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The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Most Important Issue,
Constituency vs. District,
Management/Budget Experience,
Health Care Costs,
Standardized Testing
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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1. What is the single most important issue facing LAUSD today? As a Board Member, what would you do to deal with it?
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Answer from Antonio Sanchez:
There is no panacea or simple solution to fix the system. We need to develop a comprehensive, multi-step plan that can help us address various issues plaguing our schools. We need to ensure that teachers are vital and helpful partners. They must have access to the necessary resources and support to offer their students the best education possible. On-site administrators must be equipped to manage their teachers and staff--they need to equitably support, discipline and inspire a school site to succeed.
Answer from Maria Cano:
The single most important issue facing LAUSD is budget cuts. The result, a critically underfunded education program with impacts to graduation, shortage of classroom space, shortage of teachers, a shortage of jobs, and a growing level of poverty stricken families. As a Board Member I am committed and will work hard toward building the necessary consensus needed to focus attention back on the budget and on ways to increase funding. I don't believe that cutting jobs or taking away classroom funding is an option. We can't take out the engine of the car and them turn around and enter a race.
The answer towards a balance budget should have never been to cut programs like early, adult and arts programs. That is why, as a Board Member I will work to accomplish three emergency measures, 1) to reinstate school-sites staff, 2) reinstate educational programs, and 3) and to reinstate budget control to local school sites.
Answer from Monica Ratliff:
Parents take their children to school expecting their children to return to them in the same condition and better at day's end. As a Board Member, my number one priority will be the student's health, safety, and ability to succeed in life.
Answer from Iris Zuņiga:
The single most important issue facing LAUSD and our community is that our students are not making it through the educational pipeline in order to graduate college prepared and career ready. We need to do much more to make sure that every child in LAUSD has the opportunity to graduate from high school with essential 21st Century Skills. Even though graduation rates are increasing, I still believe that we have too many students who do not receive adequate supports and intervention to enable them to graduate and contribute to the global workforce that we need to build in the Los Angeles area. As a Board Member, I would make sure that we are taking a serious look at the current deficiencies and begin to implement the necessary support systems to improve student performance and outcomes.
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2. How would you prioritize your local constituency in overseeing LAUSD management, setting District policy, and day-to-day decision-making?
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Answer from Antonio Sanchez:
We need to prioritize students and ensure they are in the best learning environments possible. We can start by increasing expectations for all students. We should hold students to the highest standards of achievement possible. More importantly we need to take strategic steps. For instance, WE KNOW which schools are failing and succeeding. For each failing school, we need to bring additional resources to the campus to help analyze and evaluate the problems, and make the necessary changes in order to have our students learn and be successful. We need to create a team of education experts and best teachers and send the team to each failing school. LAUSD is upside down- the best teachers and administrators work at the best schools where students typically start with the higher test scores. To be true problem solvers- the best need to help improve the troubled schools and students. I would propose a teacher/ administrative team to spend a week or more at the challenge school: Analyze, Evaluate and Make Recommendations for action steps to improve the school. We should then monitor their progress towards those recommendations. We must also encourage local control and ownership of schools, empower principals, and promote models that bring parents, teachers, and principals together to develop strategies to improve student performance.
Answer from Iris Zuņiga:
I would create advisory committees composed of educators that are demonstrating improved teaching and learning in their respective schools. These committees would identify best practices and create a collaborative environment with parents and community stakeholders where these best practices could be shared, tested and refined to meet the unique needs of every school site. Best practices need to drive district policy and challenge the bureaucracy and "one-size-fits-all" instruction and curriculum that prevail in LAUSD despite best intentions. We need to listen to our teachers and administrators who have classroom experience and who know their students and school communities if we are to make positive policy change on a grand scale.
Answer from Maria Cano:
We are all stewards of public funds. The right and responsibility of oversight is in the hands of all constituents. However, the best place to start prioritizing local contingency in overseeing LAUSD management, setting District policy and day-to-day decision making, is through working with the Parent Centers. Parents are our co-workers too, and they need to feel valued, they need to be trained on District decision making, and more importantly they need to feel empowered with the right of oversight.
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3. What experience in general management, fiscal management, and budgetary oversight would you bring to the job of Board Member?
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Answer from Antonio Sanchez:
The voters helped stabilize the budget with the passage of Prop. 30, but we're still in a budget crunch. I will prioritize the classroom and student learning. I'll do everything I can to build the quality of education our students receive.
Answer from Iris Zuņiga:
I am currently the Chief Operating Officer for a non-profit organization, primarily supported by federal, state and local grant funding, with a $35 million budget and over 1,000 employees. I understand the importance of fiscal management and budgetary oversight. Without the proper tools in place, it is very easy to lose sight of goals and expected outcomes. I believe that the budgetary process is the road map that sets priorities and aligns the various components necessary to achieve identified objectives. More importantly, we need to make sure we have adequate benchmarks in place in order to ensure accountability and transparency for those we serve and represent.
Answer from Maria Cano:
I have 8 ― years of working with LAUSD Facilities as part of its 21 billion dollar building program. As a Regional Manager I oversaw the Community Outreach strategies of over 50 projects, at any one time, in the Valley Region and Special Projects areas. As part of my duties, I was responsible for the fiscal and budgetary oversight of each and every one of these project in our Department.
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4. How should LAUSD deal with its rapidly increasing costs for retiree and employee health care?
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Answer from Maria Cano:
The rapidly increasing retiree and employee health care costs have very little to do with education, and more to do with our economy. Cities and counties, like school districts, have been forced against budgetary walls and unfortunately decisions have been made that limit our workers' and patient rights. The District's size alone gives it a very strategic upper hand, and I would use this advantage to call my elected officials to the table and start discussions on responsible and fair legislation that aims to protect us from unfair practices and costs.
Answer from Iris Zuņiga:
This is a complex question that is not only an LAUSD problem. The spiraling costs of health care need to be addressed through comprehensive, universal health coverage so that costs can be contained and so that retiree coverage is not the exclusive responsibility of public employers in the future. Because of the public health implications, I believe that quality and affordable health care for employees that work with our children is critical. I am hopeful that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will begin to address rapidly increasing costs. In the meantime, I will support the District's efforts to leverage its position in the marketplace to negotiate the most favorable coverage rates for LAUSD employees.
Answer from Antonio Sanchez:
Facing significant pension and healthcare liabilities, part of the solution lies in attacking the underlying causes of escalating healthcare costs -- health risk factors such as obesity, diet, stress, and lack of exercise; variability in the availability and consistency of care; and a lack of "transparency" in the purchase of healthcare. Structural changes are needed at the state and national level for better health care costs.
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5. What part should standardized testing play in LAUSDâs educational programs?
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Answer from Antonio Sanchez:
Standardized testing is just a component of student achievement that does not reflect multiple intelligences. Moreover, many students are not good test takers. It is convenient for public officials to use, rather than address other factors - like parent involvement, attendance, & discipline.
There are many factors that affect student growth and we don't have a reliable model that isolates teacher effectiveness. Developing a fair system that pertains to all teachers and does not punish teachers who work with the neediest students is still a major gap.
Answer from Maria Cano:
Standardized testing can and should be used to evaluate the value added and progress of educational programs and individual student progress plans.
Answer from Iris Zuņiga:
Frequent objective assessments are critical to diagnose and support the unique needs of every student. Standardized testing, however, should not be the sole indicator used to evaluate performance or growth. As LAUSD prepares to launch Common Core State Standards, that are directly aligned with the framework for 21st Century Skills, we need to be focusing on rigorous instruction and curriculum that is rooted in critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity; all skills considered to be essential in every academic area. Testing and assessments have to be reflective of this goal.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
