The price tag to win a seat in this week's primary election for the Los Angeles school board climbed to unprecedented levels, as a massive influx of outside cash has turned a local campaign into a national showdown pitting the long-standing influence of teachers' unions against the expanding imprint of deep-pocketed education activists. The high level of spending in the 670,000-student Los Angeles Unified system--the nation's second-largest school district--is atypical for school board races nationwide even though big money has been a feature of the city's board of education races since 1999. According to a 2010 National School Boards Association survey of elected school board members, 87 percent reported spending $5,000 or less on their most recent election, while just 10 percent of those serving in districts with at least 15,000 students reported spending $25,000 or more.