LAUSD Candidate Janie Dam on Governance

“The Board may need to develop more specific employment guidelines and evaluation rubrics for the position of Superintendent; and may need to engage teachers, school administrators and parents in the process.”

– BD3 Candidate Janie Dam

Janie Dam’s candidacy for LAUSD’s Board District 3 has suffered a setback with the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office ruling that the signatures she submitted to appear on the ballot were insufficient. However, Dr. Dam is appealing this decision as she indicated in the following statement:

“Some time next week the window will open for me to get an appointment with City Clerk staff to review all the rules applied in validating or challenging each of the nearly 1000 signatures that I submitted.

I am also conducting an investigation based on reports from supporters that someone might have been organizing a scam or prank against my campaign in certain neighborhoods during the signature collection window.

I can of course also decide to run as a write-in candidate. My team is also prepared with a strategy for this option.”

As she awaits the results of her appeal, I will continue to publish her responses in the ongoing Candidate Forum series. She has already provided answers to questions about PROP-39 Co-Locations. This month the five questions centered around how the District is governed. For the introduction to this subject along with answers from other candidates, please see the article LAUSD Candidate Forum: Governance.

The following are the candidate’s responses, printed exactly how she provided them with the exception of some minor formatting edits:

• Would you agree with the statement: “The elected LAUSD Board is responsible for setting policy. The job of the Superintendent is to ensure that the bureaucracy follows this policy.”? YES

It is the responsibility of the Board to hire the right person for the job of Superintendent and to ensure that there is a cost-effective way to terminate the district’s contract with a failing Superintendent. One of the Board’s main goals should be to avoid the disruption of student learning by workers union walkouts triggered by the action or inaction of a Superintendent. Board members as a team should remain hands-on, and should purposely keep themselves and each other consistently apprised of happenings around the district. They should remain visibly responsive when there is a crisis, especially one involving the Superintendent that they hired. The Mayor should not need to step in to resolve conflicts.

• Do you agree with the statement: “The bureaucracy of the LAUSD is too big to be managed effectively.”? NO

If I thought the district weren’t manageable, I wouldn’t be running. I would say that the district chronically lacks the bureaucratic leadership necessary to efficiently deliver the desired student outcomes.

• Do you think that the evaluation of the Superintendent’s job performance is something that the school board should do in full view of the public? YES

The executive assessment should be transparent. The Board may need to develop more specific employment guidelines and evaluation rubrics for the position of Superintendent; and may need to engage teachers, school administrators and parents in the process.

• Should the number of Board Districts be increased beyond the existing seven? NO

Based on my experience with governing boards, 7 is a good tie-breaking odd number that’s not too small or too large. However, I would suggest more support for improved joint management among the 7 members. I would even suggest the idea of bi-partisan or multi-party 7-member slates running in School Board elections.

• If elected would you introduce the proposed “Board Meeting Accessibility to the Public” resolution? YES

I would further recommend that a Board-sponsored Web3 platform be developed to unite all educational stakeholders and partners in an asynchronous, interactive, democratic governance model. This platform can empower everyone in the LAUSD community to safely speak up, collaborate, make policy proposals and vote on policy proposals.

To provide you with a concrete example of a blockchain-powered Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), my students and I successfully piloted and field tested The School DAO platform last school year. On this journey I had the wonderful opportunity to introduce to kids in grades 9-12 a re-purposing of the advanced technologies behind cryptocurrencies to positively transform public education and school governance. In addition, the experience fostered deep discussions around the role of feasibility studies in prudent policy-making. It was both cathartic and eye-opening for my students as they drafted and debated on proposals regarding cell phone use, campus bathrooms and the school dress code.

____________________________

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.