Following Up

BLM Is Not Just A Slogan To Campaign On

As a candidate, LAUSD Board Member Tanya Ortiz-Franklin claimed to focus on racial justice. What has she done to promote these values after getting elected?

“After this weekend, I’m surprised you or anyone would ask about this instead of Black lives mattering and the racial justice our country so desperately needs.”

- Tanya Ortiz Franklin, June 1, 2020

In late Spring of 2020, the country was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy was collapsing under the weight of the crisis. To help struggling small businesses, Congress had passed the Payroll Protection Program which provided loans to local businesses with the promise of forgiveness if recipients used the money to keep their employees. While public schools were not eligible for this money, charter schools were considered to be businesses and were given access. Local schools like Palisades Charter High School dipped into the trough even as they made plans to lay off employees.

Before writing an article about charter schools and PPP funds, I reached out to…