LAUSD: Changes Coming To Los Angeles School Board

The latest news from Los Angeles is that Brian Johnson, the former TFA Los Angeles executive director who ran for and lost a close race for state assembly (left) isn't going to run for the LAUSD school board.  

No one really expected Johnson to run, though some may have wanted him to.  Los Angeles still has an independent elected school board and John Deasy, brought in 18 months ago, has already lost one of the board members who supported him and could lose more.    Next spring there are three spots coming open on the board -- including another TFA alumnus, Steve Zimmer (right), who came in as a bridge between reformers and career educators and still operates as the board's swing vote but has ended up allying himself (and his votes) on the side of teachers more often than not.  

Zimmer's most recent proposal is to revamp charter school oversight, including a moratorium on new charters (in addition to the moratorium on charter conversions through PSC that Deasy negotiated with the UTLA last winter). 

I'm told that nobody pays much attention to LAUSD board races until after the state referendum season is done, and that makes sense.  There are tons of propositions in play, including a few -- 30, 32, 38 -- with education implications.  But then comes showdown time, when folks have to decide whether to run or not, and what their positions are going to be, and everyone has to start throwing money at them. 

Read about Johnson in a previous post here. Read about a recent LA Magazine profile of Deasy's first few months:Review Of “The Takeover Artist”. Read about how excruciating it is for Zimmer to be in the middle all the time:  Stuck in the Middle. Ready about Deasy's revised version of PSC (public school choice) last winter:  The Story Behind John Deasy's Mystifying Labor Deal.

Comments

[Robert D. Skeels]

There are other people running for the even numbered districts than just Mr. Zimmer.

http://ethics.lacity.org/disclosure/campaign/totals/public_election.cfm?election_id=45#S184

[Sarah]

Brian Johnson might have been a good fit, but more interesting is Zimmer’s proposal to revamp oversight. At the same time, reading the article on him being stuck in the middle... the man seems as though he is literally falling apart.