Dr. George McKenna kicked off his re-election campaign for LAUSD School Board, District 1, Sunday, August 25th. Before an energetic and enthusiastic crowd, Dr. McKenna spoke of his intent to continue serving students and families in his district for a second term.
Mckenna said, “when I ran for school board in 2014 it was from a desire to continue my lifelong goal of improving education in our community to a higher level of student achievement.”
He spoke of his pride in some the many accomplishments that have been made:
- Increased graduation and college admission rates, particularly for low income and historically underachieving students;
- Initiated Board action to adopt a districtwide “Zero Drop Out” policy;
- Reduced student suspension rates in all schools;
- LAUSD Partner with SLATE-Z, The Schmidt Family Foundation, Metro, LA Promise Fund and MOVELA to pilot a free Dash to Class Transportation Program for K-12 students within LA County;
- Introduced state legislation to authorize first LAUSD gender separate public
- schools with a STEAM emphasis, (one male and one female), both in Board District 1;
- Initiated policies to support and increase small business vendor opportunities within the district; and
- Supported resources to lower class size, increase nurses, counselors and librarians, and maintain after school programs.
“There is still much work to be done” McKenna said. “the proficiency rate for math and English among Latino and African-American students is still too low, and while we have reduced absenteeism and suspensions, the achievement gap is still problematic for our community.”
McKenna spoke of his plan to address the achievement gap by working with a family of schools from elementary through high school, with an emphasis on middle schools. The funding needed to activate the plan is proving very elusive without the passage of Measure EE, which would have helped LAUSD provide a myriad of services to help our students achieve at higher levels. “Schools in our community can and must be adequately resourced to provide the exceptional education to which our students are entitled,” he said.
A partial list of Dr. McKenna’s endorsements consist of Congresswoman Karen Bass, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, State Senator Steve Bradford, Assembly member Sydney Kamlager Dove, Assembly member Mike Gipson, LA City Councilman Paul Koretz, LA School Board Members: Scott Schmerelson, Jackie Goldberg, and Dr. Richard Vladovic, Community Activist Tim Watkins, Pastor K.W. Tulloss, President of the Baptist Ministers Conference and SEIU Local 99.
To volunteer, endorse or donate to his campaign, please visit his website:
www.Mckenna2020.com. Email: [email protected] Or call (323) 238-6680
