The seven members of the L.A. Unified’s board oversee the nation’s second largest school district, with more than 538,000 students enrolled. The district is also the county’s second largest employer with more than 74,000 educators, administrators, and support staff on its payroll.

Four seats are up for election this year, including District 1.

Unlike in New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., where the mayor appoints education system leaders, Los Angeles schools are run by the school board, which voters elect directly. That means the board members have a lot of power.

What do LAUSD board members do?

• Hire and fire the superintendent — their single most important responsibility
• Pass the $9 billion operating budget and decide how it will be distributed.
• Work with parents and resolve disputes in their district over facilities, budgets, etc.
• Vote on every charter school that hopes to open in L.A.

Among the major issues facing the board

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing challenges in the district, including declining enrollment, disparities in student learning, truancy, inadequate mental health support, and lackluster standardized test scores.

Go deeper: Read more about what board members do, and the challenges facing the school board

About District 1

District 1 includes L.A.’s Mid-City, Crenshaw, Arlington Heights, and Westmont neighborhoods. Current board member George McKenna is retiring after a more than 50-year career as a teacher and administrator in LAUSD, Inglewood, Compton, and Pasadena schools. The race has drawn more candidates than any other on the ballot — seven people are vying to fill the seat.

Two weeks before the primary, resurfaced anti-semitic and explicit social media posts rattled the contest. Labor-endorsed Kahllid Al-Alim apologized Tuesday, Feb. 20 for a 2022 tweet that suggested assigning an antisemitic book to students, and for liking “graphic content” from a private account on X. The teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, notified members on Feb. 23 that it would no longer support Al-Alim's campaign.

Below, the candidates are listed in the order they appear on the ballot. We gave all the candidates a chance to speak directly to voters about what they would change if elected to the L.A. Unified School Board, and you'll see those responses below.

Kahllid Al-Alim

Community organizer/Parent

Al-Alim is a community organizer born and raised in South Central L.A. Al-Alim’s children attended Crenshaw and Dorsey High School and he has been part of several parent-led education initiatives in the district.

Some platform highlights:

• Al-Alim advocates for more student wellness and support. He says LAUSD needs to expand the Black Student Achievement Plan: “Too often, we implement policies but do not follow through to see them to fruition.” He also advocates for more targeted supports for unhoused youth, immigrant students and communities, and LGBT+ students and staff.

More voter resources:

• Website: KahllidForSchoolBoard.com
• Endorsements: See full list here

In his own words

Top 3 priorities if elected:

• “Expand student wellness and support: We need to expand the Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP), mental health services, class size reduction, and classroom support. For example, I was a member of the coalition that created the BSAP, which brought school climate advocates to many schools. However, not every school has a school climate advocate. There are not enough BSAP schools and BSAP resources. Too often, we implement policies but do not follow through to see them to fruition. We must continue to invest in programs the community has fought for.”
  
• “Targeted supports: We need services that specifically support unhoused or 'homeless' youth, immigrant students and communities, LGBTQIA students and staff. We need to do more to target our most marginalized students and staff. Too many students who need support continue to slip through the cracks, and we must support the whole child so that they can succeed in and out of the classroom.”
  
• “Expand worker and community rights: We must fight privatization and the contracting out of services (like bus drivers and instructional assistants), provide adult education and early education, ensure green technology, and fund community schools. We must ensure that workers have full-time hours, full benefits, and adequate pay. The recent victory in pay increase was historic and critical, but we must not stop there. We need to keep pushing for funding and respect.”

In response to re-surfaced social media posts, including a tweet that suggested assigning an antisemitic book written by Louis Farrakhan to students:

Tell us something surprising about yourself: 

Rina Tambor

Parent/Tutor

Tambor is a parent and tutor, as well as a former teacher in New York City. She has three grandchildren who have attended LAUSD schools.

Some platform highlights:

Tambor did not respond to LAist's request to participate in the Voter Game Plan. On her website, Tambor lists three specific priorities:

• "[A] strategic fund reallocation to provide better support for special needs students."
• "Reducing class sizes. This is crucial for creating a more effective learning environment, achieved through a lower student-to-teacher ratio."
• "A significant emphasis on the involvement of parents in education."

More voter resources:

• Website: Rina4SchoolBoard.net
• Endorsements: See full list here

John Aaron Brasfield

Educator/coach

Brasfield is an educator and coach born and raised in Los Angeles. Brasfield told LAist he’s worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District in various capacities including special education and athletics since he was a teenager. “[I have] had the opportunity to experience over 140 schools during two decades of service,” Brasfield said. He currently works security part-time.

Some platform highlights:

• Brasfield says he will prioritize safety, with “zero tolerance for bullying.” He also wants to increase reading proficiency and language development district-wide, and “elevate mathematics comprehension standards.”

More voter resources:

• Website: JohnAaronBrasfieldForTheCommunity.com

In his own words

Top 3 priorities if elected:

• "Prioritize safety with zero-tolerance for bullying.”
  
• “Increase reading proficiency and language development district-wide.”
  
• “Elevate mathematics comprehension standards for optimal growth (science, engineering, coding, etc.)”

Tell us something surprising about yourself: 

Christian Flagg

Community advocate/educator

Flagg is a community organizer born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. He currently works as the director of training at Community Coalition. The social justice nonprofit, known as CoCo, was founded as a substance abuse and treatment nonprofit in 1990. Flagg spent a decade in the Bay Area working with youth through education and recreation.

Some platform highlights:

• Flagg wants to “maintain and expand” LAUSD’s equity levers, including the Student Equity Needs Index and the Black Student Achievement Plan, and would also make sure that adequate “policy, processes, and protocols” for those initiatives exist to support those programs. He’d also build out a community-based safety model that focuses on “safe passage, violence intervention, and youth development.”

More voter resources:

• Website: FlaggWithThePeople

Top 3 priorities if elected:

• "Maintain and Expand LAUSD’s commitment to equity through tools like the Student Equity Needs Index (SENI) and stronger implementation of the Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP). I would strengthen implementation by increasing shared decision-making power over school site budgets with students, parents, educators, and staff."
  
• "Ensure the requisite transformation and shifts to district policy, processes, and protocols keeps up with its adoption of equitable student-centered initiatives. Furthermore, I will fight to ensure LAUSD’s educational strategies are more responsive to the unique and emerging needs of our students due to shifting social and economic conditions inside and outside of LAUSD. For example, student enrollment decline, teacher shortages, and expanding STEAM industries."
  
• "Build out a district wide community-based safety model, comprised of safe passage, violence intervention, and youth development. Establish a stronger infrastructure of LAUSD’s support provided to school-site administration to effectively implement community-based safety pilots. Hire more staff specially trained in violence intervention, de-escalation, and restorative justice. Provide professional development to ensure entire school communities are trained."

Tell us something surprising about yourself: 

Sherlett Hendy Newbill

Education policy advisor

Hendy Newbill has worked in LAUSD since 1998 and is currently an education policy advisor for retiring Board District 1 representative George McKenna. She is an athletic director at Susan Miller Dorsey High School, her alma mater. Hendy Newbill was also an administrator at the school, coached girls basketball, and taught physical education and psychology. Hendy Newbill unsuccessfully ran for school board in 2014.

Some platform highlights:

• Hendy Newbill says she will promote a “comprehensive safety plan for all schools.” She also prioritizes having more community schools, along with “innovative programs like traditional and non-traditional apprenticeship programs.” Citing the Black Student Achievement plan and special education students specifically, she says she wants to “ensure our most vulnerable and marginalized groups are serviced.”

More voter resources:

• Website: SherlettHendyNewbill.com
• Endorsements: See full list here

In her own words

Top 3 priorities if elected:

• “Promoting a comprehensive safety plan for all schools.”
  
• “Establishing full-service community schools with quality after-school programs with wrap-around health, mental health, social and family services, and supports, along with innovative programs like traditional and non-traditional apprenticeship programs at campuses that promote academic achievement and increase workforce opportunities.”
  
• “Ensure our most vulnerable and marginalized groups are serviced. (Black Student Achievement Plan, special education students, etc.)”

Tell us something surprising about yourself: 

Didi Watts

Educator/Nonprofit co-founder

Watts is the current chief of staff to LAUSD Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin. She is a former teacher, school psychologist, special education administrator, and school principal. She is the co-founder of The Watts of Power Foundation, which focuses on the recruitment, training, placement, and housing of young Black men who are interested in becoming teachers in Los Angeles.

Some platform highlights:

• Watts aims to ensure “equitable allocation of resources” across the district in support of historically underserved students, including “Black students, as well as vulnerable populations including foster, low-income, and unhoused youth.” Watts wants to invest in staff that can better serve students with special needs, and create “spaces for authentic family and community engagement.”

More voter resources:

• Website: DidiWatts4SchoolBoard.com
• Endorsements: See full list here

In her own words

Top 3 priorities if elected:

• “Ensuring the equitable allocation of resources to support students who have been historically underserved across the district, such as Black students, as well as vulnerable populations including foster, low-income, and unhoused youth.”
  
• “Enhancing career pathways to ensure that students with special needs are receiving the services and supports that they need to receive a high-quality education, by investing in staff such as special education assistants.”
  
• “Creating spaces for authentic family and community engagement where families are a part of the educational conversation. While the school staff are the experts in content, families are the experts on their students, and it is important to work together to achieve better outcomes for students.”

Tell us something surprising about yourself: 

DeWayne Davis

Deputy superintendent/teacher

Davis has worked as a teacher, program coordinator, and administrator in Los Angeles schools. He’s also held leadership positions in Chicago-area and Portland schools. Davis describes his current role as an education strategist who consults with school organizations around finance, instruction, and operations.

Some platform highlights:

• Davis says his priorities include a “comprehensive safety plan,” a “quality educational program” that prepares students to be successful post-graduation, and to make parents (as well as extended family and foster youth homes) partners in education.

More voter resources:

• Website: DrDavis4LAUSDKids.com
• Endorsements: See the full list

In his own words

Top 3 priorities if elected:

• “Comprehensive safety plan.”
  
• “Quality educational program that truly prepares students to be successful upon graduation.”
  
• “A ‘Parents as Partners’ initiative that includes all adults — biological, extended family, and foster youth homes.”

Tell us something surprising about yourself: 

Follow the money

A committee backed by L.A. teachers' unions has spent more than twice the amount raised by all of the candidates combined to influence the outcome of this board race.