Photo: Johnson campaign

Since the June 3 primary that produced Alex Johnson and George McKenna as the finalists for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat election on Aug. 12, the candidates have engaged in no public debates that would give voters a better opportunity to learn their views on contemporary issues.

As a result, LA School Report has asked each of them questions about how they view the district, the job ahead and the challenges facing public school education in Los Angeles.

Today, we hear from Johnson, 34, a lawyer and aide to LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Question: What do you consider the biggest challenges facing the school district? If you could address one of those issues now, what would you do?

Answer: The biggest challenge is LAUSD’s inability to turn the corner on achieving higher graduation rates and lowering dropout rates. Yes, LAUSD’s graduation rate has hit 67 percent but that’s still unacceptably low, and in LAUSD District 1 the graduation rate is only 56 percent.

The path forward requires greater investments in early childhood education, development of language and literacy skills, programs to ensure the effectiveness of professional support and development for teachers and school administrators, and smart budgetary decisions that focus more school district dollars toward classroom needs. 

Finally, better leadership is essential. We cannot have strong teaching and learning if we do not end the governance crisis that results in the dysfunction at LAUSD.

Q: What steps would you recommend to forestall a teachers’ strike?

A: A strike would harmful to all concerned, especially students and teachers.

I have been vocal in calling for increased compensation for teachers because I firmly believe you cannot build an effective teaching core if you do not provide teaching staff with adequate compensation and incentives. 

LAUSD teachers have not received a raise or cost of living adjustment in nearly eight years. They are overdue and deserving of a raise. 

As I understand it, LAUSD has offered a 26.3 percent compensation package over three years, including increases in health benefit costs. Given the present pension crisis with CalSTRS, LAUSD will pick up teacher pension costs.  A new deal for teachers cannot be brokered unless both sides have ample opportunities to negotiate at the bargaining table. 

I urge both sides to return to negotiations and bargain in earnest. A teachers’ strike benefits no one, but more importantly, a strike would hurt our children.

 Q: How do you balance the widespread support for you by charter school interests versus the financial impact the increasing number of them has on LA Unified?

A: My campaign is supported by a diverse array of people interested in change, results and improvement in our public school system. I have significant support from labor, but also business community leaders. That’s extremely rare. 

I am not opposed to charter public schools because the majority of students in District 1 who attend charter schools are children of color. And they are graduating at rates significantly higher than the district-wide graduate rate average. 

Every decision I make on the array of education policy issues that come before the board will be made prudently, thoughtfully, and independently based on the perspectives of my constituents, the concerns of parents, and the data that undergirds any policy. While I have received support from the charter public school community, we must still hold charter schools accountable and transparent, just like any entity engaged in the business of educating our children must be.

Q:  The Common Core curriculum has been embraced by LAUSD and the board. But it has generated intense opposition in other states. What do you think about the Common Core as a means to improve academic achievement?

A: One thing is certain: we need to enhance the critical thinking skills of students and dispense with the rote memorization that has become commonplace as a result of No Child Left Behind. 

We will not know for some time whether Common Core is ultimately a better curriculum framework. Certainly, we have significant work to do to ensure that teachers receive enough professional development and training to be comfortable with this shift in pedagogy. 

I am hopeful and optimistic about the import of Common Core, but I want to ensure that we are implementing it in a manner that is more successful than how LAUSD implemented changes in technology. The bottom line is, students should have a rigorous curriculum that prepares them for college or career.

Q:  What have you learned from Sylvia Rousseau as a board liaison for District 1? 

A: Dr. Rousseau deserves to be commended for her thoughtful and steady representation of District 1 over the past few months. I’ve been fortunate to have several meetings with her to hear her ideas for improving our schools and promoting student achievement. She has been very gracious with her time spent with me.

We differ in some policy areas, as any two people would, but we both have a common agenda: improve the quality of educational outcomes for the students in District 1. 

I recently spent time with Dr. Rousseau discussing her tremendous work on the subject of Standard English Learners (SEL). Her policy resolution on the topic was unanimously approved by the board, and if implemented correctly, will provide support for students whose language skills leave them unprepared for the workforce or higher education. 

The challenge will be to ensure the SEL policy is consistently integrated into the ongoing work of the Board. I have committed to Dr. Rousseau that I would make this policy implementation a top priority. 

Q: Parental involvement within LAUSD is at an all-time low.  How would you change that, taking into consideration the significant number of foster children in District 1? 

A: For starters we must look at how we engage working parents. Robust parental engagement should include far more than providing cookies and punch, a short speech and a pamphlet, and calling that parent engagement. 

Parental engagement starts in a child’s earliest years of life, before they enter preschool or during their preschool years. That’s why I worked with the Los Angeles Urban League to fund a parent academy that engages parents of preschool-age children. 

LAUSD is a massive bureaucracy. A majority of parents do not understand how to navigate it. We need to work with organizations such as Urban League, Families in Schools and local PTA’s to engage parents. 

We should consider extending Parent-Teacher Night to a weekend, so working parents have a better opportunity to participate and learn how to be more involved in their children’s education. Let’s innovate and use technology wisely to expand parent involvement. Tele-town halls can provide parents without access to transportation online meeting access to their school’s administrators and teachers. 

Let’s be creative about how we engage parents and provide them with information necessary to help their child succeed in school. We ought to be able to expand our parental engagement bandwidth by making use of parks, faith-based institutions and non-profit organizations through the smart use of online meeting technology. 

Q: On your web site you argue that many LA children don’t have “up-to-date “textbooks, clean classrooms, summer programs, libraries, and well trained teachers.” How do you satisfy all those needs given the district’s budget limitations?  

A: We must have three solid approaches: (1) Thoughtful and strategic stewardship of the LAUSD’s resources, (2) Leveraging public-private partnerships and (3) Decision-making that is focused on the “whole child” and places children’s education needs first in the budgetary process.

Q: Despite your experiences as a lawyer and a policy advisor you’ve never worked in a school. How does that limit your effectiveness as a board member?

A: The statement ‘you’ve never worked in a school’ is not true. I have taught in a classroom at the high school level and served as an adjunct lecturer at the college level. The McKenna campaign and their supporters peddle that falsehood in their campaign mail. They ought to do their homework.

While in law school I participated in a fellowship where I taught elective courses in the D.C. Public School System. I also taught as an adjunct lecturer for three years at Lehman College, part of the City University of New York system (CUNY).

My effectiveness as a board member should be judged by the range and substance of my professional experiences and the diverse skill set that I bring to the education policy process. I am the only candidate in this race who has relevant and recent education policy experience. 

The question voters should be asking of the candidates is: What have you accomplished lately? I am not questioning George McKenna’s commitment to children. But Mr. McKenna’s track record as an administrator over the last 30 years has been marked by falling graduation rates, poor test scores, and financial mismanagement.

In contrast, I have a proven track record of success, improving access to early education, making children safer in school, and helping children do better in the classroom by focusing on the “whole child.”  I understand education policy and leveraging resources to benefit students and schools. 

I’m a fighter and an effective advocate. I understand education is not simply about book learning; it’s also about early childhood education, school based health centers, school safety, mental health, joint-use agreements, infrastructure, school finance, teacher effectiveness, charter public schools, and bringing a 21st century education to students in LAUSD.

Tamar Galatzan LAUSD School Board Member

For those keeping score, it’s now 3-2.

A second member of the LA Unified school board, Tamar Galatzan, is endorsing Alex Johnson for the open District 1 seat.

She joins Monica Garcia as the board backers for Johnson. Three others — Monica Ratliff, Steve Zimmer and Bennett Kayser — have endorsed George McKenna.

That leaves board President Richard Vladovic as the lone neutral in the Aug. 12 runoff election. He does not intend to endorse in the race, said Chris Torres, his chief of staff.

“As a parent with children attending LAUSD schools and as a criminal prosecutor, Tamar Galatzan understands the critical importance of keeping our children safe at school,” Johnson said in a statement. “Tamar knows I will be a voice for change on the school board to ensure that our L.A. schools do a better job of providing a quality education for our children. I look forward to working closely with (her) on important issues, such as early childhood education, school-based health centers and student safety.”

None of the board endorsements is a surprise. Galatzan and Garcia, the board’s most reform-minded members, are backing the candidate most favorable to reform; the other three, known as  more friendly to union interests, are backing the candidate supported by UTLA, the teachers union.

Previous Posts: Zimmer, Kayser back McKenna; Villaraigosa in for Johnson; Ratliff forgoes neutrality, endorsing McKenna in board race; McKenna, Johnson re-launch campaigns for school board seat

Alex Johnson

In two recent mailings (here and here) to “most likely” voters in LA Unified’s District 1, the Johnson campaign is questioning George McKenna‘s accomplishments as the two candidates seek the open school board seat.

“We always knew that at some point, our campaign has to address to the myth of George McKenna,” Johnson’s campaign manager, Roy Behr, told LA School Report today. “The real George McKenna is nothing like the myth he likes to spread.”

McKenna has responded with a message on his website, calling Johnson’s tactics a “shameful smear campaign” — with the word “SHAMEFUL” in red appearing across a photograph of Johnson — and asking supporters to donate to his campaign.

In an email to voters, McKenna’s campaign manager, Jewett Walker, wrote, “When a candidate loses a primary by 20 points, like our opponent, there is no clear path to victory in the runoff. Well, over the last several days, our opponent has revealed his plan: smear the good name of George McKenna.”

A message seeking further comment from Walker was not returned.

McKenna won 44 percent of the June 3 primary vote to Johnson’s 24 percent, moving them into the runoff because neither surpassed 50 percent in a field of seven candidates. Until late last week, as Johnson built on his substantial financial advantage, both candidates had stayed positive in their campaign materials, each pitching his own assets.

Then last week, Johnson sent out a mailer, spoofing the 1986 TV movie, “The George McKenna Story,” starring Denzel Washington as McKenna, that told the story of his turn-around experiences at Washington Prep High School.

The ersatz movie poster in the Johnson mailer says the “real” story includes “failed school,” “false claims,” “fiscal mismanagement” and “failure to protect kids.” While the Johnson campaign provided citations to the Los Angeles Times, the California Department of Education and other sources that purport to substantiate the assertions, McKenna’s web-based response does not include any specific defense or rebuttal, saying only, “The good news is our opponent has no defense for our greatest weapon: the truth.”

A second mailer from the Johnson campaign takes McKenna to task on some of the same issues, also with citations.

“His story is, ‘I was in a movie, so I must be great because I was played by Denzel Washington; that’s how cool I am,’ ” Behr said. “Our goal is to remind people that Hollywood movies are rarely based in fact, and that’s certainly the case here.”

Going negative is a tried and true campaign tactic, often used by candidates trailing in a race. While public opinion polls often show that voters disdain the strategy, political consultants generally agree that they use them because they are effective.

Behr said the mailers have gone to those the Johnson campaign has identified as “most likely to vote,” but he declined to say whether the negative messages would continue.

 Previous Posts: Johnson’s internal poll shows gains on McKenna in runoff; Labor groups split on support for McKenna and Johnson in runoff; SEIU endorses Alex Johnson for LAUSD school board in runoff

George McKenna

George McKenna‘s victory in the June 3 school board race has inched up since the initial election ballots were counted, new results show.

According to the latest update from the LA County clerk’s office, released yesterday, McKenna finished with 19,802 votes — 4,360 more than the unofficial results that were announced hours after the polls closed.

The new totals gave him 44.6 percent of the vote, compared with the 44.3 percent he had election night. The second-place finisher, Alex Johnson, also added votes, 2,177, giving him 10,882, but his overall percentage fell, to 24.5 from 24.7.

McKenna, 74, and Johnson, 33, are now facing each other in an Aug. 12 runoff for the right to represent District 1 on the board. The seat has been vacant since Marguerite LaMotte died last year.

The final order of finish changed only in that Omarosa Manigault, who finished sixth among seven contenders election night, jumped over Rachel Johnson to finish fifth.

With more than 8,500 votes added to the earlier tally, voter turnout rose to 13 percent from 10 percent.

The county said it will certify the results on July 1.

Previous Posts: LAUSD candidates McKenna, Johnson set for election runoff; Marguerite LaMotte, Long-Serving Member of LA Unified School Board, Dies, at 80

From left: George McKenna and Alex Johnson

With less than two weeks before the special election to fill a vacant seat on the Los Angeles Unified school board, two candidates appear to be leading the field of seven, suggesting the probability of an August runoff.

People familiar with two separate but consistent polls of likely voters conducted by professional firms said the two leading candidates are George McKenna, 73, a retired administrator with decades of experience who had a turn at stardom when his story of a school turnaround in the 1980’s was made into a TV movie; and Alex Johnson, 33, a senior aide to County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas who grew up in Los Angeles and returned with a law degree and experience working with the Department of Education in New York City.

One poll was conducted for one of the seven candidates, the other for an organization with no affiliation to any of the campaigns. The results have not been made public.

McKenna leads the pack in terms name recognition among voters by a wide margin, the polls said. Johnson comes in second, with another candidate, Genethia Hudley Hayes, an experienced former school board member who has faced criticism over discrepancies in her resume coming in third, sources said.

The other four candidates have gotten little traction in polling, they said.

But McKenna’s lead isn’t strong enough to give him the 50 percent plus one majority necessary to claim victory outright, according to the sources. That would mean he and Johnson would face each other in a runoff, scheduled for Aug. 12.

The election for the District 1 seat, covering much of south LA, is not expected to attract the attention of voters despite the immense challenges facing the school district this year.

Set for June 3, the statewide primary day, it follows the death of Marguerite LaMotte, who had represented the district for 10 years until she died late last year. The vacancy has left the district, home to some of the lowest performing schools in Los Angeles, without board representation as it grapples with a new school funding formula dictated by the state and a fast-approaching deadline to complete the 2015 budget.

In 2011, the last time there was a school board race in District 1, voter turnout was less than 15 percent, with only 40,000 of the more than 300,000 registered voters casting a ballot.