Voter Guide: 5 Differences Between LAUSD Candidates Alex Johnson and George McKenna
Comments (2)By Hillel Aron
Mon, Aug 11, 2014 at 6:27 AM
Little known fact: there's an election tomorrow! A very special election! A special election, that is, for the District 1 L.A. Unified Board of Education seat, which pits political aide Alex Johnson against longtime administrator George McKenna. Turnout is expected to be depressingly low, perhaps less than 10 percent of registered voters.
There's been some media coverage in the last few weeks, but most of that has focused onthe negative ads flowing back and forth between the two candidates (pretty run-of-the-mill campaign stuff if you ask us: this guy has no experience; this guy was working for this thing when this bad thing happened, etc.)
"Issues" have been harder to come by, in part because there hasn't been a single debate in the runoff. But that's not entirely uncommon in school board races — most voters don't know enough to know what questions to ask. So candidates often keep things general (you won't find an "issues" section on either candidates' website).
So if you can't make up your mind who to vote for (or root for), we got your back. Here are five key differences between the two LAUSD candidates:
1) Experience
Most of the campaign back-and-forth has centered on experience. McKenna says he's got it and Johnson doesn't. Johnson says he's got a bit more than people give him credit for, and George's experience isn't all it's cracked up to be. You can read all about the thrilling charges and countercharges in the Times, or listen to this episode of Which Way LA.
Suffice it to say, the 73-year-old McKenna is older, and has way more experience — half a century as a public school administrator. His stint as head of George Washington Prep was immortalized in a made-for-TV movie starring Denzel Washington. He's also spent time at various levels of school district bureaucracy.
The 33-year-old Johnson has, naturally, less experience, but also different kinds of experience. Johnson fancies himself a policy wonk, and he's worked as L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas' education policy advisor. Before that he worked for the New York City School District – as one of its lawyers.
These two men come from very different generations and have very different resumes. George McKenna brings a school administrator's perspective. Johnson brings a Voter Guide: 5 Differences Between LAUSD Candidates Alex Johnson and George McKenna | The Informer | Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events | LA Weekly:
There's been some media coverage in the last few weeks, but most of that has focused onthe negative ads flowing back and forth between the two candidates (pretty run-of-the-mill campaign stuff if you ask us: this guy has no experience; this guy was working for this thing when this bad thing happened, etc.)
"Issues" have been harder to come by, in part because there hasn't been a single debate in the runoff. But that's not entirely uncommon in school board races — most voters don't know enough to know what questions to ask. So candidates often keep things general (you won't find an "issues" section on either candidates' website).
So if you can't make up your mind who to vote for (or root for), we got your back. Here are five key differences between the two LAUSD candidates:
1) Experience
Most of the campaign back-and-forth has centered on experience. McKenna says he's got it and Johnson doesn't. Johnson says he's got a bit more than people give him credit for, and George's experience isn't all it's cracked up to be. You can read all about the thrilling charges and countercharges in the Times, or listen to this episode of Which Way LA.
Suffice it to say, the 73-year-old McKenna is older, and has way more experience — half a century as a public school administrator. His stint as head of George Washington Prep was immortalized in a made-for-TV movie starring Denzel Washington. He's also spent time at various levels of school district bureaucracy.
The 33-year-old Johnson has, naturally, less experience, but also different kinds of experience. Johnson fancies himself a policy wonk, and he's worked as L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas' education policy advisor. Before that he worked for the New York City School District – as one of its lawyers.
These two men come from very different generations and have very different resumes. George McKenna brings a school administrator's perspective. Johnson brings a Voter Guide: 5 Differences Between LAUSD Candidates Alex Johnson and George McKenna | The Informer | Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events | LA Weekly: