With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.
Teachers Union Officially Revokes Endorsement Of LAUSD Candidate
A Los Angeles Unified School District bus arrives to James Monroe High School on the first day of the fall semester on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023.
(
Ashley Balderrama
/
for LAist
)
Topline:
The union representing 35,000 Los Angeles Unified educators voted Monday night to withdraw its endorsement for Board District 1 candidate Kahllid Al-Alim. Al-Alim apologized in February for antisemitic social media activity.
The backstory: Al-Alim is a longtime community organizer and L.A. parent. In February, users of X, formerly known as Twitter, began sharing screenshots showing Al-Alim liking and sharing antisemitic posts. In one, Al-Alim writes that a book that promotes debunked, antisemitic ideas about the relationships between the Black and Jewish communities should be mandatory reading for students. Al-Alim apologized and said he would seek trainings about countering antisemitism.
Why now: UTLA suspended its campaign for Al-Alim about a week after Al-Alim’s prior social media activity resurfaced. The decision to un-endorse Al-Alim, like the original decision to support his candidacy, came after several groups of union educators met and voted. The union’s 250-member House of Representatives finalized the decision Monday night.
Sponsored message
Who else can I vote for? Al-Alim is one of seven candidates running to represent the Mid-City and South L.A. communities of Board District 1. If no candidate wins the majority of the vote in the primary, there will be a runoff between the top two candidates in November.
Losing a powerful partner: Teachers Unions Often Pick Winning School Board Candidates. Will This LAUSD Election Be Different?
Trending on LAist
-
A slim majority said Senate Bill 79 would take away the city’s control over housing growth. Other council members said the city is failing to confront the crisis. -
Critics say the cash-strapped system misspent millions of dollars getting upgraded accounts for all students. CSU leaders insist they're needed to meet a changing economy. -
A new $5 million grant allows officials to move forward with large scale projects. -
The L.A. City Council raised the minimum wage for tourism workers ahead of the Olympics, kicking off a huge political fight. -
Metropolitan State Hospital opened as a psychiatric facility back in 1916. But many of the buildings have sat vacant for decades. -
Just blocks away from Boyle Heights schools, immigration agents staged an operation in Little Tokyo, heightening concerns among students and parents.
Best of LAist
