A crowd will face off for Ref Rodriguez's former L.A. school board seat
The person who wins the open Los Angeles school board seat in a March special election will serve less than two years and enter the fray during a period of budget strain and labor unrest.
The campaign might overlap with a teachers strike.
Even so, at least nine candidates have stepped up, gathering the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. They are vying to represent the oddly shaped District 5 of Los Angeles Unified, which covers some neighborhoods north of downtown L.A. as well as the cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The seat opened up in July, when Ref Rodriguez resigned after pleading guilty to one felony and three misdemeanors for campaign-fundraising violations.
The seven-member Board of Education is closely split on key issues, including how to interact with privately operated charter schools, which compete with L.A. Unified for students.
In recent years, L.A. school board races have been marked by record spending. Charter school supporters have spent the most, followed by the teachers union.
It remains to be seen which of the candidates will win major financial support.
The leadership of United Teachers Los Angeles seems to be coalescing behind Jackie Goldberg, a longtime teacher who previously served on the school board and also was a member of the L.A. City Council and the state Assembly.
The union’s political action committee has voted overwhelmingly to back Goldberg, although there was support for Graciela Ortiz, a counselor at Marquez High School in Huntington Park. Ortiz is active in the union and is on the Huntington Park City Council. That city is part of District 5.
“It’s hard to argue against Jackie,” said Gregg Solkovits, a former union vice president who’s on the political action committee. “She’s always been there for UTLA. And she’s one of the most fabulous teachers I’ve ever seen.
The union’s ultimate endorsement decision will be made by its House of Representatives.
The charter camp so far is keeping its strategy under wraps, though one potential favorite is CONTINUE READING: A crowd will face off for Ref Rodriguez's former L.A. school board seat - Los Angeles Times
