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 7.
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 7
Board District 7 stretches from South L.A. to Gardena, Harbor Gateway, Carson, and San Pedro. Tanya Ortiz Franklin won her first term as a board member in 2020. She is running to retain her seat against Long Beach teacher and returning candidate Lydia Gutierrez.
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.
Lydia Gutiérrez
Public school teacher
Gutiérrez is a Long Beach elementary school teacher and lifelong Harbor area resident. She served on Coastal San Pedro’s Neighborhood Council and previously ran for the LAUSD board 2020 and 2015 and has sought other seats in public office.
More Voter Guides
How to evaluate judges
- L.A. Superior Court: There are more than two dozen judges up for election or reelection.
- Judge ratings: Understanding how the L.A. County Bar Association evaluates judicial candidates — and how it can help you cast your vote.
Head to LAist's Voter Game Plan for guides to the rest of your ballot including:
- L.A. County Board of Supervisors: Three of the five seats are on the ballot.
- L.A. City Council: There are seven seats up for grabs.
- L.A. District Attorney: Meet the 12 candidates running to be the county's prosecutor.
- LAUSD: Four seats are open for a seat at the table.
- Prop. 1: Here's a closer look at the proposal at the center of a debate over how to best help people struggling with mental health, drug and alcohol issues.
Some platform highlights:
- Gutiérrez says academic excellence is a top priority, which includes "a complete review of primary and secondary grade levels to ensure that academic standards and curriculum are age-appropriate." She also prioritizes fiscal responsibility, calling for more oversight of LAUSD's bureaucracy.
More voter resources:
- Website: Lydia4Education.com
In her own words
Top 3 priorities if elected to the LAUSD:
- "Achieving academic excellence. Do a complete review of primary and secondary grade levels to ensure that academic standards and curriculum are age-appropriate, and work towards academic excellence for all."
- "Building fiscal responsibility. Establish oversight and transparency for every tax dollar received and spent — not tied up in LAUSD’s huge bureaucracy."
- "Cultivating success after graduation. Ensure that every school develops and maintains well-rounded academic and vocational programs that prepare our youth for college and the post-graduate job market."
Tell us something surprising about yourself:
I lived in the country of Colombia and worked as a primary school teacher, two years, for the Summer Institute of Linguistics. First year, I lived on the outskirts of the jungle. My first month, I was visited by a rattlesnake in my cabin and called one of the linguists who immediately came over with a machete. She quickly chopped its head off. I then took the body of the snake and used it as a science lesson. I bisected it and skinned it. My students loved it. The second year, I lived in the city of Bogota, still teaching children. For fun, I rode my bicycle up the Andes mountains. While living there, I met a group of Americans that started a school for the street orphans. I decided to help; so, for seven additional years, I came back in the summer to work with the orphan children
Tanya Ortiz Franklin
School boardmember/mother
Voters elected Ortiz Franklin to represent Board District 7 in 2020. She’s a former Carson middle school teacher and administrator at Partnership for L.A. Schools, which operates district-run schools in LAUSD.
Some platform highlights:
- Ortiz Franklin says the district's most important responsibility is "to ensure more students are prepared to thrive" after graduation, by "recruiting, retaining, and supporting highly effective staff," improving student achievement — especially in math — and "ensuring all students have the social-emotional skills to navigate their future."
More voter resources:
- Website: TanyaForLAUSD.com
In her own words
Top 3 priorities if elected to the LAUSD:
- "Our district’s most important responsibility is to ensure more students are prepared to thrive in the college, career, and life of their choice, and we can do this by recruiting, retaining, and supporting highly effective staff, improving student achievement (particularly in math), and ensuring all students have the social-emotional skills to navigate their future."
- "For students to thrive in the classroom and employees to thrive in their work, we must maintain school safety — physically, emotionally, and intellectually — with effective social-emotional and wellness supports, and meaningful family and community engagement."
- "With the ending of COVID-relief dollars, declining enrollment, and a structural deficit, we must also make sure all budget decisions are student-centered, prioritizing limited resources for our highest-need students and schools, advocating for more state and federal resources, and championing a new bond measure."
Tell us something surprising about yourself:
I’m an LAUSD graduate and my best friends today are the girls I met in 6th and 7th grades at President Avenue Elementary School and Fleming Middle School. We’ve stayed friends through moves across the country, marriages, and kids. We have traveled together, hiked together, had a book club for a few years, and even co-lead a Girl Scout troop now. Our friendships have seen a lot over the last nearly 30 years and I owe it all to the classrooms, playgrounds, and extra-curricular activities (cheerleading being the biggest one!) of LAUSD.
Follow the money
The vast majority of spending in this district has come from committees not controlled by either candidate — all of it so far in support of incumbent Tanya Ortiz Franklin and against her opponent, Lydia Gutiérrez.
More Voter Guides
City of Los Angeles
- City Council: There are seven districts seats on this ballot: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14.
- Healthy Streets LA: Take a closer look at Measure HLA, aimed at making streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists — and holding the city accountable to do just that.
L.A. County
- Board of Supervisors: There are three districts on this ballot: 2, 4 and 5.
- District Attorney: Compare the 12 candidates running for District Attorney.
- Los Angeles Unified School District: Here's an overview of the challenges facing the district. Plus: Meet the candidates vying to represent your child's education in districts 1, 3, 5 and 7.
- The judiciary: There are more than two dozen judges up for election or reelection. Plus: Tips to make sure you're putting right person on the bench.
- County Central Committees: There are nearly 200 seats up for election for these committees, which govern L.A.'s political parties.
Overwhelmed? We have some shortcuts for you.
- Four races that have the most impact on your day-to-day life
- If you care about housing affordability
- If you care about homelessness
- If you care about public safety and criminal justice
- If you care about the climate emergency
Statewide races
- Prop. 1: Evaluating a $6.38 billion bond proposition that aims to create more housing, treatment and support for people struggling with mental health, drug and alcohol issues. Plus: A guide to understanding California's Proposition system.
Federal races
Head to the Voter Game Plan homepage for the latest in election news.
