UTLA Endorses LAUSD School Board Candidates
LOS ANGELES — With four LAUSD School Board seats up for election in 2020, UTLA has endorsed a powerful team to take back the board majority from the pro-privatization forces. As overwhelmingly approved by the UTLA House of Representatives last night, the UTLA slate includes incumbents George McKenna, Scott Schmerelson, and Jackie Goldberg — fresh off her landslide win in the special election last spring.
For the seat being vacated by Richard Vladovic, UTLA is endorsing an LAUSD parent who is committed to the fight against privatization and for fully funded schools. Patricia Castellanos is a founding member of Reclaim Our Schools LA, the parent-community coalition that was with us during our strike, walking the picket lines and protesting outside privatizers' homes. She is a former deputy director for L.A. Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) and led campaigns with unions and the community for better working conditions for employees and stronger neighborhoods for families.
For the seat being vacated by Richard Vladovic, UTLA is endorsing an LAUSD parent who is committed to the fight against privatization and for fully funded schools. Patricia Castellanos is a founding member of Reclaim Our Schools LA, the parent-community coalition that was with us during our strike, walking the picket lines and protesting outside privatizers' homes. She is a former deputy director for L.A. Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) and led campaigns with unions and the community for better working conditions for employees and stronger neighborhoods for families.
UTLA also endorsed an experienced, pro-public education candidate in LA City Council President Herb Wesson, running for LA County Board of Supervisors, District 2. Wesson walked the picket line with UTLA members in January, helped resolve the successful Accelerated Charter strike (the second charter school strike in the country). He is supported by unions across the labor movement, and he campaigned vigorously for more school funding in the Measure EE campaign.
Herb Wesson