Age: 51
Occupation: Community Schools coordinator at McAlister High School, in charge of organizing student and family services and participation.
Political party: Democratic Party
Experience: Became an L.A. Unified teacher in 2001. Her various roles included teaching students with disabilities, English learner coordinator, and resource specialist to support teachers and students with special needs. Griego also served on the board of directors for United Teachers Los Angeles and was involved in the union-allied coalition Reclaim Our Schools L.A. She is the mother of three children — two in college, one in high school.
Priorities: Supporting the whole child, including mental health and social and emotional needs. Reducing district-mandated testing to allow for more learning time. Enriching curriculum, for example with more electives and career pathways. Increasing support for students with special needs. Improving fiscal transparency and accountability for the superintendent and charter schools. Expanding community schools, the Black Student Achievement Plan and safe passages to and from campuses.
The superintendent: Supt. Carvalho “has made decisions that have excluded stakeholder input,” Griego said, and “needs to prioritize parent, student and educator voices and create a harassment-free LAUSD.” She cited an incident at Saticoy Elementary in which a teacher’s “transgender flag was burned, followed by intimidating emails and threats.” In addition, she said, “all workers need to be protected from rogue supervisors that seek to deter employees from exercising their right to protest” and file grievances over misconduct or inappropriate working conditions.
The incumbent: Goldberg “has been a trail-blazing elected official for years, a public ed champion who recently co-authored a resolution that will create transparency” when campuses are required to share space with charter schools, said Griego, adding: “I admire that she has been a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community for years.”
Charter schools: They “need to have more accountability and transparency,” she said. “I support the current board’s recent motion to study the process and effects” of sharing LAUSD campuses with charter schools, with the goal of limiting the placement of charters at designated community schools or schools with a Black Student Achievement Plan program.
School police: “When there is imminent danger on campus, as we have tragically seen in the past 30 years, school police have not been able to intervene. In fact, it is school personnel who have done everything possible to limit the tragedies,” Griego said. She noted that students themselves have helped curtail tragedies by reporting knowledge of potential danger to teachers and counselors they trust, leading to investigations after administrators and the district are informed. “This has been the protocol at my daughter’s school this year. There has been no need for police to come on campus for the issues that have arisen,” she said. “If there is a reasonable threat, then police should be called.”
Quote: Except at “transparent and democratic” community schools, “LAUSD budgets are incomprehensible. They are presented in big binders, allocations of programs and services are disbursed through various lines that make it difficult for people to track where monies are spent. They are also presented in a rushed manner, making it difficult to process and assess the needs. There is also no space for stakeholder input.”
Website: karlagriegoforschoolboard.com
This story originally appeared on LA Times
