Former challenger to Vladovic endorses him in District 7 board race
Craig Clough | April 15, 2015
Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.
LAUSD school board candidates Euna Anderson (seated, L), Lydia Gutierrez and Richard Vladovic at a District 7 forum.
LA Unified school board President Richard Vladovic has received a boost to his reelection efforts with an endorsement from a primary opponent, Euna Anderson.
Anderson, an early education principal with LA Unified, finished third in the three-way District 7 election on March 3 but still garnered close to 20 percent of the vote. Vladovic finished with 42.61 percent and Lydia Gutierrez finished with 37.59 percent to move into the May 19 runoff.
It appears that Vladovic can use all the help and endorsements he can get, as the results of a recent poll by California Charter Schools Association and Great Public Schools: Los Angeles show that he is trailing Gutierrez.
“I have spoken with Dr. Vladovic since the primary election, and I believe he shares my passion for providing the best education possible for students. He has assured me that he is committed to early education in LAUSD, and will advocate to expand access to early education for more families in our district,” Anderson said in a statement posted to Vladovic’s Facebook page.
She also said, “Dr. Vladovic understands that in order to better serve our students we must provide support beyond the boundaries of curriculum. He will advocate to bring more nurses and mental health professionals necessary to our schools, and help maintain healthy students in both body and mind. Dr. Vladovic has tremendous experience in LAUSD and, under his leadership, we have already seen improvements in student achievement. It is for these reasons that I am endorsing Dr. Vladovic for re-election and urge my supporters to vote for him on May 19.”
In January, Vladovic filed an ethics complaint against Anderson for allegedly failing to report campaign contributions in a timely fashion, and his campaign consultant Mike Trujillo released a statement saying Anderson “doesn’t know what she’s doing or she doesn’t care.” But the harsh rhetoric didn’t stop Anderson from endorsing Vladovic, or him from accepting it.
“I am honored to receive Ms. Anderson’s endorsement,” Vladovic said on his Facebook page. “I will continue to fulfill our mission that all LAUSD students thrive academically and provide our schools with the funding they need to support our student’s success.”