Dear friends and partners,

It’s a sad moment in our national politics when the behavior we saw in the Presidential debate wouldn’t be tolerated in our classrooms. If you were similarly disheartened by this week’s spectacle, please make sure you are registered to vote, that you’ve completed the Census, and take a look at a few other ways you can help protect our democracy.

Closer to home, the good news is that there’s good news, too. LA County COVID-19 cases continue to fall, and the Board of Supervisors voted this week to begin allowing 30 schools per week to apply for limited waivers for resuming in-person or hybrid K-2 instruction. While LA Unified is still not quite ready to reopen our campuses, this is an encouraging sign for our efforts to safely expand childcare access and small group instruction for our highest need students. We will continue preparing campuses and advancing our widespread testing and contact tracing program in order to get our students and staff back in the classroom as soon as we can do so safely.

We’ve also been hosting a series of virtual town halls to discuss LA Unified’s new “Community of Schools” model, share resources, and answer questions for our families. Our sixth town hall, for the West LA area, is coming up on Monday, Oct. 5, at 6pm, and we’ll be joined by Rep. Ted Lieu in addition to District leaders, elected officials, and community partners. Click here to RSVP!

Up in Sacramento, California's legislative session is wrapping up. While this annual bill marathon almost always brings a mix of exciting and disappointing news, the Governor did sign numerous bills that benefit our school communities, including one we have been advocating for that would help us better utilize District assets and support our goal to create 2,000 new units of affordable housing for teachers. 

I hope you will join me in making sure your voice is heard as this election approaches. I’ll keep advocating for the needs of our school communities at every level of government. Our kids are the future, and the future can’t come soon enough.

We’re still all in this together, apart.