2020 LAUSD ELECTIONS

The Lies In Your Mailbox

Charter schools blame Scott Schmerelson for the $1 billion iPad scandal that occurred before he took office. They backed his predecessor.

“Tamar Galatzan…has been the iPad program’s most enthusiastic supporter and has never asked the important questions about this planned expenditure of more than $1 billion.”

- Los Angeles Times

In 2015, I was a candidate in the election to represent LAUSD School Board District 3. The incumbent in the race was Tamar Galatzan, who was supported by the charter school industry. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) did not endorse in the primary, but Scott Mark Schmerelson, Ankur Patel, Filiberto Gonzalez, and I were all included in an unofficial “anyone but Tamar” strategy. Elizabeth Badger Bartels was also included on the ballot.

In the middle of this campaign, Superintendent John Deasy was forced to quit in part because of his “disastrous” $1.3 billion iPad plan. Shortly after his resignation, the FBI raided LAUSD offices as part of an investigation into the ill-fated project.

Central to the case against Galatzan was her failure to supervise Deasy as he bled the LAUSD’s coffers. As…