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Q&A: Veteran Educator and Board Incumbent runs for LA School Board District 3
Former LAUSD teacher and principal Scott Schmerelson is running to keep his seat in LA Unified’s Board District 3, covering the West San Fernando Valley and Studio City. Schmerelson, who is endorsed by the teachers union, is running for his third consecutive four-year term against upstart Dan Chang, a math teacher with a fondness for...
By Ben Chapman | October 17, 2024
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Q&A: Activist Who Lost Union’s Support Runs for LA School Board District 1
Longtime community activist and education advocate Kahllid Al-Alim is running to represent South Central LA and Mid-City as Los Angeles Unified School Board member for District 1. Al-Alim, who had been endorsed by the United Teachers Union, which represents more than 35,000 Los Angeles teachers, lost that union’s support after a series of controversial social...
By Daniella Lake | October 16, 2024
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‘I’ll make sure that they’re heard’: LAUSD’s new student board member outlines her priorities as the voice of 600,000
High school senior Frances Suavillo has always believed education is a right and not a privilege. She’s seen firsthand when it’s not. Born and raised in the Philippines until she was 9 years old, Suavillo saw deep-seated educational inequity in the Southeast Asian island country — how “money dictated who went to school and who didn’t,”...
By Taylor Swaak | September 9, 2019
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LAUSD approves $7.8 billion budget for next year: Here’s what it means for high-needs students, lowest-performing schools and district finances
*Updated June 25 L.A. Unified board members passed the 2019-20 budget and accountability plan on Tuesday — but not before acknowledging that they are “unintelligible” documents that provide little insight into specific program and funding changes as the district looks to the next school year. “None of the documents add up to anything you can...
By Taylor Swaak | June 21, 2019
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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‘Voters are tired of you’: A week after parcel tax defeat, LAUSD parents rail at district leaders during 2019-20 budget hearing
*Updated June 17 Parents blasted L.A. Unified officials at a school board hearing this week — one even bursting into tears — offering an angry glimpse into the fractured trust between the community and the district just one week after voters overwhelmingly rejected a new parcel tax. Many of the more than 20 speakers at Tuesday’s...
By Taylor Swaak | June 13, 2019
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Mónica García: New ‘Everyone Counts’ resolution will break down data for L.A.’s diverse Asian student body & battle the model-minority myth
I know what it is like for a whole community to feel invisible. Before I began my service on the L.A. Unified School District Board of Education in 2006 as just the third Latina elected in 155 years, questions about whether Latino/a students could succeed academically were answered only by assumptions due to our lack...
By Mónica García | June 10, 2019
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After parcel tax defeat, Los Angeles city and school leaders vow to keep fighting for funding for kids
One day after voters overwhelmingly rejected a $500 million-a-year parcel tax, Los Angeles city and school leaders sent a message to voters: We’ve heard your concerns. And we’re going to keep fighting to fund our schools. “This is just the beginning of our fight,” Superintendent Austin Beutner said as he launched into Wednesday’s news conference....
By Taylor Swaak | June 5, 2019
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Los Angeles voters roundly defeat parcel tax, leaving LAUSD on shaky financial footing
*Updated June 5 Los Angeles voters decisively defeated a parcel tax that would have sent $500 million a year to schools, according to unofficial results by the county registrar. Measure EE, which would have charged residents within L.A. Unified boundaries 16 cents per square foot of developed property for 12 years, fell more than 20...
By Taylor Swaak | June 5, 2019
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$500M annual parcel tax unlikely to pass if low voter turnout trend persists, poll shows
L.A. Unified’s proposed $500 million annual parcel tax is unlikely to pass next week if low voter turnout trends continue, a new independent poll finds. The poll, conducted by Probolsky Research, shows that if June 4’s special election sees “high” turnout, or 17 percent of the district’s 2.5 million eligible voters, the parcel tax could be on the...
By Taylor Swaak | May 28, 2019
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June’s parcel tax to fund schools takes center stage after Jackie Goldberg’s LAUSD board win
With Tuesday’s school board election delivering a decisive win for public education firebrand Jackie Goldberg, next month’s parcel tax vote is now center stage. L.A. Unified’s next election — less than three weeks away on June 4 — will ask residents within district boundaries to support Measure EE, a tax of 16 cents per square foot...
By Taylor Swaak | May 15, 2019