"Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife."
-- John Dewey, The School and Society
It has been a week of upheaval in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) as it grappled with the FBI raiding its superintendent's home and offices. After retreating behind closed doors, the board placed Carvalho on paid leave and anointed district bureaucrat Andres Chait as his acting replacement. Meanwhile, teachers continue to work without a contract while their union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), remains in negotiations, backed by a 94% strike"'authorization vote.
Against this backdrop, candidates for the School Board scrambled to collect the last of the signatures they needed to appear on the ballot. With that process now closed, it appears that concerns about voters having a lack of choices were well-founded, as three of the eight prospective candidates failed to submit their petitions before the deadline.
The City Clerk is still verifying the signatures, but even in a best-case scenario, there will be no more than two candidates in each of the three board district races. This means there are no possibility for runoff elections, and the winners will be decided in June.
The following is a breakdown of the races by Board District.
Board District 2:
Raquel Zamora was the only non-incumbent to turn in her petition in advance of the deadline. Her signatures have already been verified, and she is guaranteed a place on the ballot.
Incumbent Rocio Rivas turned in her petition on the last day allowed and the City Clerk has verified that she submitted enough valid signatures. She has earned the right to defend her seat against Zamora.
Education advocate Joseph Quintana did not turn in his signatures. His campaign is over before it had a chance to begin.
Board District 4:
For the past week, incumbent Nick Melvoin has waited to learn whether he would face an opponent in June. At the deadline, Ankur Patel turned in his petitions. If enough are validated, he will attempt to deny the incumbent a chance at a third term.
The last-minute entrant, Benjamin-Shalom "Bo" Rodriguez, did not turn in the required signatures before the deadline. His race is over.
Board District 6:
Kelly Gonez will serve a third, and final, term on the LAUSD Board. John 'J.P.' Perron announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the race and did not turn in signatures to the City Clerk.
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