2024 LAUSD Elections

LAUSD Candidate Forum: PROP-39 Co-Locations

How would these candidates protect students who are negatively affected when public schools are forced to share space with charter schools?

“The current implementation of PROP-39, which considers rooms used for Special Education Services as ‘empty’ and potentially reallocates these classrooms to charter schools, is a concerning practice that needs reform.”

– BD3 Candidate Richard S. Ramos

Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

There are still two months before candidates for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) School Board need to begin collecting signatures so that they can appear on the 2024 ballot. So far, 22 Candidates have registered their campaigns with the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, allowing them to begin fundraising. This includes nine candidates in Board District (BD) 1 [A], seven in BD3, three in the fifth district, and three in BD7. You can find your Board District on this website.

With the local news media having largely abandoned any ongoing comprehensive coverage of public education, voters find it difficult to obtain the information they need to make an informed decision. This problem is compounded by the millions of dollars spent by the charter school industry and the unions, drowning out the voices of candidates who do not have access to big money.

To provide voters with information, this ongoing series will give every candidate the opportunity to express their opinions about issues facing the LAUSD. The first round asked about PROP 39 co-locations.

Under past iterations of the board led by members like Monica Garcia who were backed by the charter school Industry, these publicly financed private schools were given advantages when demanding space from public schools. It was only after supporters of public education won a majority in the last election that the harm that these arrangements have caused public school students is being addressed. The LAUSD Board is currently considering a resolution that would finally put…