Chatsworth Parent Runs In LAUSD Race

NORTHRIDGE, CA — Los Angeles Unified school board incumbent and retired teacher Scott Schmerelson is defending his seat from charter school employee Marilyn Koziatek in the race to represent District 3, which covers most of the northwestern and southern San Fernando Valley.

Like many LAUSD races, the District 3 race pits a teachers' union-aligned candidate (Schmerelson) with one supported by pro-charter school groups (Koziatek.) Schmerelson led Koziatek by more than 14,400 votes in the March primary, winning 42 percent of the vote over Koziatek's 32 percent.

Schmerelson, 69, of Valley Glen, spent four decades in the LAUSD as a teacher, counselor, assistant principal, and principal. After his retirement he ran for a school board seat, and was elected in 2015. Over the past five years, Schmerelson supported district teachers during their 2019 strike, opposed Title IX changes, instituted a District 3 Student Advisory Council, secured funding for library aides in every school, worked to provide healthy lunches and reduce food waste, and more. He also worked to upgrade technology and equipment at various district schools.

Schmerelson lists ensuring a safe reopening plan (but feels there are too many outstanding questions to reopen safely at the moment) widespread access to coronavirus testing for students and staff, reducing class sizes, and ensuring support — from private tutoring to free meals — for vulnerable students. He voted against cutting the Los Angeles School Police budget, but told LAist that he supports an LAUSD formula to redistribute money from wealthier to poorer schools.

Schmerelson said that he approves of some charter schools "that are fair, open, and transparent." At the same time, he told LAist he feels they often siphon money away from public schools in the same district.

"I don't think that charter schools should be opening in areas that would be a detriment to the existing public schools," he said. "By siphoning off funds from that school, the charter is going to eventually make that district-run school close."

He is endorsed by the United Teachers Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times, and many local Democratic clubs.

Koziatek, 39, of Chatsworth, is the special projects and events manager at Granada Hills Charter High School, and is the only candidate in the 2020 LAUSD race with children enrolled in the district. She also claims to be the only candidate working for the LAUSD, but Granada Hills Charter High School is in fact a charter school independent from the district.

Koziatek says she is in favor of greater budget transparency, obtaining more technology and redistributing funds for needier schools, and creating a curriculum that ensures higher graduation rates. In an interview with LAist, she said that she feels Superintendent Austin Beutner has handled the pandemic well, and that parents and stakeholders should be consulted on reopening plans. She advocated debate on the issue of school police, but declined to support the board's decision to cut LASPD budget by 35 percent this summer.

Koziatek is endorsed by the Los Angeles Daily News, Former Los Angeles Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Richard Riordan, and several other politicians and former LAUSD board members.

She is also endorsed by the California Charter School Association Advocates, which has spent $5.8 million split between ads in favor of her and against her opponent. Koziatek said she feels the charter school issue is a wedge that can distract from more important issues.

"I am an LAUSD public school mom, and I am not happy when every single time I turn on a board meeting, I hear about this issue and I am always thinking in my head, 'What about my children?'" she told LAist. "What about the high-quality education for my sons, and by extension, every single child in this district? What about the failing budget? What about the fact that, yes, our Black and Brown students continue to fall farther and farther behind across the board? Where is the arts programming?"