A Small Win for the Big Budget Reformists This Election

On March 5th the voters of Los Angles spoke and they said they wanted to keep Steve Zimmer despite the enormous effort from the big budget reformists (The Coalition for School Reform and co.) to oust him. Zimmer managed to win district 4 with 52% of the votes against Kate Anderson, the coalition’s main interest this election. Their other candidate, Monica Garcia of district 2, won with 56% of the votes. While they would have liked Antonio Sanchez to win in district 6 he will participate in a runoff come May 21 to determine his position on the board.  

For all the hoopla and attention surrounding this election nothing major actually changed. The gridlock against the two sides (Coalition vs. UTLA) may just have to continue over the next four years.

It is no surprise that Garcia was able to win in her district. She has been board president for two terms and is quite popular with the people. Although the UTLA has voiced dissatisfaction with Garcia their president Warren Fletcher stated, “We’vehad definite differences with Monica Garcia’s vision for LAUSD. But… we have,despite not seeing eye to eye, worked with her on several issues. We’re readyto work with her for the next four years.”

The big battle took place in district 4 where Zimmer held his ground against the Coalition. The Coalition is comprised of LAUSD superintendent John Deasy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and other big names that support punitive accountability using test scores and the Charter movement such as NYC Mayor Bloomberg and Michelle Rhee. They have deep pockets and a financial stake in the Charter movement’s success. LAUSD is the second largest district in the country and therefore an essential part of their agenda. They spent more than $4 million on their three candidates this election. They spent $1 million alone on Garcia while the runner up raised a mere $20,000. The bulk of their money went towards supporting Anderson because they wanted Zimmer gone at all costs.

The Coalition took issue with Zimmer once it became clear that they could not control him. As an independent Zimmer had openly questioned the lack of oversight of charter schools which obviously threaten the Coalition. Of the seven board members about three already had intentions to get rid of Deasy. Zimmer was a wildcard. He could possibly provide the last vote to fire Deasy when the time came which would jeopardize the bulk of the Coalition’s influence over LAUSD. Zimmer had to go. In his place they offered up Kate Anderson the former congressional staffer and corporate lawyer and mother of twins.

At the end of the day their money could not save them. In fact it may have been their money that cost them the election. Vice president of the UTLA, Gregg Solkovits, postulated that, ““People don’t like it when out-of-state billionaires decide they can interfere with races when it’s a local issue.” TheCoalition received $1 million from Mayor Bloomberg, $340,000 from the California Charter Schools Assn., $250,000 from an organization led by former District of Columbia schools chancellor Michelle Rhee and $250,000 from a New York-based subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It’s possible that voters were upset that people with no children in the schools and no ties to the community were fighting hard to make decisions in it.

Zimmer on the other hand was a man of the people from the beginning. He started out in the grassroots and people remember that. Zimmer displayed his true desire to help the children of LAUSD. He strongly supports the arts and the pursuit of an innovate curriculum. His personal connection to the community which he serves is the main reason he was able to win his district.

During the campaign there was much mudslinging from both the coalition and the UTLA. Although Zimmer has never stated outright his desire to see Deasy go some now believe he has a reason to. Zimmer announced that he will continue to cooperate with Deasy for the benefit of the children.