Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Meet LA’s New School Board Member: Tanya Ortiz Franklin To Be Sworn In Today

The newest member of the Los Angeles Unified School Board will take her oath of office today.
Tanya Ortiz Franklin won last month’s election for the open LAUSD seat in District 7, which covers South L.A. and several South Bay communities. She’s replacing termed-out incumbent Richard Vladovic.
Franklin’s victory was politically important because it denied LAUSD’s teachers union the chance to install a majority on the board.
Deep-pocketed supporters of charter schools funded a huge ad campaign in support of Franklin, although she doesn’t have much of a history with charters. She’s a former Teach for America member who left teaching to earn a law degree. Franklin then went on to become an administrator for the Partnership for L.A. Schools, which operates several LAUSD campuses on the district’s behalf.
Three other incumbent board members will also be sworn in for new, four-year terms today: Jackie Goldberg, George McKenna and Scott Schmerelson — who won an especially expensive re-election battle for his seat in the West San Fernando Valley.
Last month, I shared a few thoughts about what the LAUSD election results could mean. You can also learn more about where Franklin stands from her pre-election Q&A with us.
By the way, school board members will also choose a new board president on Tuesday. The title doesn’t come with much extra power — but it is often a good sign of which way the LAUSD political winds are blowing.
READ MORE:
- Early Results Of LAUSD’s Most Expensive School Board Election Ever: What Do They Mean?
- LA School Board Election 2020 Candidate Q&A: Tanya Ortiz Franklin
- A Field Guide To 2020's Super-Expensive, Bitterly Fought LAUSD School Board Elections
Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?