avatarCarl J. Petersen

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2022 LAUSD Elections

These Two Candidates Want Your Vote

Twenty questions were sent to the five candidates running in LAUSD Board District 2. Only Rocio Rivas and Erica Vilardi-Espinosa replied.

“I thrived in our public schools. Now, as a mother and public school parent, I want nothing more than the best education for ALL our children so they can thrive.”

-Rocio Rivas

Term limits have spared the voters of LAUSD Board District 2 from having Monica Garcia on their ballot again. The resulting open seat leaves outsiders the best chance in years to bring new visions to the board. However, they must first defeat Maria Brenes, the heir apparent to the Jose Huizar/Monica Garcia dynasty.

Brenes claims that she is not the “charter candidate,” but reports are floating that she has already received the endorsement of the charter school industry. Her refusal to answer questions about PROP-39 and overallocation fees makes it impossible to say how her views would differ from that of the Waltons of Walmart and Netflix’s Reed Hastings.

Charter school accountability is not the only area where Brenes will not spell out her views to the voters. In fact, she is the only candidate in the race to not answer any of the questions about topics facing the district including forced mainstreaming for children with severe special education needs, community engagement, and ethical issues. How are voters supposed to make an educated choice without this information?

With just over a week until mail-in ballots drop, Brenes and her opponents had one last chance to express their opinions for the benefit of voters in my candidate series. The May installment of this series is a lighting round consisting of 20 questions about a variety of issues. While these were designed to be “yes” or “no” questions, the candidates were invited to go into more detail if they felt the need to do so. They were also given the opportunity to provide a closing pitch to the voters. This was limited to one paragraph.

Once again, Brenes passed on the opportunity to connect with voters. In fact, in the field of five candidates, only Rocio Rivas and Erica Vilardi-Espinosa responded.

The candidate’s closing pitches follow the answers to their questions. The candidate order was determined by when their response was received.

  • 1. Do you have children who are enrolled in LAUSD district schools?

Rocio Rivas: Yes!

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes, a 9th grader and a 6th grader.

  • 2. Do you commit to ensuring that your staff includes parents with children enrolled in district schools?

Rocio Rivas: As a board member, I will have advisory committees composed of all stakeholders, most importantly LAUSD parents.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Absolutely

  • 3. Is lowering the student-to-staff ratio essential for increasing outcomes?

Rocio Rivas: Yes, very important. Teachers will be able to provide more individualized attention to students and develop a constructive holistic relationship.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: I believe lowering the class size in elementary grades allows for more attention for each student helping them to become a better independent student for the future.

  • 4. Do you support having a nurse assigned full-time to every school?

Rocio Rivas: Absolutely, every single school MUST have a full-time nurse. I will work hard to make sure that becomes a reality.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes

  • 5. Do you support having either a librarian or a library aid assigned full-time to every school?

Rocio Rivas: Yes, absolutely. Teacher librarians and library aides are an essential resource component that ALL schools must have. Schools should not have to choose if they can afford a librarian or library aid, because as fully staffed schools, librarians must be a given. Updated books in all languages must also be provided on a yearly basis.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes

  • 6. Did you support UTLA in 2019 when they went on strike to force the district to provide fundamental improvements for our students?

Rocio Rivas: Yes! I was in the rain in the picket line with my son alongside teachers. I walked in the march alongside thousands of educators! I also took part in organizing and educating parents regarding the UTLA strike demands and their importance towards the protection of public education.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes

Rocio Rivas: Yes, absolutely. If charter schools want to espouse as public schools then they must accept ALL students and take their fair share of special education students, who continue to be counseled out right before testing begins.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: They should but because charters allow open enrollment from any part of the district it is not something that can be required. I believe students from the surrounding neighborhoods should have priority to space available and reserve the lottery system once those students have been given space if desired.

  • 8. Do you agree that the job of an LAUSD School Board Member is to represent children who are enrolled in schools run by the district?

Rocio Rivas: Yes, of course.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes

Rocio Rivas: Yes, absolutely.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes community involvement is very important and should be considered in all local decision making, especially with many inevitable changes about to start happening due to declining enrollment.

  • 10. Do you support allowing LAUSD teachers to take sabbaticals as a way of combating teacher burnout?

Rocio Rivas: Yes, I do support teacher sabbaticals.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: I think the option of a sabbatical would be very beneficial to teachers’ mental health and teacher retention, especially right now.

Rocio Rivas: The district must remain vigilant to all latest Covid-related developments to ensure that all schools are safe. The district must, first of all, follow all safety protocols recommended by the CDC and LA County Department of Public Health, which is taking place. In addition, the district must continue to provide Covid-19 testing and vaccination clinics, particularly in areas where vaccination rates are low. Definitely, all eligible students must be vaccinated and masks should be highly recommended to be worn. However, there are cases where vaccination is just not possible for a variety of reasons and that must be taken into consideration as well.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: I do not support LAUSD enforcing a mandate until the state requires it. LAUSD needs state backup to uphold such a highly debated issue.

Rocio Rivas: Yes, I will make sure that all parents are aware of their rights, including opting out of standardized testing.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: I would make sure op-out information would be provided to every parent.

  • 13. Do you agree that using standardized tests before the third grade is counterproductive to providing meaningful education?

Rocio Rivas: Yes, I absolutely agree.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: 2nd-grade OLSTAT testing allows for high achieving students to be placed into a more challenging curriculum which can be beneficial.

  • 14. Do you agree that the LAUSD should not be subject to mayoral control and that the LAUSD School Board should remain an independent, elected body?

Rocio Rivas: Yes, without a doubt. Public education must remain independent from city hall and in the jurisdiction of the taxpayers, the residents of LA county.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: I do not believe LAUSD should be subject to mayoral control, but I do believe the mayor should take a bigger role in supporting LAUSD by helping with physical campus improvements, creating safe passages for students, and helping create city co-shared locations for after school student recreational area and weekend campus playground maintenance like the rec and park relationship and assist in providing other neighborhood assistance and services beneficial to LAUSD families.

Rocio Rivas: I will definitely listen to all voices and stakeholders on this issue. I will gather data and analyze the harm the confidentiality agreements impart and understand commit to working towards eliminating any barriers that prevent access to information and resources for all parents with students with special needs. I will definitely have an advisory committee on special education composed of special education teachers, parents, students, and advocates.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: This is a complicated question deserving of more than a quick lightning round answer. one of my main concerns would be minor confidentiality protection in the case of anything made public in any agreement.

  • 16. Do you commit to supporting policies that prohibit the District from punishing employees who inform parents of all of the options available to their students during the IEP process?

Rocio Rivas: Yes, absolutely. Employee retribution for doing their job and advocating for the child is inexcusable.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: All IEP options should be offered and discussed with parents through the school and district and information about IEP options should be available online.

Rocio Rivas: Yes, I support and will work collaboratively in improving special education and for the federal government to fulfill its promise to fully fund IDEA.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes

Rocio Rivas: Yes, charter school governing boards must be inclusive, transparent, accountable, and abide by the Brown Act.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes

Rocio Rivas: Yes, I support and will sponsor this resolution.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes

Rocio Rivas: Yes, I support and will sponsor this resolution.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa: Yes

Closing Message To The Voters

Rocio Rivas:

I am running for LAUSD School Board to represent Board District 2 because now, more than ever, it is time to stand up for our neighborhood public schools, certified unionized teachers, and our children. As a working-class, immigrant Mexican child who grew up in Los Angeles, I understand the importance of an educated mind and directly experienced how the world can open up through learning. I had dedicated, inspiring LAUSD teachers who believed in me and nurtured my learning. I thrived in our public schools. Now, as a mother and public school parent, I want nothing more than the best education for ALL our children so they can thrive. Ever since my first education course at UC Berkeley and subsequent assistant teacher position in a bilingual preschool, advocating for public education became my life’s work. As a young teaching assistant, not only did I witness academic structures in action, but the holistic shaping of a community. This diverse group of children, learning side by side, illustrated the interconnections between the cognitive development stages in children, the strategies of early childhood education, the benefits of an integrated public education environment, and the link between critical thinking and informed participation in democracy. I want to fight to preserve the integrity of the teaching profession and protect our neighborhood public schools from the tentacles of profiteering and privatization.

Erica Vilardi-Espinosa:

No closing message was submitted.

_____________________________

Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He is an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and serves as the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.

Education
Politics
School Board Elections
Los Angeles
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