"If a child is not feeling well, then he is not learning well."
- BD3 Candidate Richard Ramos
On Saturday, November 18, 2023, the candidates for the BD3 LAUSD School Board seat (minus no-show Elizabeth Badger) spent just under three hours answering questions from the community about the direction of the School District. The following is a summary of the questions and their answers, starting with the opening statements:
Raquel Villalta: Running to "protect the kids."
Andreas Farmakalidis: "Music has a rightful place in education."
Janie Dam: Wants to bring the lessons of charter schools to public schools.
Richard Ramos: Sees himself in students. The "sense of hope is diminished. We need the courage to fight." Need to challenge Primary Promise.
Dan Chang: Running to bring change, but did not specify what that change would be.
Scott Schmerelson: Kids are the same no matter where you go. His goal is to "Push for excellence in education."
- The LAUSD has an $18.8 billion budget that must be approved by the LAUSD School Board. How would your experience ensure that you understand this complicated document before voting on it?
Raquel Villalta: Served on her child's school site council. Claims the district is running at a deficit. Would improve the public's access to the budget.
(Author's note: From Jacobin: "The LAUSD ended the 2020-21 school year with an $800 million surplus and the 2021-22 school year with a $500 million surplus. It is poised to end the current 2022-23 school year with an incredible $1.5 billion surplus.")
Andreas Farmakalidis: Has managed the budgets for multiple Chambers of Commerce. Is a business owner. Noted that much of the funding for COVID is expiring. He would seek alternative sources of funding like grants.
Janie Dam: Her experience as a mother and teacher is most important but she was previously a business attorney and is familiar with corporate budgeting. As an attorney, she prosecuted financial crimes.
Byron Gutierrez: Has an MBA and managed division-level budgets at major companies. Hard to decipher what the district presents, the District seems to "move money from one bucket to another without transparency."
Richard Ramos: Concern about how money is spent. Why are we using vendors outside our own communities instead of using our budgets to support and grow our communities? Why are we paying an outside organization for tutoring when we could be using High School students? Has managed schoolwide budgets.
Dan Chang: Has managed multi-million dollar budgets. Will focus on getting more funding.
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