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Candidate Cardenas Explains Withdrawal – Sort Of

Alexander Russo | December 12, 2012



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Following LA School Report‘s breaking coverage of his surprise withdrawal from the LAUSD School Board race for District 6 (covering the eastern part of the San Fernando Valley), Ernie Cardenas issued an email through a public relations firm describing his reasons for the move and asking friends and colleagues to pass media inquiries along to the PR firm.

After having entered the race in hopes of building consensus among the various stakeholders, Cardenas writes that he came to the realization that “the divide is to[o] large and school board members are limited in the changes needed to fix our schools.”

We’ve asked Cardenas what that means, exactly, and will let you know when he responds.  Meantime, you can read the full email below.

Dear Friends,

Those of you who know me well, know my strong desire to make a difference and do everything I do with integrity and honesty.

Four weeks ago, I tossed my name into the hat as a candidate for school board. I, perhaps naively, thought that I could be a consensus builder to bring all parties together to find solutions to the many challenges our education system faces. Unfortunately, I have come to the realization that the divide is to large and school board members are limited in the changes needed to fix our schools.

Therefore, I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration as a candidate for school board. We need to fix our schools and our entire education system. I will not give up on finding a way in which I can be effective.

For now I will continue to work to make the difference in the lives of young people and the people of the northeast valley, as I have for the last 20 years. I will also take this time to search and analyze where it is that I can make the biggest impact.

Thank you, to all of you who believed in me and worked so diligently to help my campaign. I owe all of you a big debt of gratitude. You showed me that rain or shine you were there to work for our community.

Lastly, if you get any media inquiries, please refer them to Jose Cornejo at [phone number redacted]

Warmest regards,

Ernie Cardenas

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