Change The LAUSD

As if the War on Christmas was not bad enough, now liberals have initiated a battle against Easter. After “the horrible terrorist attacks on churches and hotels that have killed at least 138 million people,” former President Obama could not even bother to acknowledge the clear persecution of Christians within the United States.  Instead, he diminished “the attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka” as a simple “attack on humanity.” How dare  he not give “any hint of their faith or the significance of the day.” The victims could have been Hindus celebrating Easter!

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

- John 13:34

If there is one man who pushed me on the path towards atheism, it was Randall Terry. As a forerunner to the violent right that we see today, Terry founded the group Operation Rescue to physically deprive women of their rights at health care clinics. As a volunteer escort, I was regularly punched, pushed and shoved by the members of these mobs as they tried to enforce their own form of sharia law. Terry himself was charged with assaulting me outside a health care clinic in Downtown Los Angeles.

“Heather Repenning, is moderate in her approach, but her lack of experience in education shows; during an interview, she had nothing insightful or original to say about the issues facing L.A. Unified.”

- Los Angeles Times Editorial Board

During my first run for the LAUSD School Board, I was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times (LAT) Editorial Board as they considered who they would endorse. Unfortunately, this discussion devolved into an argument over my support of the opt-out movement for standardized testing. I had explained that one of the reasons that my wife and I had decided to exercise our rights under the state education code and exempt our children from taking these tests was the unnecessary stress it imposed on students. A member of the Editorial Board accused me of hypocrisy as I had also allowed my children to choose to take AP tests. She was unswayed by my argument that since the payoff for undergoing the stress of taking an AP test was possibly receiving college credits, the stress of taking that test was an acceptable cost. To her, stress was a necessary part of life and she did not see a reason why children should be protected from it.

“We’re going to impeach the motherf*cker.”

- Rep. Rashida Tlaib

Donald Trump stood next to Vladimir Putin and stated that the Russian leader “was extremely strong and powerful in his denial” that his country had interfered in our 2016 election. The former KGB agent said that “it's not Russia” and this was enough for the American President. Trump told the world: "I don't see any reason why it would be."

The Attorney General’s summary of the Mueller Report confirms that Trump’s assessment was incorrect. The Russian Government did, in fact, conduct a “computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the [2016] election.” If the indictments and convictions that had already resulted from the Special Counsel's investigation were not enough proof, this conclusion also disproves Trump’s assertion that this was a witch hunt. Crimes were, in fact, committed against our country. 

“The District has not received payments from Community Preparatory Academy for the months of January 2017 through June 2017, which total to $82,240.97 currently owed to the District.”

- LAUSD Charter School Division

The LAUSD School Board took the rare step of considering the denial of a charter school’s renewal during their April 2, 2019, “special” meeting. In reviewing the hundreds of pages of documents supporting this recommendation, it was clear that the Community Preparatory Academy (CPA) has been in trouble since it was opened five years ago. During public comment I summarized the worst of their offenses for the Board:

“Let’s go to that committee.”

- LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia

At the April 2, 2019 “special” meeting of the LAUSD School Board, the charter school industry was once again permitted to stack the public speaker list so that only their viewpoint was heard before action was taken on the renewal of Summit Preparatory Charter. Knowing that there was at least one person who was denied the ability speak against this renewal, Board Member Scott Schmerelson asked how he could institute a pilot program that would enable speakers to use Skype to address the Board remotely from local district offices.  In response, Board President Monica Garcia suggested that “Mr. Melvoin’s group and Mr. Crain (the Board’s Secretary)...could probably figure out how to do a pilot.” Melvoin followed up by saying “I think that it’s a great thing for the Board Rule Committee to consider.” Garcia agreed by saying “Let’s go to that committee.”

“Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege. Every man, woman, and child in our country should be able to access the health care they need regardless of their income. The only long-term solution to America’s health care crisis is a single-payer national health care program.”

- Bernie Sanders

I listened to the small talk as people slowly filled in around the conference table and wondered to myself how many other people actually realized what was going on. If the seemingly random makeup of the people in this surprise meeting was not enough of a clue, the stack of large envelopes, the presence of the newly appointed head of the company from our new parent company and the stranger that accompanied him should have been. My streak of 31 years of employment, 14 years with this company, was about to come to an end.

“Board District 3 will look at that proposal for resolution and we will iron it out...We will give serious consideration to everything you said because it is all true”

- Scott Schmerelson

While the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board has promised for years to address complaints about  difficulties that parents and other members of the community face when trying to participate in school board meetings, it took a member of the public using the education code to place an item on their agenda for it to finally be addressed. At Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, the Board heard from parents who supported the “Board Meeting Accessibility to the Public” resolution before discussing the item. As the person who brought forward the proposed resolution, I was given the opportunity to speak first:

Complaints about the many obstacles that the public faces when they attempt to participate in meetings of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board are close to universal.  Parents of children enrolled in charter schools and those in District schools all seem to recognize that there is a problem with a system that requires them to line up hours in advance because the Board Room is not large enough to hold the number of people who show up, particularly when there are contentious issues on the agenda. While other local districts hold their meetings in the evening, the LAUSD hold theirs during the school day which means that working parents, students, and teachers are usually not able to attend.  Since the Board limits the number of people who can speak on a subject, frustrations mount when opposing sides are not given equal opportunity to present their arguments before a vote is taken.

“My view is that every vote matters. And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting and that means get rid of the Electoral College.”

- Elizabeth Warren

The will of the people is clear: Democrats have won the popular vote in six of the past seven presidential elections. Yet, in the country that holds itself up as a shining example of democracy, the voter’s wishes were ignored. In two of those elections, including the last one, Republicans won the Electoral College with a minority of the vote and were given control of the Oval Office.

“I would rather have the popular vote because it’s, to me, it’s much easier to win the popular vote.”

- Donald Trump