The Dust Has Settled—Now LAUSD’s Divided School Board Must Govern

By MATTHEW MEYER | Reporter

It’s a new era for the nation’s second largest school district.

May’s election brought two fresh faces to LAUSD’s school board—District Six’s Kelly Gonez and Pacific Palisades’ new representative, Nick Melvoin—and a change in leadership, with two-year member Ref Rodriguez recently elected as the body’s president by his peers.

All three are considered more friendly to charter schools than their predecessors, giving charter-backers their first-ever majority in the district’s governing body.

The new-look board has a wide range of concerns to address beyond the role of charters, from a massive, unfunded benefits liability to declining attendance district-wide.

But it was the fierce battle between charter advocates and the teachers union—one that mirrored the country’s education politics as a whole—that made headlines and galvanized community groups like Palisadian Katie Braude’s Speak UP during the elections.

The runoff between Melvoin and his predecessor, former board president Steve Zimmer, contributed mightily to the country’s most expensive school board race in history.

Its tone often veered deeply negative, with the candidates—and even more so, their proxies—painting a dark picture of the future under their opponent’s leadership.

Now the elections are over, the new board has selected their president and July is quickly turning to August.

It’s time for LAUSD to govern.

They held their first meeting on July 6, where they elected Rodriguez and passed a multi-faceted resolution declaring LA Unified “a district that puts kids first.”

Among other things, that resolution directs Superintendent Michelle King to develop a “Student Impact Statement” for each item that comes before the board (with an emphasis on the items’ impact on vulnerable communities), establishes new standards for “classroom readiness” before the start of next school year, and orders greater investment in training for teachers.

The members have also voted unanimously in favor of a new goal for students entering kindergarten next year: biliteracy for all by the time of graduation.

Far more difficult governing remains—namely dealing with the district’s financial crisis that has left many employees’ benefits in limbo and will ultimately force deep budget cuts.

And, of course, all eyes will rest on the charter movement. The privately operated public schools—which come in varying models and with varying degrees of district oversight—rely on LAUSD board approval and renewal to exist.

The board is likely to approach these schools with a greater willingness to collaborate and approve than the previous regime.

But whether they will regulate the schools with enough rigor (the major concern for charter skeptics) and how they will address other thorny issues, like campuses where charters and traditional schools share space and resources, remains to be seen.

In the Palisades, where the major elementary, middle and high schools are all some version of a charter (with models that generally trend toward collaboration with the district and even teachers unions), parents will be watching carefully.

Their new representative welcomes the watchful eyes.

“I’m looking forward to sharing my ‘kids first’ agenda with the Palisades community,” Melvoin told the Palisadian-Post this week. “Parents within the Palisades Complex schools should expect transparent and engaging communications.”

Melvoin added his “deepest gratitude for all of the community’s support for [his] election.”

Now that grueling political season has ended. It’s time for the work to begin.