Election Analysis: Mixed Results and There’s a Lot of Work Ahead

As the election results rolled in last night, much of the media focused on the drama in the Democratic Presidential Primary. But a lot happened in local races as well. The battle over whether or not the Los Angeles Unified School Board is controlled by supporters of public education and the UTLA or “school choice” and unfettered charter school expansion remains up in the air.

But first, let’s discuss Proposition 13 and what its failure means for the Schools and Communities First Ballot Initiative this fall. While the two ballot initiatives are very different, the failure of Proposition 13 doesn’t bode well for supporters of robust funding for public education.

Prop 13 (2020) was a bond measure that wouldn’t actually raise taxes, but was still opposed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer’s Association. We understand the Prop. 13 was complicated and that plenty of people reading this likely voted against it. But some of the opposition was based around mis-information that Prop 13 (the 1978 ballot measure that capped property taxes) was under attack.

The Schools and Communities First ballot is anticipated to require “50% -plus-1” voters to pass this fall. But it will more directly affect voter’s pocketbooks. So misinformation aside, we have a lot of work to do in the next eight months explaining the true factors and benefits at stake.

For the LAUSD School Board Races, we have a split decision that leaves the future ideological leaning of the school board up in the air. Currently, the LAUSD has four board members who are – and this is an oversimplification – “pro public schools” and three who are “pro-charter school.” [This distinction is understood to be contentious; charter schools term themselves “public” as well, but management distinctions govern this labeling ambiguity]. All four of the seats held by “pro-public schools” candidates were up for re-election. None of the “pro-charter school” candidates seats will be challenged for another two years.

Last night, “pro-public schools” candidates held on to two seats while two others head to a runoff this fall:

George McKenna was running unopposed and so won 100% of Board District 1’s vote; Jackie Goldberg held on to her Board District 5 seat with a comfortable twelve point margin despite the slanderous misinformation campaign run against her.

In LAUSD District 3, incumbent candidate Scott Schmerelson also faced a disinformation campaign funded by billionaires who live outside of Los Angeles. While Schmerelson was pushed to a runoff, he was ahead of his runoff opponent Marilyn Koziatek by over ten points (42.1% to 31.6%). We can expect the money that flowed against Goldberg to double up (and more if past election patterns hold) the funding already being thrown at Schmerelson.

In LAUSD District 7, an open seat attracted five candidates, four of whom each brought in 20% support yesterday. The dust settled on one “pro-public” candidate, Patricia Castellanos (endorsed by the UTLA), and one “pro-charter” candidate, Tanya Franklin, one of the candidates receiving independent expenditure support from Manhattan Beach businessman Bill Bloomfield.

Last, we don’t mean to brag, but see if you can spot one of our editors among the top seven candidates here, elected to the Democratic Party’s Central Committee: