The LAUSD Board Election Could Shake Things Up This Fall. Here Are Key Issues

This fall’s general election could shake up a school board that has largely worked in collaboration with the superintendent and teachers union to try and meet the needs of more than 500,000 students amid an increasingly challenging budget scenario.

Three Los Angeles Unified School District seats are on the ballot. Incumbent Los Angeles Unified School Board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin won her seat representing District 7 outright in the primary election.

The candidates for Board Districts 1, 3, and 5 will outline their campaign priorities — and try to distinguish themselves from their competitors in the coming months. The budget, charter school policy, and ongoing support for students were at top of mind for the parents, students, and advocates LAist spoke with.

The district’s teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, has already invested a lot of money in this year's races. If the first-place finishers in the primary hold, that means the union will retain a friendly board; five of the current members have earned UTLA's endorsement in previous elections.

On top of spending in opposition to charter school proponents, UTLA has imagined for itself a larger policy platform — it includes less policing and criminalization of students on campuses, using vacant LAUSD property and land for affordable housing, and more green space for students. UTLA has wanted to back candidates who are friendly to educators and also willing to adopt this larger platform.

Here's what we're watching.

The budget

One of the board’s primary responsibilities is to oversee the creation and ultimately approve an annual spending plan.

In the past, the board has rewritten the district's funding formula to designate more money for high-need students, cut spending on school police and increased wages for educators.

“I want candidates who understand how the budget works,” said Nicolle Fefferman, an LAUSD parent, educator and co-founder of the advocacy group Parents Supporting Teachers. “I want people who are willing to get in there and hold our bureaucracy accountable.”

Last year’s $18.8 billion budget included the last federal pandemic dollars. The district also expects less money from the state as enrollment continues to decline.

“The fiscal challenges we face will require district wide solutions,” said Superintendent Albert Carvalho during a March budget update.

Charter school policy

For decades, charter schools have rented space on the campuses of existing charter schools.

The practice of “co-location” has frustrated charter school operators, district administrators, educators and families and been the subject of multiple lawsuits.

A narrow majority of the board voted earlier this year to steer charter schools away from specific school campuses, including those that provide additional resources or have been targeted by the district for academic improvement.

Now charter school advocates are back in court arguing that policy violates state law and discriminates against charter school students by denying them space to learn.

The new LAUSD board members will likely inherit the consequences of the legal battle.

Student support

While LAUSD students made gains in standardized math test scores last year, the majority of students are not meeting the standards for reading, writing or math.

“There are far too many kids that are still not at reading and math proficiencies at their grade level,” said Ana Teresa Dahan, a parent and managing director at GPSN, an advocacy group formerly known as Great Public Schools Now. “Every year that we don't address that makes it harder for that kid to catch up.”

That more students are facing socioeconomic hardships and struggling with mental health compounds the challenge of academic recovery.

The district’s solutions include an ongoing campaign to engage with chronically absent students, optional days of school during breaks, and an artificial intelligence chatbot.

“A lot of people in my class are first gen college students,” said Dorsey High School senior Lakell White. “We need extra help and we need extra support.”

In February 2021, the LAUSD board approved a plan to bring additional counselors, social workers and other support staff to campuses with large Black student populations, including Dorsey.

“I'm not sure that I would have gotten into college without my BSAP counselors,” White said. She said they helped her keep track of her grades, take college-required courses and checked in on her mental health.

The Black Student Achievement Plan, known as BSAP (bee-sap) has distributed funding and resources to 110 campuses, though advocates say implementation has varied from school to school.

White, who is also a leader in the advocacy group Students Deserve, turns 18 in May and is looking forward to casting a ballot for the first time in the fall’s general election.

“Getting my peers to know their power and to stand in their power and encouraging them to vote and hit the polls is, you know, super duper important because that's how we get these victories,” White said.

The LAUSD primary election results

Board District 1

Board District 1 represents L.A.’s Mid-City, Crenshaw, Arlington Heights, and Westmont neighborhoods.

Longtime Dorsey High School educator Sherlett Hendy Newbill and community organizer Kahllid Al-Alim rose to the top in the most crowded LAUSD school board race on the ballot. Hendy Newbill overtook Al-Alim’s early lead, a possible indication that the mid-February news of Al-Alim’s pre-campaign antisemitic social media activity and the teachers union’s decision to withdraw its endorsement swayed later voters.

The other factor that may have played into the vote: Hendy Newbill has the endorsement of the outgoing representative, George McKenna, a longtime force within LAUSD.

Board District 3

Board District 3 represents West San Fernando Valley and Studio City.

Two-term incumbent Scott Schmerelson is headed to a run-off against Dan Chang, a middle school teacher who has also worked in charter schools.

Board District 5

The unusually shaped Board District 5 includes the east side communities of Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, parts of Silver Lake, Hollywood, and Koreatown. The district skirts downtown and covers Vernon, Maywood, Huntington Park, and South Gate.

Board president Jackie Goldberg came out of retirement to win this seat in a special election. She announced a new retirement last fall.

The primary election set up a split between the district’s two largest unions. First place finisher Karla Griego has the backing of UTLA; her opponent this fall, Graciela Ortiz, has the support of SEIU Local 99, which represents classified staff.

Griego campaigned on being the first special education teacher on the board.

Get to know the candidates

LAist will request interviews with all of the LAUSD board candidates on the ballot this fall. What do you want to know? Submit your questions for the candidates below.

Find your current LAUSD school board member