From left: Sherlett Hendy-Newbill, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, George McKenna, Rachel Johnson and Hattie McFrazier

Heading into the final month of the special election run-off to fill LA Unified school board’s District 1 seat, candidates George McKenna and Alex Johnson are collecting endorsements from former opponents.

The seat, which represents much of South LA, was left vacant when longtime school board member Marguerite LaMotte died in office late last year.

Today, reality-TV personality turned special education teacher, Omarosa Manigault, who came in fifth place during the primary race, threw her weight behind Johnson.

“Omarosa’s strong support of my runoff campaign will aid my efforts to connect with key voters before Election Day,” Johnson said in a statement.

“[She] shares my feeling that now is the time for a new generation of leadership to step forward with a broad coalition of support to implement a quality education agenda that will improve our schools and advance our children’s learning and achievement,”  Johnson said.

But the list of former adversaries now standing behind McKenna is much longer; Sherlett Hendy-Newbill, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, Rachel Johnson, and Hattie McFrazier have all lined up behind the veteran educator.

“I am honored to be endorsed by these accomplished women who have been committed to improving the educational outcomes for the children of Los Angeles,” McKenna said on his website.

“Each has a track record within the LAUSD as a teacher and/or board member and they are aware of the issues involved in the day-to day operations of classrooms and school sites.”

McKenna, a retired school administrator, nearly won the primary race outright in June with 44 percent of the vote. He is also backed by his former colleagues at the school administrators union (AALA), and by the powerful teachers union, UTLA.

But several other labor unions, including SEIU Local 99, have come down in favor of Johnson, education advisor to County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Johnson has also garnered a long list of elected officials statewide who support him.

Johnson trailed behind McKenna with 24 percent of the vote in the primary election.

District 1 spans across south and southwest Los Angeles and has more than 74,000 students in 92 traditional schools and 37 charter campuses.

The special election for the school board seat is Tuesday, August 12.

Previous Posts: LAUSD candidates McKenna, Johnson set for election runoff; Johnson’s internal poll shows gains on McKenna in runoff; Hendy-Newbill endorses McKenna in the District 1 runoff

Alex Johnson, District 1 candidate

An internal poll conducted by Alex Johnson’s campaign suggests that he is gaining on George McKenna as they compete for the vacant LA Unified school board seat.

The Johnson campaign says that polling conducted in April and June shows that Johnson’s name recognition has grown to 52 percent, from 14 percent percent.

It also said Johnson’s favorable rating climbed to 42 percent from 12 percent while McKenna’s grew to 49 percent from 29 percent. Each candidate’s unfavorable rating also rose — to 10 percent from 2 percent for Johnson and to 8 percent from 7 percent for McKenna.

The two were the leading vote-getters among seven candidates for the vacant District 1 board seat in the June 3 primary. They’re now facing off in an Aug. 12 runoff.

The Johnson poll, included in a campaign staff memo, was sent, unsolicited, to LA School Report, for the apparently obvious reasons that it shows encouraging results for Johnson, a political neophyte who has been working as an education aide to LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

The memo said that the campaign has fulfilled the first of two goals, holding McKenna, a former school administrator and the subject of a television movie, under 50 percent in the primary, thus denying him an outright victory. “We knew from the outset that McKenna’s higher initial name ID would virtually guarantee him a first place finish in a multi-candidate race,” it said.

The campaign’s second goal, the memo said, is to turn Johnson’s opportunity into victory by convincing voters he represents “a  new direction for L.A. schools.” The memo said voters are responding favorably to his positions on a series of issues but it offed no polling results showing how they compare with voter sentiments on McKenna’s positions on the same issues.

With the runoff election still six weeks away, it’s hard to assess the true impact of the polling data. McKenna far outdistanced Johnson in the primary, 44.6 percent to 24.7 percent, and as a rule, internal campaign polls usually project good news for the campaign conducting the poll.

Nonetheless, the memo concludes that a third of the voters remain undecided and Johnson “can and will win the runoff.”

LA School report sent a message to the McKenna campaign, sharing some of the numbers in the Johnson memo. The message asked for any similar poll conducted by the McKenna campaign and for reaction to Johnson’s poll.

Jewett Walker, McKenna’s campaign manager, provided an ambiguous, one-word response — “Absurd!.” It was unclear if he were referring to the requests or to the conclusions of the Johnson poll.

He did not respond to another message seeking clarification.

Previous Posts: Labor groups split on support for McKenna and Johnson in runoff, SEIU endorses Alex Johnson for LAUSD school board in runoff, LAUSD candidates McKenna, Johnson set for election runoff

Genethia Hudley-Hayes

Despite her inability to substantiate a number of academic credentials and other claims on her resume, Genethia Hudley-Hayes still has the backing of  her major supporters in the race for the LA Unified District 1 board seat.

“Outsiders don’t get it,” said one longtime south Los Angeles activist who spoke to LA School Report on the condition of anonymity. “Our community closes rank when it feels attacked.”

Still in her camp is one of her biggest endorsers — U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass, whose district overlaps with the open board seat, left vacant by the death of longtime board member Marguerite LaMotte.  Bass told LA School Report, “There has been a lot of carelessness and it’s extremely unfortunate. But I will continue to support her.”

District 1 stretches from Hancock Park south to Long Beach. The population is increasingly Hispanic, but for 40 years, voters have consistently elected a black woman to the school board.

Former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who along with Bass announced his endorsement of Hudley Hayes in February, before discrepancies in her resume were confirmed, has apparently not changed his position. Messages left by LA School Report asking if he has withdrawn his endorsement were not returned.

The timing is important: with candidates busy preparing direct mail pieces timed to drop when vote-by-mail ballots arrive early next month, a high-profile face featured on campaign literature can make a big difference in swaying voters. The special election is scheduled for June 3.

Bass said Hudley-Hayes, who served as on the school board as president more than 10 years ago, bring the board together. “She has a long track record of working on educational issues,” she said. ” She was able to build consensus amongst board members on a variety of issues at a contentious period of time.”

Mark Ridley-Thomas (left), Alex Johnson

LA Unified school board hopeful Alex Johnson kicked off his campaign last night at a west side home, filled with elected officials, education advocates and political funders.

“We’ve waited long enough.” Johnson told the room of supporters. “We can’t leave a generation of kids behind… every child should have an opportunity to succeed, to graduate from high school, to get a job.”

He noted that the open seat in District 1, which covers much of south Los Angeles, has the “highest number of kids being pushed out of school… the highest rate of foster youth of our schools, the second second lowest graduation rate, [the] highest concentration of poverty,” in the district.

Johnson, who serves as education aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas qualified for the ballot last Friday. He is competing in an usually packed field of nine candidates (two of whom are awaiting certification from the City Clerk’s office) in a June 3 special election after longtime school board trustee Marguerite LaMotte died in office late last year.

In his remarks to the crowd, Johnson made no mention his accusations against one of his opponents, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, whom he has accused of falsifying her resume. Hudley-Hayes, who once held the District 1 seat and has the support of former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Congresswoman Karen Bass, has denied any intentional misrepresentations (more on that story here) and has accused Johnson of “bullying” her to drop out of the race.

An experience gap is emerging as an election issue — that’s one of the takeaways as south LA residents got an early look yesterday at some of candidates in the highly contested race to fill the vacant LA Unified school board seat.

The District 1 seat, left open by the death of longtime trustee, Marguerite LaMotte, covers much of South LA, stretching from Hancock Park, south to Gardena.

The field includes educators (current and retired), entertainment personalities, a DWP employee, an elected official and a political aide. To stay in the race each candidate must file nominating petitions with 500 to 1000 valid signatures from residents of the district by March 7. Here is a rundown of the line-up:

Lady Cage-Barile

According to her website, Cage-Barile ran for state assembly in 2010 on a Tea-Party platform that included, pro-life and anti-immigration positions. She is one of two candidates who filed with the City Clerk’s within moments of the deadline. She will appear on the ballot as a “Teacher/Publicist/Treasurer.”

Genethia Hudley-Hayes

A seasoned educator and civic leader, Hayes is looking to make a comeback to the school board. She served from 1999 to 2003, then, as president, lost her seat to LaMotte.

She told LA School Report she’s eager to address all of the changing needs of area schools, not just those of the black community.

“This is not about this being a seat for black people; if you look at a map of the district, there’s a lot of diversity in District 1,” she said. “There are Latinos, Asians, there are Anglos – if you look at the map it goes all the way up to Hancock Park, so I think you need to be talking to all of those communities.”

Hudley Hayes says she hopes to gain the support of UTLA.

Alex Johnson

Johnson, Assistant Senior Deputy for Education and Public Safety to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, filed his papers yesterday but has long been rumored to be running. He has the powerful backing of Ridley-Thomas, who is fast amassing a power base in South LA after his son won an assembly seat there last year.  Ridley-Thomas was one of the most outspoken elected officials advocating for an election to fill the seat, over an appointment.

Johnson has been making the rounds to funders and civic leaders for weeks in anticipation of the race.

Prior to his work for Ridley-Thomas, Johnson worked closely with school instructional leaders in the New York City Department of Education.

Rachel Johnson

Johnson, a 30-year veteran teacher, is currently a kindergarten teacher at Purche Avenue Elementary School and a Gardena City Councilwoman. At the school board meeting last month, she asked for a swift appointment to the seat, explaining,” I’ve always deferred to the side of election because that is our bread and butter but this situation is very complex.”

She said she had to “break rank with many of my political colleagues” in deciding to run.

Omarosa Manigault

Bringing unusual visibility to the special election, Omarosa Manigault is a former TV personality best known for her contentious role on The Apprentice.

“I’m a tough, no nonsense, take-no-prisoners woman,” she told LA School Report. “People know me and that I’m not afraid to advocate for our district,” in the spirit of LaMotte, she said, whom she considered a friend. “They want someone who can go in the board room and get something done.”

A teacher at Howard University, an ordained pastor, and more recently, a special education substitute teacher in LA Unified, Manigault says she was urged to seek office by concerned parents, community leaders, friends and family. “My agenda is children, to make sure they have opportunities they deserve.”

George McKenna

McKenna was the first choice for the seat among the pro-appointment camp and has the strong support of U.S. Representative Maxine Waters.

McKenna, a retired LA Unified administrator and former area superintendent, built support from the community on the issue of appointing a school board member, but it is unclear if that will translate into an election base. He told LA School Report his support has grown: “Every day there are new organizations encouraging me to run.”

Hattie McFrazier

An LA Unified district lifer, McFrazier spent 31 years with the district, retiring in 2012. She held a variety of positions including teacher, counselor, School Attendance Review Board Chair and Health and Human Services Director.

She also held leadership roles in the National Education Association and California Teachers Association, and she continues to sit on United Teachers LA’s board of directors

In an interview with LA School Report, she said, “The only way to make sure our schools are functioning the way they’re supposed to be, is to bring teachers and health and human services and administrators back to the schools.”

Marco Mendoza

As an electric station operator for the Department of Water and Power, Mendoza is the only candidate listed as “Parent” on the ballot. “I am not an educator,” he told LA School Report. “I am a parent, and that’s a good thing.”

Mendoza has two children attending District 1 area schools, and a third attends a KIPP charter school. He said he’s been pained by the severe budget cuts his daughters’ schools have been subjected to but it was “the iPad issue” that lead him to enter the race.

“I don’t think [the board] looked for cheaper tablets,” he said. “I just asked myself, are there other parents on this board?”

David Earle Moch 

A lifelong educator on the verge of retirement, Moch has been teaching at La Salle Elementary for the last 15 years. He’s served as UTLA chapter chair for the school for the last two.

In an email to LA School Report, he said, “I have seen LAUSD from the inside out, since my first job with them was as a custodian while working my way through school at L.A. City College. I have seen the issues concerning Charter Schools first hand since we had to co-exist with one on the La Salle Elementary School campus for two years. I have seen the return and re-enrollment of the most challenging student after they had been rejected by the Charter. I am however a living testimony that Public Education can work. I want to work to insure that it does..for all students.”

Sherlett Hendy Newbill

Newbill, a teacher for 15 years and girl’s basketball coach at Dorsey High School has also served as the teachers union (UTLA) co-chapter chair at Dorsey for seven years.

She told LA School Report, “I grew up in Board District 1, came back to teach in Board District 1, and worked closely with board member LaMotte on projects to improve schools in this community.  This community needs strong representation because our schools have been under-served and under-resourced for too long.”

Alison “Alis” Noel

A relative new-comer to the crowded field, Noel is listed as an “Educator Advocate/Engineer” on her declaration of intention with the City Clerk. She did not respond to LA School Report’s request for an interview.

Priscilla Reed

An activist in South Los Angeles, Reed lists on her resume being a representative on the Empowerment Congress Central Area Neighborhood Development Council. She is one of two candidates who filed with the City Clerk’s within moments of the deadline. She will appear on the ballot as a “Volunteer/Advocate/Mother.”

Marilyn Veincentotzs

Describing herself as “semi-retired,” Viencentotzes spent 20 years as long-term substitute teacher in LA and Compton Unified school districts. Eventually she moved on to working as a school psychologist with LAUSD as well the county.

Want to add to our info?

Tweet us: @laschooreport
email us: info{at}laschoolreport.com

This is the only workshop to be held by the City Clerk’s election division, and it’s intended to brief candidates on the procedures related to filing the “Declaration of Intention to Become a Candidate” and the “Nominating Petition,” forms that allow potential candidates to qualify for the Special Election ballot.

The workshop is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Piper Technical Center, according to a press release.

Previous Posts: LAUSD Board calls for special election; Want to run for the LAUSD board? Deadlines approaching