of her campaign, delivering a speech with a meaty education section that included strong support for “reform” ideas like charter schools and rigorous teacher evaluations. “I will fight to reform our public schools,” she said, according to text of the...

Teacher Firing Bill Gains Momentum Legislation that would make it easier to fire teachers accused of sex crimes against children and other serious offenses appears to stand a good chance of reaching Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk after similar measures repeatedly stalled through the years. SD Union-Tribune Wendy Greuel Re-Starts Campaign With Aggressive Tone On schools,...

Taking a Crack at California’s Education System Michelle Rhee came to prominence as the tough-minded chancellor of Washington, D.C., schools. Now she’s in Sacramento, taking on this state’s system — and its teachers unions. LA Times See also: L.A. Now Live Chat on Rhee and California’s Public Schools U.S. Ed Department Agrees to Review 9...

In Meeting of the Minds, CTA Also Backs Teacher Dismissal Bill With unusual speed, the California Teachers Association endorsed a bill Assemblymember Joan Buchanan introduced last week that would quicken the process for dismissing teachers. The teachers association joins Sen. Alex Padilla, thus creating a consensus among opposite sides of one of the most contentious issues last...

Sen. Padilla Drops His Teacher Dismissal Bill Two days after Assemblymember Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, introduced a bill that would make it quicker and potentially cheaper to fire teachers, Sen. Alex Padillo, D-Los Angeles, has shelved his controversial version of a teacher dismissal bill and signed on as a principal co-author of hers. EdSource L.A.’s Mayoral...

On Monday, Mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel gained the endorsement of the powerful LA County Federation of Labor — an umbrella group of county unions. Greuel is supported by nearly every large union in the city (with the exception of UTLA). But, intriguingly, it was a member of the UTLA leadership, Gregg Solkovits, who helped convince...

Mark it on your calender: Important voter registration and vote-by-mail deadlines are coming up for Los Angeles’ May 21 runoff election for the District 6 seat on the LAUSD School Board: 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...

Yesterday’s primary election attracted millions of dollars in outside spending, but it couldn’t attract Los Angeles voters’ attention. 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...

2 Incumbent LA Unified School Board Members Keep Seats in Costly Races Los Angeles Unified School Board incumbents Steve Zimmer and Monica Garcia kept their seats in a hotly contested election that attracted nearly $6 million, putting it on track to be the most costly school board election in the district’s history. Zimmer won with 52...