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Schools

Meet the Candidates for the School Board

Three are on the ballot for the open seat to represent LAUSD District 5 in Tuesday's election.

Here at Echo Park Patch we hope to bring you continuing coverage up to and through Tuesday's citywide election.

One race Echo Park residents are watching is in District 5 of the Los Angeles Unified school board, where there is no incumbent. Three are on the official ballot, competing for the board seat now held by Yoli Flores: John Fernandez, Bennett Kayser and Luis Sanchez. The district covers a number of local schools including Clifford Street Elementary, Bellevue Avenue Elementary, Mayberry Street Elementary and CRES #14, the new school site located off Mohawk Street.

John Fernandez is a retired school teacher with 31 years of experience as an educator. He spent twenty-four of those years teaching history and social studies at Roosevelt High School. He is a product of the LAUSD system, having graduated from Lincoln High School in 1968. Fernandez took part in the massive walk-outs that year as part of the Chicano student movement.

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In an interview with Echo Park Patch, Fernandez cited his major concerns: lowering the drop-out rate, stemming violence in schools and saving teacher jobs in the face of budget woes. 

To help with the dropout rate, Fernandez advocates more vocational and technical education since not every student is college-bound. He believes culturally relevant curriculum and increased parental involvement would also help. And he wants to emphasize the basics in education and intervene early when students flounder.

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As to violence, he believes it’s important to enforce state laws already on the books, like having metal detectors at all schools or notifying teachers of violent students. As to saving the jobs of teachers, counselors, librarians and nurses, Fernandez cites untapped federal funds, cuts elsewhere in the system and auditing of contracts as ways to prevent the layoffs.

When it comes to CRES #14, the new middle school set to open in Echo Park this fall, Fernandez said, “I support the parent vote,” and the results of any democratic process. But he also believes that charter schools profit “on the backs of our kids” and that magnet schools are a preferable choice. Charter schools, with their focus on college, do not meet the needs of poor students in Fernandez’s opinion. You can learn more about Dr. Fernandez, his platform and accomplishments here.

Bennett Kayser is another retired teacher. He spent 14 years teaching middle school science and health. He lives Echo Park and has been involved in the community in various capacities, including as a parent to school district graduates. He is currently the candidate endorsed by the United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing most LAUSD teachers.

Kayser told Echo Park Patch in an interview that he is worried about financial waste in the school district. He cites his own experience as a teacher where he had a budget of just $1.95 per student for the entire year. He often paid out of pocket for extra expenses, such as taking his students on a field trip to Vasquez Rocks.

Yet Kayser said he sees money wasted on common inefficiencies, like a bungled air conditioning installation job, to extraordinary inefficiencies, like the faulty LAUSD payroll system. He wants to imbue the school district with a “culture of quality” that needs to start at the top.

Kayser also sees charter schools as a potential waste of money. He said he could see spending taxpayers’ money on “maybe two or three” charter schools, but he points out that some 50 schools have been without ways to evaluate their success.  Besides this empirical approach, he believes that everyone should have a voice, from the students at the bottom, up to the high-level administrators.

As to CRES #14, Kayser would have preferred that eminent domain not have been used to remove the families from their homes on the site. However, once done, he prefers one involving UTLA to a charter plan. You can learn more about Kayser’s experience and platform here.

Luis Sanchez, the final candidate in the race, already has experience with the school board. He works as chief of staff to LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia. He also founded the non-profit InnerCity Struggle, which works to better education and quality of life in East Los Angeles communities.

His own experience being raised in a “working class, immigrant family” has informed his experience. His goal in running for school board is to “fight on behalf of working families” and secure equal access for all children to quality education.

Sanchez would also like to prepare graduates for employment in growing sectors such as health and green industries, and for stepping in to replace retiring Baby Boomers in education, trades and the public sector.

Sanchez said a that he would campaign to pass a parcel tax to help meet current funding gaps in LAUSD. Sanchez is backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a coalition of teachers, principals, parent groups, elected officials and community leaders.

As to CRES #14, Sanchez just wants to be certain that the school meets expectations to ensure every child receives an education on par with other schools. Learn more about his platform and experience here.

Sanchez is the candidated that generated the most attention, both for his support from the mayor and opposition from the UTLA. 

As of February 19th, he had also raised the most money for his campaign: $141,546, compared to $600 raised by Fernandez and $6833 raised by Kayser. (This does not include funds loaned by the latter two individuals to their own campaigns or in kind donations, which bring their totals to $10,600 and $8,378.88, respectively.)

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