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Some USC students who voted in the California primary elections for LAUSD school board seats said they weren’t familiar with who they were voting for — they did, however, know the issues they cared about.
They cited greater access to mental health services, showcasing LGBTQ+ voices and financially supporting communities of color as steps that LAUSD should take.
USC is located inside LAUSD School Board District 1 which also includes the Mid-City, Crenshaw, Arlington Heights and Westmont neighborhoods.
LAUSD is the second largest public school district in the country, with over half a million students in its schools. The school board has seven seats and four of them are up for election this year.
There are seven candidates vying for the District 1 school board seat — the most out of any district this election.
“It’s hard to get through and there’s so many things to vote on,” said Jack O’Neil, a freshman majoring in political science. “It’s hard to be really well informed about them all.”
Candidate Kahllid Al-Alim has recently come under fire for his past social media activity in which he liked a post promoting teaching children anti-semitic content. Teachers’ unions have spent thousands of dollars on his campaign, but United Teachers Los Angeles decided to revoke their endorsement during an emergency meeting Monday night, according to the LA Times.
“That’s bad,” O’Neil said. “I mean, I’m glad I didn’t vote for him.”
O’Neil voted for DeWayne Davis, who was a teacher for 29 years before becoming a principal and then an educational strategist. He aims to create a “quality education program” that ensures students can adapt to life after school.
“Just when I looked up all the candidates, he just won,” O’Neil said. “He seemed genuine.”
The school board is responsible for hiring and firing the superintendent, overseeing the budget, resolving any disputes and voting on any charter school that wishes to open in LA.
Hayley Block, a sophomore majoring in non-governmental organizations and social change, supports adding more charter schools to LAUSD. While she couldn’t recall who she voted for, she knows what issues she’d like to see addressed by the school board — financial reallocation.
Block said more funding should be allocated to communities of color and that having more charter schools will result in LAUSD being able to devote more resources to lower-income families.
Block also said that schools in more affluent areas get better funding and more resources, which she feels is unnecessary because those schools already receive “community resources.”
Jacy DeVault, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said she decides who to vote for based on information she’s found online and through the opinions of her friends. DeVault said that LAUSD should be initiating conversations with students surrounding mental health and the LGBTQ+ community.
“I think a lot of the issues that Republicans kinda talk about is they want to weaponize a lack of knowledge,” DeVault said. “I think the more you learn about different things then the more you can sympathize with other people and so I think that … learning about LGBTQ rights or mental health rights is good.”