Newly elected Los Angeles school board members say they are united in a campaign to protect the district's most vulnerable — immigrant or LGBTQ+ students and staff — following a generally favorable win for Supt. Alberto Carvalho and the teachers' union and the retreat of private schools.
All three of the newly elected or re-elected board members are focused on the fear of President-elect Donald Trump, who has revealed that his intention is to deport immigrants, end diversity programs, reduce the teaching of history that he considers “awakened” and stateless, reducing rights recently. extended to transgender students and closed by the US Department of Education.
“I think there will be more attacks on our most vulnerable students and our most vulnerable communities,” said Karla Griego, who was recently elected to replace retiring board member Jackie Goldberg. “So we have to be strong and take the lead as a district in protecting our most vulnerable students, in protecting all the things we've done and continue to fight for more.”
The big picture is that the seven board members of the nation's second-largest school system will continue to describe themselves as guardians of local families, which include many immigrants. Their stance could mark LA Unified as a target for Trump, who has vowed to withhold federal funding from school systems that oppose his agenda.
“Due to the large number of immigrant families,” the districts must “assure the families that we are here to provide for them, we will do whatever it takes to inform them, regardless of whether it is done through immigrant clinics in our communities. , for religious organizations,” said Sherlett Hendy Newbill, who will replace George McKenna, who is also retiring. “I think that's going to be a critical piece, to help our families feel supported, especially with the threats from the new administration coming in.”
The defensive stance of Trump's newcomers is echoed by the school board members they will join next week. Two weeks ago, the board, without opposition, declared the school system a sanctuary for immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community, while also calling for more political education.
The tightest race was in District 3, which covers much of the western San Fernando Valley. In the race, two-term incumbent Scott Schmerelson won his third and final term, earning 51.6% of the vote compared to middle school math teacher Dan Chang, who received 48.4%.
Refusing to register is a big problem
In the interview, Schmerelson cited declining enrollment as a key issue going forward.
“Without improved enrollment, the school system cannot survive, and I'm always beating the bush, talking to neighborhood councils and making sure people know how great our LAUSD schools are,” Schmerelson said.
Enrollment peaked at 746,831 in the 2002-03 school year and has been declining since then. Current enrollment is about 409,500 – and that includes the newly added preschool grade for 4-year-olds.
Reversing declining enrollment is a tall order given LA's high cost of living and declining immigration.
Promises to keep the black student achievement system strong
Schmerelson also talked about ensuring that the school system's special efforts to support Black students stay on track through the Black Student Success Program.
“This is the first time that I can remember that our black and African-American students rose up with everyone else,” Schmerelson said, citing the newly normalized scores. “And I really admire that in the BSAP program – the experience they have of visiting colleges and having more social, emotional support, to make sure that a good program has all the courses they need and the things they like to do. And you see that rise in academics because of all that. “
Activists have criticized the district for backing away from a program that focuses only on black students. After coming under legal pressure, LA Unified made the program race-neutral — to comply with Supreme Court rulings against race-based programs. The district did not change the name of the program even though the race no longer says who will serve it.
Despite the change, district officials have insisted they can reach all black students with special needs.
“I'm proud of the BSAP program, and I want to make sure we keep it strong,” said Schmerelson, who represents a district with a minority of Black students, but has spent most of his career as a principal at the school. part of the county with a large Black population.
All board members spoke the same way about making sure that BSAP will empower black students.
The most expensive races
Schmerelson's District 3 race is close to becoming the most expensive local school board campaign ever, with more than $7.84 million spent by outside groups on the two candidates.
The outlay for Chang came from a political committee backed by retired businessman Bill Bloomfield, who said he personally poured in about $4.9 million of the $5.4 million, according to recent filings. Affiliated with Bloomfield, but spending far less money, was the California Charter Schools Assn.
The LA teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, contributed nearly all of the $2.4 million in outside spending on Schmerelson's behalf.
The candidates' campaigns combined to raise an additional $670,000.
Charters are public schools within LA Unified that are outside of district control. They enroll about 109,000 students within the district boundaries. Most charters are nonunion. Their supporters are concerned that the school system will impose further restrictions on where and how they work. If the election had gone differently, charter advocates would likely have pushed to roll back some of the current restrictions.
Griego will represent District 5, which covers the north and northeast parts of the city, including Eagle Rock, Glassell Park and Echo Park. To the southeast, it includes the towns of Huntington Park, Maywood and South Gate. Aided by heavy spending by the teachers' union, Griego was elected with 61% of the vote.
Charter advocates did not campaign in District 5, but generally favored Griego's opponent, Graciela Ortiz, who benefited from a hefty outside campaign sponsored by Local 99 of Service Employees International, the state's largest non-teacher union.
Griego, a teacher who has been teaching students with disabilities for a long time, said that he intends to represent these students: “At the government level, they have not been supporting as much as they should, so we need to make sure that we do that.”
There was no candidate favored by the bill in District 1, which covers much of the southern and southwestern part of the school system; Hendy Newbill won comfortably over Kahllid Al-Alim, receiving 71% of the vote.
Hendy Newbill said the majority of the board is “private school – from public schools, working in public schools” – and that “changes the power” in future decisions related to charter schools.
Phrases like these worry charter owners, who are quick to point out that their schools are also free and open to the public.
The teachers union scored two clear wins with Schmerelson and Griego, but Hendy Newbill won without union support and sees himself as teacher-friendly but independent. The teachers union recently endorsed him but did not fund his campaign.
Hendy Newbill has served as a teacher, director and coach and most recently as a senior advisor to McKenna.
Supt. Carvalho could look at the election results with some relief. Hendy Newbill defeated his most critical opponent. And Schmerelson was a board member who hired him unanimously.
In a rare event, most of the board members – Hendy Newbill and Griego, as well as incumbents Rocio Rivas and Kelly Gonez – will be parents of current district students. There may never have been more parents of district students on the board.
“The lens is a little different from having parents on the school board,” Hendy Newbill said.
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