Accountability

When Will A School Board Hold Its Superintendent Accountable?

The LAUSD School Board continues to remain passive as Superintendent Carvalho consolidates power and alienates parents and teachers.

“The Members of the Board have been elected by the communities to provide leadership, policy-making, and citizen oversight of the policies and practices that affect the students, families, and schools within the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Unified School District.”

– LAUSD Board Rules

While the Brown Act allows the LAUSD School Board to evaluate its Superintendent behind closed doors, this secrecy is not mandated. To fulfill its mission to “[Operate] openly, with trust and integrity,” the Board could conduct the proceedings in full view of the public allowing stakeholders of the District to see if their concerns are being addressed by the board. Instead, an agenda item to conduct the “Superintendent’s Evaluation” is specified for the closed session of the Board’s meetings.

Fortunately, the Brown Act does mandate that the Board must allow public comments before retreating into a closed session. I used this opportunity to express my concerns to the Board about Superintendent Carvalho:

Why is it that this district can’t seem to learn from its mistakes? How many times do LAUSD students have to pay the price for an elected Board that refuses to perform its basic obligations?

In 2015, Scott Schmerleson and I ran against an incumbent, Tamar Galatzan, who had given free rein to Superintendent John Deasy. As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted on an ill-fated iPad program and the District found itself under investigation by the FBI. Then the MiSiS program launched before it was ready, creating chaos throughout the district. A judge ruled that as a result of Deasy’s incompetence students “suffered…severe and pervasive educational…