Highlights From Speak UP’s School Board Candidate Forums
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Speak UP co-sponsored an election forum and meet and greet with the candidates running for the LAUSD school board in District 3 (the West San Fernando Valley) and District 7 (South Los Angeles to San Pedro). Tanya Ortiz Franklin was the only candidate in BD7 who agreed to participate. Highlights from those conversations follow.
Marilyn Koziatek and Scott Schmerelson BD3 Forum, Sept. 23, 2020
DISTANCE LEARNING
Koziatek: “The district has been failing our most vulnerable children for a long time. And this pandemic has actually kind of pulled the curtain back so that everyone can see the inequities that existed, that have been in existence for a very long time. Yes, our children are falling behind, and especially those who are most vulnerable in our communities.”
Schmerelson: “I don’t think LAUSD missed a beat when this pandemic came about.”
Koziatek: “If elected, I would be actually the only LAUSD board member with children in LAUSD. There are no board members currently that have children within the school district. So If elected I would be the...parent with a literal seat at the table. I think that having skin in the game is so important...And this level of frustration especially during distance learning, it has become so palpable...We’re promoted to front-line educator.”
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Schmerelson: “Distance learning, it's not as easy in special ed as in gen ed to have these classes on distance learning. But we do have the special ed BIIs, the one-on-ones, the aides who are also on the Zoom and also working with the parents. It's not the same. There is nothing better in the world than to go back to school, face to face with the teacher and the staff. But we are doing the best we can. As far as special ed kids, we are having IEPs online, we're having related services. This is the best that we can do for our special ed kids.”
Koziatek: “We have been failing our special education students for a very long time. We can see the data. There's higher rates of discipline in our SPED population. There's a higher dropout rate. There was a lower college acceptance rate. It goes on and on, the failures of the system to provide for our children with special needs.”
Koziatek: “14% of the LAUSD population has special needs. We're not going to be able to sustain these old models that have failed our kids for so long. I want SPED training for all teachers. I want the entire community to understand some of the regulations, as well as a lot of the scaffolding and differentiation that it's going to take to serve our SPED kids well. I would love to see better, earlier assessments.”
SCHOOL CHOICE
Koziatek: “I have seen some of this divisiveness all over our community and even some board members have participated in protest against some of our children attending certain schools. I think it’s so important that we always remember that word ‘dignity,’ and make sure that our children are able to have access to a high-quality education across the board.”
PARENT ENGAGEMENT
Koziatek: “I have not seen a meaningful parent engagement model from LAUSD as a mom. I get a lot of robocalls, and now I'm getting some text messages. And I get a lot of emails. But there's not a two way dialogue, outside of some of the committees, which aren't really working-mom friendly.”
BUDGET TRANSPARENCY
Koziatek: “The district has a $9 billion budget, and we haven't really produced a transparent, clear budget that our parents and community can see how the money is spent. That would be a huge priority for me.”
LAUSD’S BIGGEST PROBLEM
REOPENING SCHOOLS
Koziatek: “This is a scientific decision. Science will lead, and our epidemiologists, as well as our public health officials will be able to tell us when it’s safe. They already have said it is safe with appropriate risk mitigations to allow small groups on campus. So we have to be able to believe them when they say that. As a school site professional, I have to report on campus right now, and I understand the anxiety, the fear of contracting the virus. We have to work together. There should not be one entity or one group that is overpowering this discussion. It will be scientific, and then once we get the green light, we need to be able to serve our students. And we have to be able to offer the appropriate risk mitigations on campus to keep our students safe. As a mom, I want to see those plans. I want to see the hybrid plan. I want to see what’s happening next, and I want to be reassured the district is providing the leadership to shepherd us out of this, to be able to really serve our kids.”
Schmerelson: “When they say this group or that group can go back to school, did Dr. Ferrer and the County Health Department say it’s OK for these kids to go back to school? …When Dr. Ferrer makes her announcements, makes her plans, of course we will all agree to go back in a safe way, when it’s safe. No one goes back until it’s safe. I mean 100 percent safe.”
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Koziatek: “The district has failed in achievement data for a long time. Less than half our high school seniors are eligible to attend a public university in our state of California because they did not meet requirements. Even more shocking than that, college persistence rates. Of those who go into college, only 25% of LAUSD graduates obtain a degree in less than six years. This is about a systemic problem of not preparing our students for what’s coming next.”
GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN DRESS CODE ENFORCEMENT AND SCHMERELSON’S COMMENT THAT “MALES ARE DISCRIMINATED JUST AS MUCH AS FEMALES”
Koziatek: “Like Justice Ginsburg said, we have a problem with gender equity… And that is what this dress code is about. It’s about really objectifying women in ways that should make all of our skin crawl when we talk about these things. This is real. These issues are shocking and they exist. We cannot rest until our children have a fair and equitable shot at their future and that does involve the persistent objectification of women, and it starts very young.”
Tanya Ortiz Franklin Meet and Greet, Sept. 24, 2020
LAUSD’S MOST VULNERABLE STUDENTS
“For too long, we know our kids of color in low-income neighborhoods have been marginalized and pushed to the side. And today, this moment is really a chance to center our Black students, our Latinx students, our English language learners, Special Education students, and so many others for whom the system was not built. But the system can improve, and that is exactly why I am running for this seat to help make decisions in community with partners who believe in the possibility of our public schools.”
“I want to make sure that those in charge of executing and implementing the strategies have the time, the resources, but also the accountability to make sure we’re not making one more task force or resolution to improve African American student achievement [without results]. Because we’ve seen, I’ve seen, at least four in my lifetime in the district. And it’s time to not just write things down on paper but to observe interactions in classrooms and on campuses that make sure the curriculum, the conversations, the family engagement is truly culturally responsive and sensitive.”
EQUITY
“If we agree that equity is a core value for our district, and a big vision is that every kid graduates fully prepared for college and career and life, then we need to look at our budget and say, ‘What would it take for all of our students to get there?’ That does not mean the same across the board. It doesn’t mean we have a cookie cutter approach for each student and each school. For me it really means that we think differently about those students for whom the system has not yet worked.”
“With 85% of our students in LA Unified falling into one of those three state categories—English Language Learner, foster youth, low income student—we have to do more…we have to be very clear that equity does not mean the same...‘The same’ has clearly resulted in unequal opportunities, unequal outcomes, and so we have to get really courageous and confident that doing more and doing different is appropriate when we are seeking equity in education and not just the sort of fluff of equal opportunity for education.”
PARENT ENGAGEMENT
“I would like to have a model advisory board with parents in board district 7 to share with the rest of LA Unified what it looks like to meaningfully and regularly and continually engage our families in ways where they are giving feedback on the ideas, and then they get to see the actions of their recommendations on the grander scale.”
SCHOOL CHOICE
“Whatever school choice you make as a family is your choice, in my opinion, and it’s my job as a school board member to make sure that every choice available to you is absolutely as good as it can be because your child deserves the best.”
SPECIAL EDUCATION
“Our goal is to not only wait until this is over and then try to make up for all the learning loss. But it’s to try to stop some of that learning loss now and mitigate some of the additional challenges our students with disabilities are facing right now.”
Paid for by Speak Up – Yes on 15 and 16 (Nonprofit 501(c)(4))
Not authorized by candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate.
