At the official opening yesterday afternoon of Claudia Vizcarra’s campaign for the School Board, there was a rare stars-alignment moment that seldom occurs in any campaign anywhere:
Ms. Vizcarra has declared her intentions with such resonating bell-clarity that, if she wins one of three available seats on Nov. 5, an almost randomly selected supporter could deliver her victory speech.
Today, it will be Ms. Vizcarra’s turn, and in the next installment, her enthusiastic chorus will speak out.
Even more striking than the amazing coordination of her message is her appearance – a wisp of a woman whose evident daintiness sharply contrasts with the wide-range appeal of her rudimentary themes.
Every man and woman interviewed said that Ms. Vizcarra’s commitment to equity in education was the magnet to her candidacy.
“I am fortunate,” she said because I have worked for one School Board member (Steve Zimmer) and one (Los Angeles) City Council member (Jackie Goldberg) who have taught me the value of being an elected officer who represents everybody, for the most vulnerable in our society.
“Also, they have taught me the value of our public institutions. Now the question before all of us is, How are we going to preserve our public education system? Our public schools are where we place our trust, the space where we level the playing field. If we are not doing that, we are not succeeding, not meeting our goals.
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Claudia Vizcarra only symbolically had her back to the wall yesterday, observing the large turnout at her launching. Photos, Antonio Ezkauriatza.
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Striving for Equality
“We need to make up the differences that we know children come in with. When they come to our schools, our task is to try and create opportunities for them so that when they come out, they come out as close to similar as possible, so they will all have the same opportunities.”
A first-time campaigner with a cleanly chiseled platform, she opened her address at the Coolidge Avenue event by reaching into the crowd for volunteers to aid her 57-day dash to the finish line against six rivals.
Two current School Board members, Karlo Silbiger, running for re-election, and Nancy Goldberg, who is in mid-term, came out to support Ms. Vizcarra. Two former Board members were in the audience, Barbara Honig and Stephen Schwartz.
After reviewing the standard reasons she is a candidate – parent, experience, vision – Ms. Vizcarra spoke of the “importance of this moment,” some ground-shaking curriculum and financing changes ordered by the state and federal governments. With years of exposure to and participation in government policies in her present position as chief of staff for LAUSD School Board member Steve Zimmer, she said she brings an uncommonly qualified perspective.
In response to a question, she said it will be seamless to transfer her mindset from LAUSD framework during the day to the Culver City Unified School District, especially since she is a parent here.
“Bottom line, it is about children in school and making sure that they come out inspired,” she said. “In the end, it is the same thing. The work that we are doing is the same.”
(To be continued)
