CCSA Doesn't Care"-"We must hold the Superintendent accountable"
- Karla Griego (2024)
Ten years ago, I ran for a seat on the LAUSD Board of Education to change the district I believed was failing its students, especially those with Special Education needs. My opponent was Tamar Galatzan, an entrenched incumbent who was backed by the charter school industry. I achieved the lowest cost per vote, just 69 cents, in the entire city during that election cycle. While it wasn't enough to win the seat, our campaign helped knock Galatzan out of office. This helped to clear a pathway for change and raised expectations that accountability might finally follow.
After that race, I made a promise to those who trusted me with their vote that I would continue to fight for public education. Over the past decade, I have done my best to honor that commitment, often against institutional resistance. I ran into more than a few brick walls. Still, there were moments when persistence mattered; when pressure, documentation, and public scrutiny forced movement from a bureaucracy determined to remain unyielding.
Last January, I wrote that I was "cautiously optimistic" about the future of the district. It had become clear throughout the previous year that longtime board members Jackie Goldberg and George McKenna were tired and no longer up to the fight our students needed. Fortunately, voters had chosen successors, Karla Griego and Sherlett Hendy Newbill, who shared their support of public education. I had hoped that they would bring a new energy to the LAUSD boardroom and pave the way for meaningful change.
A year later, as I look back, that optimism feels misplaced. After promising accountability, the board, despite a supposed majority that claimed to support public education, voted unanimously in September to renew Superintendent Alberto Carvalho's contract. They did so in closed session, without any input from the public. The decision was widely condemned by the stakeholders who had worked to get these members elected.
Even when the board took positive steps forward, its efforts were often overturned by forces outside the district, revealing how limited local accountability has become. As an example, after thoroughly documenting why one of the KIPP franchises was failing its students, the LAUSD Board voted 4-3-0 to reject its request to renew its charter. This decision was supported by the staff at the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE), who stated "Closure of the charter school [was] in the best interest of pupils." The evidence the staff used to back up this decision was ignored by the LACOE Board and they voted 4-3-0 to allow the failing school to continue operating.
With Scott Schmerelson set to retire after the 2028 election, I had planned to run again. However, my move to the state of Washington has made that impossible. Hopefully, someone else will step up to bring the fight our students so desperately need.
What follows is a snapshot of how accountability repeatedly stalled, or was overridden, throughout the year.:
JanuaryThe LAUSD Board held a closed session to evaluate Superintendent Carvalho, who is being criticized for how he handled the LA fire crisis.
February
LAUSD Board Member Karla Griego tried to find out why school sites are not seeing more arts programs. District bureaucrats shut her down.
Graciela Ortiz, the Charter School supported candidate in last November's LAUSD BD5 election is under investigation in a corruption probe.
MarchLawyers representing LAUSD students claim the District risks over $100 million by continuing to misuse PROP 28 funds meant for arts education.
A pending lawsuit against El Camino Real Charter High School exposes a publicly funded private school in chaos, leaving students in danger.
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