City urges Los Angeles residents to vote in run-off election



Listen to an audio story by Annenberg Radio News:

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image In any form of democracy, voting in elections is paramount.

That’s the message Los Angeles’ city clerk June Lagmay had Thursday at a media event promoting next month’s run-off election for two municipal seats in District No.5.

The May 17 election will pit Bennett Kayser and Luis Sanchez for a seat on the district’s board of education and Lydia A. Gutierrez against Scott Svonkin for a seat on the board of trustees.

“The right to vote is precious,” Lagmay said. “We see that more and more as we watch CNN and see those countries that don’t have the ability to vote.”

While she admits positions on boards of education and trustees lack the notoriety of a mayor or council member seat, their role is no less important.

“The school board and the community college districts are those municipal entities that set policy for our kids and for our young people as they pursue their careers,” Lagmay said. “It isn’t any less valid than voting for mayor, city council, city attorney or whatever.”

As has been the case since 2007, there will be three different voting options depending on voter preference: the scan-based InkaVote — which prevents invalid or blank ballots — the audio ballot booth geared toward the visually impaired and those who are not primarily-English Speakers and the vote by mail option — which will require voters to turn their ballots in by May 10.

Lagmay says the vote by mail option is becoming more and more popular despite recent technology.

“What we are noticing is more a trend toward vote by mail and even more impressively folks that wish to be permanently vote by mail voters,” Lagmay said. “So they sign up once and automatically get to vote every time.”

Currently, the city’s election division has 6,200 people signed up to volunteer at precincts for the May 17 election.

Coalition for School Reform outspends teachers’ union in school board race



The Coalition for School Reform has raised over $1 million, putting it on solid ground for the March election.

Read the complete story.

Independent spending hits record high in Board of Education race



More than $928,000 in independent expenditures has been spent to fill four seats on the Los Angeles Board of Education.

As the March election draws nearer, the teachers’ union and the Coalition for School Reform are stepping up the independent spending to ensure their candidates are victorious.

Read the full story on KCET’s Under the Influence blog.

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LAUSD Board of Education approves layoffs for 4,700 employees



The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted Tuesday afternoon to approve sending thousands of layoff notices to teachers and staff. Board members blamed cutbacks in state spending for the layoffs, which they said were unfortunate but necessary. Even though 4,700 employees will receive layoff notices, some workers may be able to keep their jobs. LAUSD is required to notify employees that may lose their job, and in the past the district has been able to rescind notices after additional funds become available. Ariel Edwards-Levy filed this report for Annenberg Radio News, click below to listen.