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By Gloria Angelina Castillo, EGP Staff Writer | http://bit.ly/I1lYXN | By Gloria Angelina Castillo, Reportera de EGP | http://bit.ly/Ikjk2l |
| April 19, 2012 :: A campaign to recall Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education President Monica García was formally launched last week, the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office has confirmed. The campaign was announced on April 11 in front of LAUSD’s headquarters, one day after the city clerk received the recall notice. García, who represents the second district, is termed out. Her term ends June 30, 2013. A replacement could be elected in March or May 2013, depending on whether there is a runoff for her seat, Maria de la Luz Garcia, senior project coordinator for Office of the City Clerk-Election Division told EGP. While the recall process has been initiated and García has been served, the group cannot start collecting signatures quite yet, according to Maria Garcia. They must first show proof that the notice was published in a local newspaper, submit copies of the petitions they intend to circulate and once they receive approval they’ll have 120 days to collect 26,608 signatures from registered voters in the district, and have them certified, Maria Garcia said. Backers of the recall seem not to be worried about the time crunch, the signatures or the cost of a special election. As reported by EGP on April 5, the recall appears to be fueled by anger over the proposed elimination of adult education and early education and other programs, and García was targeted for recall because she is president of the school board. “Our community cannot take any more of these cuts,” recall petitioner Robert Skeels told EGP. “It’s not [just] about her [García] but it is about a board that has continually punished the community. We believe by taking out the president of the board, we’ll send a clear message,” Skeels told EGP Wednesday.
Image from website RecallMonicaGarcia.com Lea esta nota EN ESPAÑOL: Lanzan Campaña para Destituir a la Presidenta de la Junta Escolar Related story: Angry Adult Ed Supporters Threaten Recall of LAUSD Board Members Skeels said they encourage residents in other LAUSD districts to begin recall campaigns against their school board representative, which can only be initiated by the voters of a district. The board is not getting enough political pressure from the community, Skeels said. It might seem unusual to target a board member in the last year of her term, “but other board members need to understand they can’t do this,” he said. Though a recall election could be pricey for taxpayers, Skeels said taxpayers are already paying for the costly decisions of the board. In the recall notice — signed by three community activists, a teacher and an adult school student — recall proponents state they want to recall García because she has ignored stakeholders and is to blame for the layoff off thousands of LAUSD teachers and staff. While some of the teachers have been rehired, recall petitioners say the yearly layoff notice process has left teachers demoralized and has disproportionately hurt schools in poor areas. Under García’s tenure, public schools have been systematically starved while hundreds of millions of dollars in LAUSD properties and resources have been handed over to privately managed charter school operators, the notice claims. “The hallmark of García’s tenure has been hundreds of millions of dollars squandered on unnecessary tests, consultants, and questionable hiring priorities,” the notice states. García accused backers of the recall of playing politics and being a distraction to efforts to protect children’s education. “…Instead of getting involved in politics that only derail the work we should be doing, I welcome everyone to join me in figuring out how we can work together to serve our children during these hard economic times,” García told EGP in written statement. Supporters of García say she has done much to improve schools and bring about needed reforms. García’s track record shows she is a reformer, Maria Brenes, executive director of Innercity Struggle, told EGP. She helped bring about the A-G college prep requirements, supported charter schools and small schools in her district. She fought for Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez and Esteban Torres high schools, and has supported teacher-lead collaborations for in-house reforms, said Brenes, whose husband Luís Sánchez ran unsuccessfully last year for the school board district 5 seat and was formerly García’s chief of staff. Brenes, who has been involved in education and school reform for many years, says the backers of the recall are part of the status quo, and have targeted García because she is a Latina leader of the Eastside. She said the school board has a difficult job to do, with all the funding cuts. “These are challenging times because of the state crisis, and people have a right to be angry… Like all board members, Monica’s hands are tied when it comes to these cuts because so much revenue comes from the state.”
| 19 Abril , 2012 :: Una campaña para destituir a la presidenta de la junta escolar del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Ángeles (LAUSD) se lanzó formalmente la semana pasada, la oficina de la Secretaria Municipal de Los Ángeles ha confirmado. La campaña se anunció el 11 de abril frente a la sede de LAUSD, un día después que la Oficina de la Secretaria Municipal recibió el aviso del esfuerzo para destituir a García.
Mónica García, quién representa el segundo distrito de la junta escolar, ha llegado al fin del límite de mandatos en la junta; su mandato termina el 30 de junio 2013. Su repuesto podría ser elegido en marzo o mayo de 2013, dependiendo de si hay una segunda elección, de acuerdo con María de la Luz García, coordinadora de proyecto de la División de Elecciones de la Oficina de la Secretaria Municipal.
Imagen de RecallMonicaGarcia.com Mientras que el proceso de destitución se ha iniciado y García se ha sido notificada, el grupo aún no puede comenzar a colectar firmas, dijo María García. Primero deben mostrar prueba de que el aviso del esfuerzo de destitución se ha publicado en un periódico local, y copias de la petición que planifican distribuir se deben someter a la Oficina de la Secretaria Municipal, ella explicó. Una vez que las peticiones sean aprobadas, el grupo tendrá 120 días para recoger 26,608 firmas de votantes registrados en el distrito afectado, luego las firmas deben ser recibidas antes de que se programe una elección, dijo María García. Sin embargo, los partidarios de la destitución no parecen estar preocupados ni por la falta de tiempo, ni por las firmas necesarias, ni por el costo de una elección especial. Como informó EGP el 5 de abril, los esfuerzos de destitución parecen estar alimentados por el coraje sobre la propuesta eliminación de la educación de adultos y la educación temprana así como otros programas, y García es el blanco porque es la presidenta de la junta escolar. “Nuestra comunidad ya no puede soportar más recortes”, dijo Robert Skeels a EGP. “No sólo se trata de ella [García], pero se trata de una junta que no ha dejado de castigar a la comunidad. Creemos que al sacar a la presidente de la junta, vamos a enviar un mensaje claro”, Skeels dijo a EGP el miércoles. Skeels dijo que residentes en otros distritos de LAUSD también pueden iniciar campañas para destituir a sus representantes en la junta escolar, el proceso sólo puede ser iniciado por los votantes de ese distrito. Puede parecer inusual dirigir un esfuerzo como este hacía un miembro de la junta en el último año de su mandato, pero otros miembros de la junta deben entender que hay consecuencias, él dijo. A pesar de que una elección de destitución podría ser caro para los contribuyentes de impuestos, Skeels dijo que los contribuyentes ya están pagando por las decisiones costosas de la junta. En el aviso del esfuerzo para destituir a García los proponentes—tres activistas de la comunidad, un profesor y un estudiante de una escuela de adultos—indican que quieren remover a García porque ella ha ignorado a las partes interesadas y es la culpable del despido de miles de maestros y personal de LAUSD. Aunque algunos de los profesores han sido contratados de nuevo, los peticionarios afirman que las notificaciones anuales de despedido han desmoralizado a los maestros y ha herido de manera desproporcionada a las escuelas ubicadas en zonas pobres. Bajo el liderazgo de García, las escuelas públicas han sido sistemáticamente privadas de cientos de millones de dólares en propiedades del LAUSD y otros recursos que se han entregado a los operadores privados de escuelas charter, indica el aviso. “El sello de la presidencia de García es cientos de millones de dólares despilfarrados en pruebas innecesarias, consultores y prioridades cuestionables de contratación”, señala el aviso. García acusó a los partidarios del esfuerzo para destituirla de hacer política y de ser una distracción a los esfuerzos de proteger la educación de los niños. “… En vez de involucrarse en la política que sólo descarrilar el trabajo que debemos hacer, les doy la bienvenida a todos a unirse a mí para averiguar cómo podemos trabajar juntos para servir a nuestros niños durante estos tiempos económicos difíciles”, dijo García a EGP en una declaración escrita. Los partidarios de García dicen que ella ha hecho mucho para mejorar las escuelas y realizar reformas necesarias. El récord de García demuestra que es una reformadora, dijo María Brenes, directora ejecutiva de Innercity Struggle. Ella ayudó a lograr que sean obligatorios los requisitos A-G de preparación universitaria, ha apoyado las escuelas charter y escuelas pequeñas en su distrito. Luchó por la construcción de las preparatorias Felicitas y Gonzalo Méndez y Esteban Torres, y ha apoyado los planes de instrucción creados por profesores, dijo Brenes, cuyo esposo Luís Sánchez se postuló sin éxito el año pasado como candidato al asiento del distrito 5 de la junta escolar. Él también es el jefe de personal de García. Brenes, quien ha estado involucrada en la reforma de educación en escuelas de la zona por muchos años, dice que los partidarios de la destitución son parte del statu quo y se han dirigido a García porque ella es una líder latina del Este de Los Ángeles. “Estos son tiempos difíciles a causa de la crisis del Estado, y la gente tiene el derecho a tener corajes… [pero] Al igual que todos los miembros de la junta, las manos de Mónica están atadas cuando se trata de estos recortes porque tanto de los ingresos provienen del estado”, dijo Brenes. |
3 Responses to “LAUSD School Board President Target of Recall” (from EGP)
- Chance LaRue on April 19th, 2012 10:34 pm :: There’s really no defending Monica Garcia, who has compromised the integrity of the board and the quality of education in our community. When she was untroubled by revealatins that Ramone Cortines took a $100k position with Scholastic as a consultant, despite the clear conflict of interst it presented because Scholastic makes $16 million annually for providing LAUSD with standardized testing, a controversial topic as it is, I took notice.
Garcia went on to overlook the brutal bullying of teachers who were unjustly liabled by LAT and LAUSD when their test scores were made public, an awful humiliation made worse by browbeating from Thier administrators. This was the catylist for one young Teacher’s suicide and following the reports on housed teachers, it also marked an all out declaration of war against us.
Garcia allowed the CBA, labor laws and state education codes to be trampled upon when she okayed the displacement of Clinton MS teachers weeks after he cut off date of March 15 . This was done after two years after these veteran teachers were recruited to work in this school which had a demographic of children with about 98% below proficiency in basic English, their parents unable to speak any English at all and poverty a daunting deterrent for progress. Unsure what was happening, the teachers ended up in limbo, parents and students’ protests for them went ignored and the school was made into a charter, which was the plan all along. Unloading costly veterens teachers sweetened the pot. Deasy has demanded a clause in the present CBA that liberates him from duty to hire displaced teachers, so these Dedicated professionals will not be placed after being usurped because they failed to get kids who can’t speak English to grade level according to a test that has a nearly 50% margin of error, is compromised by widespread cheating, and pits these kids against those in white affluent schools .
Their parents never weighed in though they should have been…
- Luis Gabriel Sanchez on April 20th, 2012 2:43 am :: Garcia is being used as the Latina mascot for the billionaires that will never set foot in a public school classroom by themselves, but that want to take public resources for private charter companies, evaluate and fire teachers based on student test scores, NOT hold students accountable for their learning and test scores, and hire non-educators to lead the school system.
- Martha Infante on April 20th, 2012 7:23 pm :: How far has Brenes strayed from her roots as an activist to an executive…to cast aspersions on those who participate in something as grassroots as a recall campaign is pretty disappointing.
I am a Latina from Boyle Heights and Monica Garcia’s leadership has left a lot to be desired. The recall is the culmination of her fervent support for Public School Choice policy that has not proven to improve schools and instead has thrown existing schools into massive turmoil. The CREDO report from Stanford University about charter schools verifies this.
To name-call instead of arguing the merits of the issue is indicative of the lack of legitimacy in her leadership and of that of her supporters.
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