Three-Part Series Fact-Checking LAUSD School Board District 4 “Facts,” Part I
by Miriam Efrat. First in a three part series. Read Part II here, and Part III here.
Dear Voters of LAUSD Board District 4:
Are you a progressive recently woke to the vital need for accountable leadership in public education? Just someone who likes to be well-informed before casting a vote?
I hear your mailboxes are groaning under the weight of mailers in this school board race. You are on pace to receive more pounds of propaganda by March than the last LAUSD election in 2015. The privately funded charter school advocates are far outspending the public unions — mostly with negative messages targeting the incumbent in this race—LAUSD Board President Steve Zimmer—with the same drumbeat that local news coverage pounds: a narrative of failing schools, of an insolvent district, of division between families and teachers under the banner of school choice.
I’ve been paying attention because the future of my children, their peers, indeed, the future of Los Angeles depends on the welfare of this school district. And I’ve noticed the narratives are false: Under the watch of Board President Zimmer, our schools are improving. District finances are guarded but not broke. The tale of division is deployed to divert blame for malfeasance from people who no longer work for the District (and, in a sense, never really did) and to confuse real challenges with empty promises by the opponents in this race.
What has actually happened since Steve Zimmer took office in 2009: The Great Recession slashed school funding to the bone, the once-favored Superintendent left in disgrace after too many ill-planned tech initiatives that smelled like inside dealing, and the promise of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) to build support for students of highest need is just now Three-Part Series Fact-Checking LAUSD School Board District 4 “Facts,” Part I:
