Meet The Candidates For LAUSD’s Seat In South LA, San Pedro

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s student body is overwhelmingly Latino — but since Ref Rodriguez resigned in 2018, the district’s school board has been majority-white.

That’s about to change. Two Latina candidates are running to replace outgoing District 7 incumbent Richard Vladovic: Patricia Castellanos and Tanya Ortiz Franklin. Regardless of who wins, Latino and Black board members will hold four of the seven LAUSD seats.

So who are these two candidates?

Castellanos is currently a deputy to County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. She’s been a labor-allied organizer for organizations like Reclaim our Schools L.A. and has the backing of LAUSD’s teachers union in this race.

Ortiz Franklin is a former middle school teacher now on leave from an administrative post at the Partnership for L.A. Schools, which operates 19 high-need LAUSD campuses. She doesn’t have the official endorsement of the California Charter Schools Association, but has also benefited from millions in spending by noted pro-charter philanthropists.

Today, we published in-depth Q&As with both Castellanos and Ortiz Franklin. Check out what they had to say about several key issues, including:

• Superintendent Beutner’s job performance (Castellanos | Ortiz Franklin)
• Whether LAUSD should reopen campuses (Castellanos | Ortiz Franklin)
• The role of the L.A. School Police Department (Castellanos | Ortiz Franklin)
• Their thoughts on charter school regulation (Castellanos | Ortiz Franklin)

Want to see if you live in LAUSD Board District 7? Check your address here or glance at this map:

We’ve also updated our Voter Game Plan page to include summaries of both candidates’ answers. There, you’ll also find our interviews with Marilyn Koziatek and Scott Schmerelson, who are running for a different LAUSD board seat in the west San Fernando Valley.

READ MORE:

• LAUSD School Board: The ABC's Of November's Runoff Races (Voter Game Plan)

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