Set for August 12, the stand-alone election not only falls in the dog days of summer, but also hits on the first day of school, when parents tend to have their minds on other things.

Some election experts are predicting that turnout could drop below the disappointing primary turnout, which was  just 13 percent.

“It will be really low, probably under 10 percent,” says Bill Carrick, a Democratic political strategist, who doesn’t have a horse in the school board race.

The vacancy, left by the death of longtime school board member Marguerite LaMotte, is a runoff contest between the top two vote-getters from a field of seven in the June primary: Alex Johnson an up-and-coming aide to County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, and George McKenna, a retired school administrator with a long record of service in LAUSD.  McKenna won the primary with nearly 45 percent of the vote — shy of the 50 percent he needed to win outright. Johnson came in second, with 24 percent.

That election coincided with the statewide primary, but still underperformed estimates.

Even more pessimistic is Fernando Guerra, director the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, who told LA School Report that a runoff might attract only 5 percent of the 340,000 voters registered in the district.

A look at the history of orphan elections in the LA area supports those predictions. (See graphic).

The most recent special election in Los Angeles last December, when Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, son of the County Supervisor, Mark Ridley Thomas, won the contest for a vacant state assembly seat in south LA, in a race that garner an 8.6 percent turnout. Two other special elections last year were also marked by low turnout: Holly Mitchell won for state senate in south LA with a turnout of 5.5 percent, and Nury Martinez won for city council, with a turnout of 11 percent.

If low turnout predictions hold, each voter who does go to the polls has outsized clout.  A turnout of 5 percent in the school board race would translate into a candidate winning the race with as few as 8,500 votes.

In the money race for the open District 1 board seat, Alex Johnson continues to hold an overall lead over George McKenna, according to the City’s Ethics Commission

Through last week, Johnson had raised $47,646 to $6,450 for McKenna, an 8-to-1 ratio that hasn’t budged in weeks. In PAC money spent on the campaign’s behalf, Johnson supporters have written checks for $370,058, to $65,119 for McKenna.

The runoff election is now 16 days away, on Aug. 12, the same day school opens.

It’s entirely clear by now where all the support is coming from. Johnson has won the favor of reform groups, including the PAC affiliated with the California Charter Schools Association, which has spent $77,378, and a new PAC called Great Public Schools, which has spent $38,002 and includes lots of reformed-minded donors who support Superintendent John Deasy.

While that kind of support would appear to make Johnson sympathetic to board measures favorable to charter groups, he might be equally sympathetic to positions favored by his boss, Mark Ridley-Thomas. The largest amount spent on Johnson’s behalf, $245,754, comes from a voter registration and education group that Thomas founded 12 years ago, called the African American Voter Registration, Education & Participation Project (AAVREP).

The service employees union that serves LA Unified, SEIU Local 99, has also spent on Johnson’s behalf, $6,336.

All the money spent on McKenna’s behalf comes from one place: the PAC affiliated with UTLA, the teachers union.

* * *

While he has no opponent yet for his 2015 campaign to retain his seat on the board, President Richard Vladovic is now reporting that he has raised more than $37,000 in campaign contributions through the first half of this year.

Sixteen donors have kicked in as much as $1,000, including the limit of $1,100 from the LA School Police Association. Four-digit donors also include  an architect, a lobbyist and a party yacht operator.

Why would an unopposed sitting president need money? For lots of reasons beyond any reelection efforts, including giving money to other candidates and doing research on issues.

Vladovic is one of three board members up for reelection next year. The other two — Tamar Galatzan in District 3 and Bennett Kayser in District 5 — have drawn opponents. The District 1 seat will be contested again, and two candidates have filed. It’s unclear the whether the winner of McKenna-Johnson will join them.

* * *

One thing has been conspicuously missing from the campaign for the District 1 seat.

A debate.

While McKenna and Johnson have been piling up endorsements, no community group has stepped up to sponsor a one-on-one discussion of issues that might await the new school board member.

Some of the reasons are obvious: It’s summer. Hardly anyone is paying attention to politics. There is no other election to draw voters out on Aug. 12. Predictions of a low turnout, which have a way of self-fulfilling, have left would-be debate sponsors disinterested.

The absence of a debate leaves the truly-interested voter only a few options to learn more about where the candidates stand on various issues. They might attend a rally, buy in to a fundraiser or peruse their campaign websites.

The first option requires a visit to at least two. The second requires a donation. The third requires patience and a microscope.

While Johnson has articulated his positions on a variety of current issues on his campaign website, McKenna’s includes nothing from McKenna, himself.

Previous Posts: McKenna is the union candidate, but CTA gave to Johnson backers; Johnson campaign goes negative, citing the ‘myth’ of McKenna; Johnson outpacing McKenna in school board race for money

Alex Johnson (left), George McKenna (right)

Alex Johnson has opened a substantial lead over George McKenna in campaign support from individual donors and groups that support his candidacy even as major backers from the education reform camp and labor unions who have given millions in previous years appear to be sitting this election out. 

The two candidates are facing each other in an Aug. 12 runoff to fill LA Unified’s open District 1 board seat.

Despite finishing a distant second in the June 3 primary (winning 24 percent of the vote to McKenna’s 44 percent), Johnson has raised almost eight times what McKenna has in individual donations, nearly $48,000, to just under $6,500 for McKenna. Half of Johnson’s contributions are for the maximum $1,100.

Meanwhile, figures this morning from the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission show that Super PACs have spent more than $140,000 on behalf of Johnson — over $110,000 more than groups supporting McKenna. Super PACs are independent expenditure committees that must operate separately from a candidate’s campaign.

The Commission reports that the lion’s share of the money spent on behalf of Johnson — about $114,000 — comes from one organization, the African American Voter Registration, Education & Participation Project (AAVREP), a group founded in 2002 by LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Johnson works for him as an education advisor.

The Project says it’s the largest organized effort targeting African American and urban voters in California, registering more than 175,000 voters over the last 20 years. Its goal is to increase political participation among African American and urban voters.

“Money that is raised will go toward educating voters about me, about the selection, and about why I am the best choice to assume the seat on August 12,” Johnson said of his individual donations. “We are putting money into making sure that our mail program and our field program is top-notch, and it’s doing all that we need it to do to get out the vote.”

Another local group, Los Angeles Parents, Teachers, and Students for Great Public Schools, which has received major funding from the California Charter Schools Association Advocates Independent Expenditure Committee, has shelled out more than $24,000 to support Johnson’s campaign, paying for phone banks, fliers and mailers.

The only group contributing independent funds to McKenna’s campaign is the teachers union PAC, UTLA-PACE, which has spent $30,000 on a combination of radio ads, phone banking and a single flier mailing in the last week. 

With such a large lead in money, Johnson remains confident he can close the gap on McKenna.

“I would say that no one has a lead. This is a new election with only two candidates,” he told LA School Report. “We’ve narrowed significantly McKenna’s lead in terms of name identification. It’s almost parity.”

Marco Flores, head of the UTLA political action committee, says the big players, such as the California Teachers Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and even reform supports like Eli Broad and Michael Bloomberg, are intentionally sitting out the special election.

In an April interview with LA School Report, Flores said the timing of the runoff is too close to the regular school board elections in 2015, when four seats will be up for grabs, including District 1 again. And campaigning for those races, he said, will begin on Labor Day — just weeks after the new District 1 member takes a seat on the board.

The question before UTLA and PACE, he said, is: “How much are we going to ask for, from our friends, from our affiliates, from the different groups that we get money from, for this particular race when nine months from now we’re going to be having another four races?”

Next year’s elections will be for board districts 1, 3, 5, and 7.

Alex Johnson, candidate for district 1 school board seat

*CORRECTION

The political action committee for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor has recommended to its members that they endorse Alex Johnson, in his bid for the open LA Unified school board seat.

It’s the first step in the group’s process for endorsing a candidate. The decision by the Committee on Political Education (COPE) now goes before the union’s board of directors, and if the board agrees with the recommendation, it goes before the assembly of members who would vote next week for a final and formal endorsement.

An earlier story on LA School Report misstated the union’s process for determining the endorsement, leading to the Aug. 12 runoff election for the LA Unified District 1 school board seat.

The Federation represents over 350 labor unions and more than 845,000 workers.

“I am proud and gratified to have the strong support of the Committee on Political Education of the L.A. County Federation of Labor in my campaign for the parents, students, school staff and teachers of LAUSD District 1,” Johnson said in an emailed statement.

“These remain economically challenging times for many working women and men. That’s why I strongly supported the $15 minimum wage sought by cafeteria workers, custodians, and other school support staff represented by SEIU Local 99.”

Johnson has received endorsements from more than a dozen union locals, while his opponent, George McKenna, has won support from two unions with much closer ties to the school district — those representing teachers (UTLA) and school administrators (AALA).

The value of any endorsements remains to be seen, however, especially if they do not come with major financial backing. Even with his labor endorsements for the June 3 general election, Johnson finished a distant second to McKenna in a field of seven candidates.

Further, few, if any, of Johnson’s individual donors are members of unions, and the bulk of his Super PAC support comes from a voter education group founded by his boss, LA Country Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, and the state charter schools association.

McKenna, 74, enjoys widespread name recognition in the district, largely from his decades of work as a school administrator. Johnson, 33, is drawing on his work as an education aide to Ridley-Thomas, whose political ties have helped win much of Johnson’s support.

Previous Posts: McKenna, Johnson re-launch campaigns for school board seat; Johnson’s internal poll shows gains on McKenna in runoff; SEIU endorses Alex Johnson for LAUSD school board in runoff

* This version clarifies the steps the LA Federation takes to endorse a candidate.

With less than a month before the runoff election for LAUSD’s district 1 board seat, the race between candidates George McKenna and Alex Johnson is heating up as both both candidates are re-launching their campaigns.

Over the weekend, McKenna, 74, a career school administrator, and Johnson, 33, an education aide to LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, held separate rallies to generate community support and answer questions about their campaigns.

Jewett Walker, McKenna’s campaign manager, told LA School Report that nearly 140 people gathered at McKenna headquarters, including Congresswoman Maxine Waters, representatives for Congresswoman Karen Bass and staff from the California School Employees Association (CSEA) Local 500.

“We thought we did a good job in mobilizing the community,” Walker said. “People were very enthusiastic.”

In fact, Jewett said, the event turned into an unexpected fundraiser. Over $7,000 in campaign contributions was collected, bringing the total of runoff campaign donations to more than $46,000. The largest amount, $1,100, came from CSEA and the rest from community donors.

With only five percent of voters expected to cast ballots, Jewett said the campaign intends to do what it can to re-energize voters, reminding them of the importance of every single vote.

“We’re going to call, we’re going to walk and we’re going to mail,” he said, adding that a low turnout can only benefit McKenna.

“Low turnout elections are skewed to older voters, who take it more seriously,” he said. “That favors us.”

Meanwhile, Johnson, who estimated 250 people attended his campaign kick off event held at his Crenshaw district campaign headquarters, said he will be reaching out to voters across the district to encourage them to go to the polls.

“We will execute a major Get Out The Vote effort in the latter days of July to persuade voters to cast ballots,” he said. “We want to make sure that everybody knows this is a special election in August, and not on the regular election day in November.”

Johnson said his runoff campaign involves organizing and motivating volunteers and executing an outreach effort to contact voters by phone or by visits to their homes to encourage them to vote by mail or at their polling places on election day.

“We have increased the amount of personal visits to voters in their neighborhoods,” he said. “We did a considerable amount of precinct walking during the primary election campaign. In the runoff, we are holding house parties to complement our door-to-door voter contacts.”

Johnson’s campaign kickoff event drew political leaders, union representatives and supporters, parent organizations and education advocates, a list that included Ridley-Thomas, state Assembly members Richard Bloom, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (Mark’s son), L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson, L.A. City Councilman Curren D. Price, Jr. and retired Congresswoman Diane E. Watson.

Johnson says his campaign has raised nearly $60,000 for the runoff by the June 28  reporting deadline, and he’s making an aggressive effort to raise more to stay competitive.

In June’s election, McKenna won 44.3 percent of the vote to Johnson’s 24.7 percent, with five other candidates splitting the remaining votes.

Previous Posts: LAUSD candidates McKenna, Johnson set for election runoff; Vote-by-Mail request for District 1 school board starts today; Labor groups split on support for McKenna and Johnson in runoff

The election, between George McKenna, a retired school administrator and Alex Johnson, education aide to County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas is expected to attract even less interest from voters than did the primary on June 3. In that election, which coincided with a statewide primary, only 13 percent of registered voters turned out to pick from a field of seven candidates.

The winner will take the board seat left vacant by the sudden death last year of longtime board member Marguerite LaMotte.

Applications for Vote by Mail ballots must be received by the City Clerk’s office no later than 5 pm August 5th. Once voters receive their ballots, they can be mailed in or walked into any polling place on election day.

California law gives all voters the option to register for a Vote by Mail ballot.

For more information, click here.

Previous Posts: LAUSD candidates McKenna, Johnson set for election runoff; Labor groups split on support for McKenna and Johnson in runoff; Former opponents pick sides in LA Unified District 1 run-off

Candidates at USC forum

When Angela Jauregui arrived Saturday at USC for a debate with five of the seven candidates running for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat, she told her friends she was there to listen.“

Let’s pay attention,” she said in Spanish as she shushed all three, found a seat in the first row of the lecture hall and put on a head set that translated the hour-long event.

What they heard was pretty much the same from each of the five candidates who participated in an event sponsored by Parent Revolution, the Los Angeles Urban League and Students for Education Reform (SFER). The participants: Rachel Johnson, a kindergarten teacher; George McKenna, a former school principal and superintendent; Genethia Hudley-Hayes, a previous board president; Alex Johnson, a deputy to LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas; and Hattie McFrazier, an educator and health and human services director.

Two other candidates, Omarosa Manigault and Sherlett Hendy-Newbill, had been invited but declined to appear. The special election to replace the late Marguerite LaMotte is June 3.

Between the testimonials from a handful of the Parent Revolutionaries who filled the room, the candidates’ answers differed very little in content, if not style. Often, they began by agreeing with whatever the person before them had just said.

Yes, the district’s neediest schools should get more money under the Local Control Funding Formula.

Yes, if elected, I will work with parents to ensure teacher effectiveness.

Even on touchy subjects they agreed. “Should parents be allowed to weigh in on teacher evaluations?” All five took their allotted 30 seconds to say no.

McKenna, went first on that one. “It’s the responsibility of the supervisor, not the parent. Teachers need to be protected.” Hudley-Hayes, responded with a similar answer, adding, “We have not trained our administrators to properly evaluate a teacher.” McFrazier told the audience, “You do not have that right,” then directed them to LA Unified’s website to verify a teacher’s credentials themselves.

The only answer that was a real departure from the others came from McFrazier when she admitted she does not support the Parent Empowerment Act, the so-called Parent Trigger Law and raison d’etre of Parent Revolution. That drew an actual gasp from audience.

“Let me explain why,” she began. “I was at the board when 24th Street presented their case, and I sat there and I observed both sides, and I came out confused.”

Parents who had signed the petition to take over what would become the first Parent Trigger school in LA Unified didn’t fully know the consequences of what they were doing, McFrazier said, adding, “No one clearly explained to them what was going to happen. And it is important that both sides understand what is happening so everyone will know what they are deciding on.”

By the end, Jauregui and her friends, all of whom were outfitted in Parent Revolution t-shirts, had warmed to Rachel Johnson, who became a crowd favorite, telling the audience that she drives to Staples every week and spends her own money to make copies of work book lessons and reading materials for five new students who joined her class in January. Moms in the room nodded approvingly and clapped loudly.

“That’s the kind of commitment that makes her standout,” Jauregui  said afterward.

She and her friends said they would help spreading the word for Johnson, as they signed up to join a door-to-door get out the vote walk on May 31.

“I can’t vote,” she said, “but if I tell them why it’s so important, maybe they will.”

The local is the largest labor unit within LA Unified that chose not to get behind any of the seven candidates in the June 3 special election.

The decision not to endorse followed what the union described in a press release as “a lengthy endorsement process,” which included conversations between the candidates and members of SEIU Local 99, a review of candidate questionnaires and a formal town hall meeting where SEIU members interviewed the candidates.

“We recognize that there are many candidates in this race who share our goals for improving education inside and outside the classroom and who believe that when parents have good jobs, their children have the economic stability at home that they need to thrive in school,” said SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Courtni Pugh. “Our decision not to endorse one candidate is, in great part, a reflection of the strong field of contenders in this race.”

Pugh said the union would continue to follow the election and, if a run-off is necessary, would re-evaluate the candidates to consider an endorsement.

Among the other large unions with LA Unified employees, the teachers union, UTLA, endorsed three candidates — Rachel Johnson, Sherlett Hendy-Newbill and Hattie McFrazier. The union representing principals and other administrators, AALA, endorsed George McKenna.

Genethia Hudley-Hayes

Rather than jump to conclusions in the case of allegations first reported here earlier this month, that a LA Unified School Board candidate, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, has numerous inaccuracies in her resume, we at LA School Report embarked on our own due-diligence.

What we found were a series of repeated conflicts and inconsistencies over a number of years, without any apparent attempt to publicly set the record straight, thus posing serious questions about her candidacy for LA Unified school board race on June 3.

The controversy first came to light when campaign staff for Alex Johnson, one of her opponents, approached the Hudley-Hayes campaign before the filing deadline, recommending she drop out quietly for what his campaign calls “a pattern of pattern of academic falsification.” (See story here). Instead, Hudley-Hayes, a longtime civic leader and public servant, responded publicly that she would not be “bullied” out of the race. (See story here).

To get to the bottom, our own reporters have done their best to verify, independently, the accuracy of her current resume and her past biographies. Here are the inconsistencies LA School Report has found:

1. Hudley-Hayes’ current resume states that in 1972 she received a “M.Ed Pepperdine University, Malibu California.”

According to the public relations office of the graduate school for education and psychology at Pepperdine University, “Genethia Hudley-Hayes graduated in 8/1978 with an M.S. in ECE- Early Childhood Ed.”

That date conflicts with the date listed on her current resume by six years.

2.  Hudley-Hayes’ current resume states that in 1976 she received an “MBA, emphasis on non-profit management California State University, San Jose and The Center for Nonprofit Management.” Hudley Hayes told LA School Report that the degree was issued by the Center for Nonprofit Management to a class of 18 people that year.

According to the public relations office at SJSU (as it is now known) it has “no record of a person by this name obtaining a degree from San Jose State.”

While there is a Center for Nonprofit Management in Los Angeles, it was founded in 1979 and does not award degrees. We requested degree documentation from the Hudley-Hayes’ campaign, which responded the candidate “can not find the certificate in her belongings” from 38 years ago.

We can find no independent verification of this degree.

3. Hudley-Hayes’ current resume states that in 1994 she became a “Certified Mediator, State of California.”

While training programs do offer degrees and certificates, according to the Southern California Mediators Association the state does not certify mediators. They told LA School Report,

“A reference to a “state certified” a mediator would not be accurate.”

In addition to discrepancies on her current resume, Hudley-Hayes also faces serious additional issues on past biographies including reference to a doctorate from American University.

• On the LAUSD website a biography from her term on the LA Unfied School Board states that, “she was awarded a doctorate in education in May of 2000, with a specialization in public policy.”

• In a biography on the L.A. Fire Department website from 2005 when Hudley-Hayes was appointed to the Fire Commission, states that in “in 2000, she was awarded a doctorate in Political Science/Public Policy.”

• In a 2010 a biography announcing her appointment as special trustee for the Compton Community College District Hudley-Hayes is referred to as “Dr. Hudley-Hayes” with “a doctorate in education with a specialization in public policy from American University.”

• In the announcement in 2010 for re-appointment to the Fire Commission the press release states that, “in 2000, she was awarded a doctorate from American University in Public Policy.”

Hudley-Hayes’ campaign spokesman told LA School Report she received an honorary doctorate from American World University in 2000, not American University, and described the mistake “a typo.” Hudley-Hayes says she no longer includes it on her resume although it appeared in a press release from 2010.

American World University is an unaccredited degree program which is considered a “fraudulent or substandard degree” by at least two states. The phone number listed on its website is not working.

Independent confirmation of an honorary doctorate could not be confirmed.

In addition, Hudley-Hayes failed to clarify the impression given to the public over a number of years that her degree was awarded by a highly regarded academic institution, rather than through a unaccredited online program.

How many resume errors can voters tolerate? That remains to be seen. Let us know what you think.

But it takes some doing to figure it out.

So LA School Report has un-scrambled the randomized alphabet drawing procedure the California Secretary of State used to determined the ballot order in the LA Unified School Board special election.

Here is the Certified list of Candidates from the City Clerk’s Office.

Here’s the lineup as it will appear on the ballot:

George McKenna – Retired Principal/Superintendent

Hattie McFrazier – Retired Educator/Counselor

Omarosa Manigault – Teacher/Children Advocate

Genethia Hudley-Hayes – Education Consultant

Rachel Johnson – Educator/Gardena Councilmember

Alex Johnson – Education Policy Advisor

Sherlett Hendy Newbill – Teacher/Mother/Coach

Previous posts: Field of candidates for LAUSD school board narrows to final 7, Does experience count? LAUSD candidates vie for attention

Of the 13 candidates who originally filed papers to run for the recently vacated seat, only seven submitted sufficient petitions with enough valid signatures to qualify.

The District 1 seat, left open by the death of longtime trustee, Marguerite LaMotte, covers much of South LA, stretching from Hancock Park to Gardena and has attracted a big cast — from little known teachers to a high-profile reality TV personality. One glaring omission on the final list of seven is absence of a Latino candidate: while the district is now predominately Hispanic, more black residents are active voters and the seat has been held by African American women for decades.

Genethia Hudley-Hayes

A seasoned educator and civic leader, Hudley-Hayes has come under increased scrutiny recently after one of her opponents, Alex Johnson, uncovered inconsistencies in her resume. (For more on that story read here).  She served on the LA Unified school board from 1999 to 2003 and lost her bid for re-election to LaMotte. She has attracted the early support of former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Congresswoman Karen Bass.

Alex Johnson

Johnson, Assistant Senior Deputy for Education and Public Safety to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, is expected to show both fundraising and field muscle with powerful backing of Ridley-Thomas, former congresswoman Diane Watson and retired LA County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.  Johnson, a product of a LAUSD education, says it is now his turn to give back to the district.

Rachel Johnson

Johnson, a 30-year veteran teacher, is currently a kindergarten teacher at Purche Avenue Elementary School, one of many schools in District 1 that is outside of Los Angeles but part of LA Unified. She is also currently a Gardena City Councilwoman.

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, Manigault is a former TV personality best known for her contentious role on The Apprentice.

A teacher at Howard University, an ordained pastor, and a newly minted special education substitute teacher in LA Unified, Manigault says she was urged to seek office by concerned parents, community leaders, friends and family.

George McKenna

McKenna, a retired LA Unified administrator and former area superintendent, built support from the community on the issue of appointing a school board member, and he has a dedicated cadre of grassroots supporters who helped him become the first to submit his petition signatures to the City Clerk. He also has strong political backing:  Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Council member Bernard Parks and former Council member Jan Perry are among his supporters.

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 UTLA’s board of directors.

McFrazier is expected to get the support of the UTLA SuperPAC called PACE, traditionally a big player in the school board elections.

Sherlett Hendy Newbill

Newbill, a teacher for 15 years and girl’s basketball coach at Dorsey High School, grew up in District 1. She has been the teachers union (UTLA) co-chapter chair at Dorsey for seven years.

She told LA School Report, “This community needs strong representation because our schools have been under-served and under-resourced for too long.” Newbill is also well positioned to get the backing of the teachers union political action committee, PACE.

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An update from the LA City Clerk’s office today indicated that Alison Noel, who described herself as an “Educator Advocate/Engineer” on her filing form, produced an “insufficient” petition to get her name on the ballot for the June 3 special election.

So far, seven candidates have been qualified — Genethia Hudley-Hayes, George McKenna, Hattie McFrazier, Sherlett Hendy Newbill, Rachel Johnson, Omarosa Manigault and Alex Johnson. Another candidate, David Earle Moch, has a few more days to have his petition certified.

Genethia Hudley-Hayes, Candidate for School Board

The race for LA Unified’s open board seat took a dramatic turn today as Alex Johnson’s campaign accused a rival, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, of “deliberately falsifying” her academic credentials.

Roy Behr, Johnson’s political consultant, said research into her background found discrepancies in her resume and, in a meeting yesterday with his counterpart in the Hudley-Hayes campaign, Parke Skelton, Behr said he told Skelton, “we have this information, and in the course of a campaign, people would find out about it.”

Skelton said in a separate interview today he interpreted Behr’s remarks as a threat and insisted that Hudley-Hayes would stay in the race. Hudley-Hayes, an LA-area public servant for decades, is a former president of the LA Unified School Board and president of the LA Board of Fire Commissioners, appointed by former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

In a press release today that first brought attention to the controversy, Skelton said Behr told him in their meeting, “there was still time for Mrs. Hudley-Hayes to withdraw from the race” but if she chose not to, the Johnson campaign “would be forced to ‘use’ the material they had uncovered.”

Skelton also used the news release to refute the specific issues that Behr cited in their meeting, saying Behr misinterpreted the facts and in one case, the discrepancy was “a typo.”

Hudley-Hayes and Johnson are regarded among the front-runners in the June 3 special election to to fill the board seat left vacant by the death of Marguerite LaMotte in December. As many as 9 people are vying for the seat.

The race has taken on an unusually high profile, given that national figures as U.S. Representative Karen Bass and former Los Angeles mayors Richard Riordan and Villaraigosa have endorsed Hudley-Hayes. Johnson works for LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas as an aide on education although Ridley-Thomas has not endorsed anyone in the race.

In his interview with LA School Report, Behr insisted that the apparent discrepancies uncovered by his campaign research reflect intentional efforts designed to embellish Hudley-Hayes’ credentials.

He said he showed Skelton a document in which Hudley Hayes claimed she received a doctorate from American University in Washington, D.C., which the Johnson campaign said it was actually from American World University, an unaccredited institution that has no physical campus. Skelton said in the release said the reference came from “an old resume” that Hudley-Hayes no longer uses and the absence of the word “world” reflects a typographical error.

A news release from Mayor Villaraigosa’s office on May 19, 2010, carried by States News Service announcing the reappointment of Hudley-Hayes as a fire commissioner, said “she was awarded a doctorate from American University in Public Policy.”

Behr said he also questioned the legitimacy of her claims to have an MBA from San Jose State University. He said the school told the Johnson campaign that no one ever received an MBA in Hudley-Hayes’ name. LA School Report is awaiting verification from SJSU. Behr also questioned whether Hudley-Hayes is a “certified mediator.”

Skelton, in his written response, said Hudley-Hayes received an MBA from the Center for Nonprofit Management in 1976 by attending courses at its downtown Los Angeles facility at a time, nearly 40 years ago, that the Center worked in conjunction with the Cal State University San Jose as it was known then.

Skelton also refuted the Johnson campaign’s claim that she is not a “certified mediator,” saying in the release that while serving as Executive Director of the Southern California SCLC, she completed an 18 month course in mediation at the McConnell Law School at Pepperdine University “and has all the requisite training to be a mediator.  She registered with the State of California to serve as a mediator and in fact has worked as a mediator.”

Behr said he went to see Skelton “on the basis of this information” and “out of respect” for Hudley-Hayes’s many years as a public servant.

“We both knew this would be a daily substantial problem when the candidate for the school board falsified credentials,” Behr said. “These were not inadvertent mistakes or typos.”

Skelton said in the release, “I was somewhat taken aback.”

“In over 30 years of campaign consulting I had never been approached by a rival campaign in this manner,” he said, adding, “It is truly disturbing to me that Alex Johnson and his campaign have nothing better to do that hire private investigators to dig up dirt on their opponents in an effort to attempt to bully them out of the campaign. With LAUSD facing so many crises, our children deserve better. A whole lot better.”

*Clarifies that Mark Ridley-Thomas has not yet endorsed anyone in the race.

To view Genethia Hudley-Hayes’ current resume click here.
To view the press release issued by her campaign, click here.
To view her resume from the LA Unified School Board site click here.

George McKenna

George McKenna, a former LA Unified administrator, has become the first of thirteen school board candidates vying in the special election for the District 1 seat to submit a nominating petition.

The Los Angeles City Clerk’s office requires at least 500 signatures to qualify for a position on the ballot. The filing period, which began on February 18 ends on March 7.

The special election to fill the South Los Angeles seat left open by the recent death of Marguerite LaMotte is scheduled for June 3.

At one time, McKenna had the support of both US Representatives Maxine Waters and Karen Bass.  But that was earlier this year, when it looked like filling the seat by an appointment was a possibility. Since then, the school board voted to hold a special election, and yesterday another candidate, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, who lost to LaMotte in a school board race more than ten years ago, announced that Karen Bass would support her instead.

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.

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She filed papers with the City Clerk on Friday to run for the vacant seat in District 1. The winner will serve out the remaining months of the four-year term of Marguerite LaMotte, the longtime school board member who died in office late last year. The primary will take place on June 3.

“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 controversial figure during her stint on the reality show, The Apprentice, “Omarosa” was sometimes called the ‘villain’ of the show.

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.” She says she has traveled the world but her work in her church has been eye-opening. “I have seen the result of when the system doesn’t work,” she said. “I want to go to graduations not funerals.”

One of ten candidates who has filed papers with the City Clerk so far, Manigault says she received an “overwhelming response” from the community this weekend, with 65 volunteers offering to circulate the necessary signature petitions due next month.

Among the current list of candidates, there is one notable absence – that of Alex Johnson. As a top aide to County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, Johnson is positioned as a strong contender and has been meeting privately with fund rasiers and civic leaders in Los Angeles for weeks. He is expected to announce his candidacy by 5 p.m. today, in time to make the City Clerk candidate filing deadline.

Zimmer presided over an ad hoc “committee of one” — no other board members attended — that was charged with defining the role and scope of a temporary representative for the vacant District 1 seat while the city awaits a special election.

Turnout was sparse — barely a fraction of the crowd that showed up for a board vote last month, when it approved the appointment of a non-voting advocate for the south LA region after the death of Marguerite LaMotte in December.

But Zimmer used his platform to build a case for bestowing voting rights on an appointee.

“The enfranchisement of the vote and opinion of District 1 is both possible and it’s permissible” he said, before launching into a series of questions for LA Unified general counsel David Holmquist.

–“Theoretically, what would it take to enfranchise the vote of an interim representative?”

–“To be able to have that vote be counted…the remedy would be the courts?”

–“Is it your opinion that a binding vote would be prohibited?”

Holmquist answered with a question of his own: “If the board chose to recognize the vote of an interim representative? That would be problematic.”

The city charter bars anyone who is not permanently appointed or elected to the board from casting a binding vote. Neither can they access confidential or privileged documents nor participate in hiring and firing decisions. However, Holmquist said there may be some limited ability for a person to be included in a closed session.

He also said there is existing precedence for a “virtual” board member, whose vote would be recorded but not counted, something Zimmer has been advocating.

But the only way to expand the powers of a temporary fill-in to match those of an elected board member, is to change the city charter, Holmquist said.

The exchange between Zimmer and Holmquist was riddled with so much legalese — lots of “in your opinion…” and “isn’t it true…” — that near the end of the 25-minute exchange Holmquist jokingly said, “I have to tell you, it feels a little like I’m being cross-examined.”

That got a laugh from the 15 people in audience, a surprisingly small turn-out.

Meetings leading up to the board’s decision to hold a special election drew hundreds of concerned parents, teachers, and students. Several played to standing room only crowds, even after an “over-flow” room was opened to avoid violating fire code regulations. Speakers lined up hours early for the chance to weigh-in, three minutes at a time, on how the board should handle the vacancy.

That was less than a month ago.

This time there were four speakers and no controversy. They want a representative who can vote.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Michelle Walker. “We had a packed house.”

She thanked Zimmer for his dedication. But she said, “I’m sad and disheartened that no one joined you.”

Whatever the committee of one concludes will be presented to the other five board members at their next meeting, Feb. 11– if they show up.

Previous Posts: City Clerk to hold workshop for LA Unified board candidates; Want to Run for LAUSD School Board in the Special Election; LAUSD cannot appoint an interim board member.

LA Unified board member Steve Zimmer

Steve Zimmer isn’t giving up.

Despite legal opinions against him, the LA Unified board member for District 4 is still seeking a way to give voting rights to a temporary appointee to the vacant District 1 board seat until a permanent member is elected later this year.

The board voted earlier this month against such a possibility. So he knows it’s a long shot, as he told LA School Report today, conceding that he might not convince three other board members to join him in challenging the LA City Charter, which denies an appointment the same voting rights other board members have. With the board now comprised of six members, four votes are required to approve anything.

But Zimmer may have found an acceptable compromise: a “virtual” board member, whose vote would be recorded but not count. In that way, he said, the district represented for a decade by the late Marguerite LaMotte would get as full representation on the board as possible during a time the district is facing major financial and structural issues.

“This is the line in the sand for me,” Zimmer said. “I’m adamant about the vote being recorded. I’m adamant about the interim representative fully participating in the debate process — offering amendments, participating in committee work, all the things a board member would do — and Board District 1 just doesn’t have that now.”

While district lawyers have counseled against the appointee attending closed sessions of the board, which generally include discussions on employment and legal matters, Zimmer said that prohibition “is not make or break for me.”

However it all turns out starts with a public meeting on Feb. 4, when Zimmer presides over an ad hoc committee to consider the possibilities. What comes out of it goes before the board at its regular meeting a week later, and the board is expected to name the appointment on March 4.

That person will serve through the conclusion of a special election, which begins with a June 3 primary. If no candidate secures a majority of votes, a runoff would be held on Aug. 12.

“I don’t concede there is no way to enfranchise this vote,” Zimmer said. “But there’s a practical dilemma — I need to be able to get four votes. I need to be able to present something that honors the concept of representation, but something acceptable to my colleagues who care about representation as much as I do but may be less willing as I am to challenge the City Charter.”

Previous Posts: Memo from legal: LAUSD cannot appoint a ‘voting board member; LA Unified board votes against filling vacant seat; Kayser changes vote, board approves non-voting board member.

The candidate fundraising window opened today, according to a press release from the LA City Ethics Commission. Anyone running must form a candidate committee and file a Statement of Economic Interests with the ethics office by Feb. 18.

Campaign contributions to a single candidate may not exceed $1,100 per person per election.

The election was called by the school board to fill the vacancy in the District 1 seat, which was held by longtime school board member Marguerite LaMotte, who died last month.

Any registered voter of District 1 who has been a resident of the district as of Jan. 10 can file as a candidate. According to the City Clerk’s office the next deadlines are:

Filing Period: Feb. 10 to 18, 2014

Nominating Petition Period: Feb. 10 to March 7, 2014

Petition: Candidates must collect at least 500 valid signatures of registered voters in District 1 to qualify, according to the Special Election ordinance.

More information on how to file is available from the City Clerk’s office here.

Here is a rundown of the line up so far:

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.”

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 week, 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.

Alex Johnson

Alex Johnson, Assistant Senior Deputy for Education and Public Safety to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, is close to declaring.

His name was floated by Ridley-Thomas’ office the day after LaMotte’s death, and his political advisor, Frederic MacFarlane, told LA School Report today, “He has not made a final decision but it’s close, it’s very close.”

MacFarlane says Johnson “still has some key people he feels it’s important to touch base with before he reaches a decision.”

Prior to his work for Ridley-Thomas, Johnson worked closely with school instructional leaders in the New York City Department of Education. He also worked for the late noted attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

George McKenna

If Johnson runs, he’ll compete against George McKenna, the first choice for the seat among the pro-appointment camp at the school board meeting last week. (They even had their own t-shirts made.)

McKenna, a retired LA Unified administrator and former superintendent, has built up a broad support base in the weeks since the seat became vacant. And since his announcement last week, he told LA School Report, “it has grown exponentially. Every day there are new organizations encouraging me to run.”

U.S. Representatives Maxine Waters and Karen Bass have been key in rallying support around McKenna.

Genethia Hudley-Hayes

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 hopes to gain the support of UTLA and says she’ll be reaching out to them “today or tomorrow.”

Jimmie Woods-Gray

Woods-Gray is in the running, according to the LA Times. Recently appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti as a Fire Commissioner, she is a former LA Unified teacher, union activist and chair of the union’s political action committee (PACE), who ran for a State Assembly seat in 2012.  LA School Report has been unable to reach Gray for comment.

Photo Credit: Jimmie Woods Gray by Marta Evry

Previous Posts: LAUSD cannot appoint an interim board member; The LA Unified board sets June 3 election to fill vacant LaMotte seat; Editorial boards agree on special election for LAUSD seat.