LAUSD Candidate Profile: Patricia Castellanos
“We need more parent and community involvement with [the] LAUSD. It is an essential ingredient in creating an enriching learning environment for our students.”
- Patricia Castellanos
Currently, not one of the LAUSD School Board members has a child enrolled in a district school. As the parent of a first-grader who attends an LAUSD school, Patricia Castellanos would change that omission and “ensure that parents are represented in the top decision-making that impacts our children’s lives.” She says that her status as a district parent sets her apart from the other candidates since it gives her the ability to “understand many of the hopes and concerns shared by parents across the District.”
Castellanos is a long-time community leader who was included on billmoyers.com’s 2013 list of Activists to Watch. She was formerly a deputy director at the LA Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) and was a co-founder of Reclaim Our Schools L.A. (ROSLA). These were two of the groups that were instrumental in promoting the Give Kids a Chance platform that outlined the student-centered demands of UTLA leading into last year’s strike. She currently serves as L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s Workforce Deputy.
