Three seats — two contested — are on the June 2 primary ballot for the seven-member Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.
The nation’s second-largest school system, with about 390,000 students, faces emerging challenges and uncertainties that could change the district’s trajectory for years.
In mid-April LA Unified officials avoided a strike by agreeing to key staff raises, reversing about 200 layoffs and agreeing to hire hundreds of new staff, school psychologists and other student support staff. Contracts with three district unions, including teachers, will cost about $1.2 billion a year, and board members must now find a way to pay them amid budget pressures.
Standardized test scores rose to their highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, recovering faster than the government average, but the pace remains too high for critics.
Future LA schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho is not sure. He is on paid administrative leave following FBI raids on his San Pedro home and city office. At least part of the investigation centers on a failed chatbot project that was supposed to transform and become one for education.
Carvalho said he did nothing wrong and would like to return to work. If he doesn’t return — and can’t get his new four-year contract out — board members will elect a superintendent.
LA Unified is also facing declining enrollment — which is reducing state funding and increasing pressure to save money by closing more campuses.
The enforcement of immigration laws has affected enrollment and attendance while creating concerns that spill over into the classroom. Officials responded by declaring LA Unified a sanctuary district — both for immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community, which is also a target for some conservative groups.
Carvalho’s central focus on improving test scores has led to increased teaching, repeated diagnostic methods and phonics training. In addition, the district put a successful school bond on the ballot to continue renovations, worked to reduce student absenteeism and emphasized green campuses.
The majority of the board consists of people who will be elected by the endorsement of the powerful teachers’ union – United Teachers Los Angeles. This election will not change that balance because five seats are held by unions. But the outcome will determine whether UTLA can continue to strengthen its hand or whether other districts will gain some power at the expense of the union.
UTLA is the most reliable sponsor of school board campaigns – and union spending is not controlled by candidates.
Also influencing the recent election was the region’s other largest union: Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union. It represents about 30,000 bus drivers, teaching assistants, custodians, garden workers, cafeteria workers and technical support workers. The union has yet to approve candidates.
A potential but limited source of firepower for election support would be charter school advocates – who have routinely dismissed unions.
Retired businessman Bill Bloomfield – a charter school colleague who makes his own calls about who to support – has been in unfair elections with big spending, often as a way to oppose unionized teachers. He did not commit to participating in this school board election cycle.
The material below was gathered from reports and surveys given to candidates. Some answers are translated for clarity or shortened for brevity.
