Sunday, September 07, 2014

AFTER RUNNER-UP FINISH IN STATE RACE, GUTIERREZ TAKING ON VLADOVIC + LAUSD board candidate repudiates statements of ex-aide over willingness to fire Deasy

by Michael Janofsky, LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1w4tDSu

Lydia Gutierrez, former candidate last June for California Superintendent of Instruction

Posted on September 3, 2014 11:57 am   ::  The LA Unified school board president, Richard Vladovic, is no longer running uncontested for his seat next year.

Lydia Gutierrez, who nearly advanced to the general election in the California Superintendent of Public Instruction race this year, has filed to oppose Vladovic in 2015, when elections are being held for four school board seats — Districts 1, 3 5 and Vladovic’s 7.

<< Lydia Gutierrez, former candidate for California Superintendent of Instruction

Also, Ankur Patel, a former candidate for LA City Controller, has become a third challenger to Tamar Galatzan in District 3, joining a field with Carl Petersen, Director of Logistics for a Glendale manufacturing company, and Elizabeth Badger, owner of an auto repair company in Canoga Park.

On her Facebook page, Gutierrez describes herself as “a long-time California educator and elected official on the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council.” In the June primary, she just missed moving onto the November general election, winning nearly 1 million votes — 24.5 percent of the total — to finish third behind Marshall Tuck (28.9 percent) and the incumbent, Tom Torlakson (46.5). Tuck and Torlakson are facing each other in the November general election.

Her decision to oppose Vladovic came through an analysis of where her votes came from.

Jose Gonzalez, one of her campaign managers, told LA School Report that she came within 1,000 votes from District 7 residents of the total Vladovic received in 2011.

Gonzalez said Gutierrez holds views different from Vladovic, asserting that the district “is facing serious problems and he’s not doing anything about it.” Specifically, he said, she believes Vladovic has “not taken an aggressive role” in issues involving the molestation of children and that he “blindly” favored adopting the Common Core State Standards for the district, without taking “cultural and linguistic differences of children into consideration.”

He also said Gutierrez would “vote to fire” Superintendent John Deasy over the problems with the iPad program and the student-tracking system known as MiSiS.

Vladovic’s campaign treasurer, David Gould, did not immediately respond to an email seeking a response to Gonzalez’s criticisms on behalf of Vladovic.

Ankur Patel

Ankur Patel, former candidate for LA City Controller>>

Patel, who finished fifth among six candidates for City Controller last year, has worked as a union organizer for the National Union of Health Care Workers, as a solar panel salesman and as a radio host.

He said he, too, does not support Deasy, and he expressed disagreement with Galatzan on several issues, including “scrutiny of the iPad program and her vote to remove a stronger critic of the iPad program, Stuart Magruder, from the district’s Bond Oversight Committee.

The other two school board incumbents facing voters next year — George McKenna in District 1 and Bennett Kayser in District 5 — also have opponents.


LAUSD board candidate repudiates statements of ex-aide

by LA School Report | http://bit.ly/UXHVhZ

Lydia Gutierrez, a candidate for the LA Unified school board seat next year, says a former campaign manager misrepresented her positions in speaking to LA School Report earlier this week.

Gutierrez disputed statements from Jose Gonzalez, who identified himself as one of her campaign managers, saying she would not vote to fire Superintendent John Deasy but would have insisted on a closer examination of the iPad program, which Deasy has championed.

She said Gonzalez is no longer working for her and should not have represented any of her positions.

Lydia Gutierrez school board

<< Lydia Gutierrez, candidate for the LA Unified school board seat next year

Gutierrez said she is focusing her campaign on three issues: the “waste” of $1 billion for iPads; the cancellation of music, art and vocational trade skill classes; and the influx of consultants hired by the district.

Gutierrez, who ran unsuccessfully for State Superintendent of Instruction earlier this year, is opposing Board President Richard Vladovic for the the LA Unified District 7 seat.

2cents small Just sayin’: There has been a certain amount of trending churn in the lib-dem social media/twitterverse/blogosphere over the comparative merits of a Latina Republican compared to Richard Vladovic. Gutierrez was willing to come out in opposition to the Common Core State Standards, her reticence to take a position vis-a-vis John Deasy must be noted.

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