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Who’s likely to be the new Board president, how will Board member-elect Monica Ratliff react to her new environment, and how is the new Board going to influence what LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy proposes and gets approved?

No one really knows for sure how it’s all going to pan out.

But LA School Report will begin reporting on these things next week.  And in the meantime it might be helpful to review what’s already been said on the topic this week and in stories from previous weeks and months.

It didn’t take long after Monica Ratliff won the District 6 Board seat for LAUSD-watchers to start thinking about her impact on the School Board makeup and on Superintendent John Deasy’s agenda.

The UTLA addressed the issue directly in its Wednesday press release in response to Ratliff’s win:  “We need independent voices on the School Board who do not automatically approve ‘reform’ measures.”

(Indeed, one might say that there are now three “independent voices” on the Board — Ratliff, Steve Zimmer, and Dr. Richard Vladovic.)

KPCC addressed the possible impact on Deasy’s leadership of the Board in a follow-up story noting that Ratliff’s arrival “could provide some discomfort for the future of Superintendent John Deasy’s reform agenda.”

The changes in the behavior of the new Board may be dramatic and immediate or they could be slow and subtle, noted KPCC. “Ratliff, they say, will join a minority of Board members who’ll give stronger scrutiny to [Deasy’s] proposals for improving schools.”

A moderate, nuanced role what the LA Times‘ Karin Kline is hoping for from Ratliff. “At her best, Ratliff will remain separate from both factions, reform and anti-reform, on the Board and let her inherent smarts and strong sentiments about helping both students and teachers guide her votes.”

Previous posts:  Deasy in Danger? It Might Depend on Vladovic; Board Members Aim to ‘Cuff Supt?; Who Will Be the Next School Board President?