Speak UP to Co-Host LAUSD School Board Candidate Forum
/
LAUSD parent and Granada Hills Charter High School leader Marilyn Koziatek will face off against incumbent LAUSD Board Member Scott Schmerelson Wednesday, Sept. 23 in the first joint appearance at a candidate forum for the general election in District 3, the West San Fernando Valley.
Telemundo anchor and reporter Sandra O’Neill will moderate the forum, co-hosted by Speak UP, the League of Women Voters Los Angeles, NALEO Education Fund, Our Turn, Our Voice: Communities for Quality Education, and the L.A. Coalition for Excellent Public Schools. Parents are invited to RSVP to the 6 p.m. online forum here: http://bit.ly/BD3FORUM2020.
The school board elections in District 3 and District 7, which runs from Watts down through Gardena to San Pedro, are expected to be a referendum on the current state of education during the pandemic, which has exposed vast inequities in terms of access to quality Wi-Fi, technology and teaching time depending on race, income and disability status.
The League of Women Voters, Speak UP and other partners had hoped to hold a similar candidate forum for the open board seat in District 7 to replace Board President Richard Vladovic. However, only one candidate -- educator and attorney Tanya Ortiz Franklin – was available to attend. Patricia Castellanos, a workforce deputy, had a scheduling conflict.
As a result, Speak UP, Alliance for a Better Community, Innovate Public Schools, NALEO Education Fund, Our Turn, Our Voice: Communities for Quality Education, and the L.A. Coalition for Excellent Public School will host a virtual meet and greet with Ortiz Franklin on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. RSVP to that meet and greet here.
The campaign season kicked off on Thursday night with a student-led candidate forum hosted by the ACLU and Loyola Marymount University. Only Koziatek and Ortiz Franklin attended and addressed questions about education equity, special education services during the pandemic, school police funding and mental health services.
Responding to a question about services for kids with disabilities, Ortiz Franklin said “It’s frustrating, it’s disappointing and it’s unfair” that LAUSD is not yet assessing students for disabilities. Where public health officials have said it’s safe, she said schools should be trying to get kids with disabilities back on campus in small groups to receive services.
Likewise, Koziatek called it an “injustice” and said there is “no longer an excuse” for students with disabilities to not be receiving federally mandated services.
