LAUSD Candidate Forum: Special Education

“I just want to reiterate that we must move away from the District's ‘one size fits all’ approach. Special Education services must be tailored to the needs of individual students.”

– BD5 Candidate Fidencio Joel Gallardo

This is the second installment in the 2024 Candidate Forum series. CLICK HERE for the candidate's answers in the first round of questions which was focused on PROP-39 Co-Locations.

Special Education directly affects approximately 16% of the students enrolled in LAUSD schools. These 70,000+ students rely on the District to provide them with services that will help them reach their full potential.

Even families who do not have children with IEPs or 504 plans feel the effects of poorly executed Special Education programs. When students who have differing needs are forced into general education programs or fail to receive the support that they need, the entire classroom can be thrown into turmoil.

A lack of funding for Special Education services also affects the LAUSD’s general fund. While the District spends more than $1 Billion providing these services, the state and federal governments only cover about half the cost. When the District does not target this money properly, all students pay the price. The millions spent litigating instead of cooperating with parents further depletes the money available to ensure that all students are educated properly.

Before going to the polls, voters deserve to know how School Board Candidates will approach the education of the District's most vulnerable students. To assist, I sent each of the candidates who are registered with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission for the 2024 election the following five questions:

• Question 1: If you were on the Board, would you sponsor and work for the passage of the proposed "Improving Special Education Within the LAUSD" resolution?
• Question 2: Have you signed the petition supporting the proposed "Improving Special Education Within the LAUSD" resolution?
• Question 3: Federal funding to provide Special Education services is based on the size of the total student body, not the number of students receiving services. Therefore, charter schools benefit financially by discouraging the enrollment of these students as they receive the same amount of funding without having to pay the costs of providing the services. Not surprisingly, the data shows that charter schools as a whole enroll a smaller percentage of children with Special Education needs than their public school counterparts. As a Board Member, would you look for ways to recoup the costs from charter schools that have below-average enrollment of students with Special Education needs?
• Question 4: Will you have a member of your staff dedicated to supporting families with Special Education needs?
• Question 5: As a Board member will you ensure that the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is able to act independently of District staff so that it can provide you with feedback that is truly reflective of what the Special Education community is experiencing?

To avoid any misunderstanding in the interpretation of the answers, each of the candidates was asked to specify “Yes,” “No” or “No Commitment” for each of the questions. These answers are summarized in the following charts:

Note: Daniel Lee specifies that the staff member dedicated to supporting families with Special Education needs “may also have additional duties.”

Note: Incumbent Scott Schmerelson did not return the questionnaire, but his office has said that “it is not feasible for the District to pursue” passage of the resolution.

The candidates were also encouraged to elaborate further on their answers to each question and were allowed to express further thoughts on the subject beyond the scope of the questions I asked. These more detailed answers can be found in the following articles:

Board District 1:

• DeWayne Davis

Board District 3:

• Andreas Farmakalidis

Board District 5:

• Fidencio Joel Gallardo

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.