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
-
Anti-Latino slurs were published on the cover of a CSU student newspaper in October. The painful incident led to protests and soul searching at the mostly Latino campus. -
L.A. County renters are losing COVID-19 protections, but other safeguards will remain in place. -
Step one: Pull out that phone and snag photos of the pothole and car damage. -
When you grow up in Anaheim close enough to watch Disneyland fireworks every night while your family can’t afford to go, you can’t help but feel like you’re on the outside looking in. -
The candidates include a city council staffer, two community organizers, the head of a housing nonprofit, the head of the San Fernando Valley NAACP, and three people in private business. -
If you’ve ever seen a street name that has multiple versions like drive, place and road, this one’s for you. It makes little sense now, but there’s an old reason for it.
Best of LAist
