L.A. Unified School District 1 election: Al-Alim vs. Hendy Newbill voter guide

The contest for the District 1 seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education matches Sherlett Hendy Newbill, an educator with extensive high school experience, against Kahllid Al-Alim, a longtime community activist and parent.

The winner will replace George McKenna, who is retiring after a long career as an educator and as a school board member since 2014.

The seven-member school board sets policy for the nation’s second-largest school district, which educates about 420,000 students a year and employs some 74,000 teachers, administrators and other staff. The school board is accountable for the district’s $18.4-billion budget. Members also hire and evaluate the superintendent.

Where is the district?

District 1 takes in an area that runs west from Koreatown to Mid-City, with one leg stretching to the Westside as far as Palms and another into Baldwin Hills and South L.A.

What is the big picture?

McKenna, the outgoing board member, has been strongly supported by the teachers union — in part because he was unbeatable at the ballot box — and he welcomed the support. But he was still regarded as largely independent. In recent years, McKenna has become more hands-off, trusting the superintendent in charge. But as the district’s only Black board member, he has continued to assert himself on measures to help Black students and to promote school safety by supporting school police.

Hendy Newbill is widely seen as sharing most of McKenna’s policy priorities.

For years, Al-Alim was essentially inseparable on major policy matters from the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles. This alignment was a key factor in the union’s early endorsement of him and the heavy campaign spending on his behalf leading up to the March primary election.

The union dropped its support for Al-Alim, however, after he came under fire for social media activity in which he liked or reposted content that was antisemitic, glamorized guns or celebrated pornographic images, actions that appear to have taken place from eight years ago to October 2023.

But the union’s massive early spending helped propel Al-Alim into the runoff. Among seven candidates in the primary, he finished second to Hendy Newbill.

No significant outside spending has flowed into this race since the primary. At the start of the election cycle, Hendy Newbill was regarded by many of her supporters as a strong candidate who had virtually no chance of winning because no well-heeled outside group or donor was spending on her behalf. Now she is widely expected to cruise into office.

The information about the candidates was compiled through a questionnaire sent to them by The Times, follow-up emails and conversations with the candidates. The content was supplemented with material from campaign websites and from statements at public campaign forums. Candidates also had the opportunity to provide updated input after the primary.

Who are the candidates?

Kahllid Al-Alim

Al-Alim has not responded to recent attempts to contact him directly, nor has his campaign manager from the primary responded. The information below was gathered before the primary election in March.

Age: 57

Occupation: Janitorial worker for the city of Los Angeles

Political party: Democratic Party

Experience: A founding member of Reclaim Our Schools L.A., a coalition of parents, students, educators, labor and community organizations that is closely allied with the United Teachers Los Angeles. Also a longtime member of LAUSD’s task force on African American achievement and Advanced Placement and a leader on the Hyde Park Neighborhood Council, Al-Alim said his work as an Army medic from 1985 until 2001 led him “to be deeply critical of war and military recruitment in schools.”

Quote: “We need to support the whole student and their families: This includes investing in mental health, the Black Student Achievement Plan, green technology and environmental justice, and supporting LGBTQIA+ and immigrant students.”

Website: The website for this campaign, kahllidforschoolboard.com, appears to be inactive.

Sherlett Hendy Newbill

Age: 51

Occupation: Senior aide to George McKenna, the retiring District 1 school board member

Political party: Democratic Party

Experience: Before joining McKenna’s staff recently, served variously at Dorsey High School since 1998 as a P.E. and psychology teacher, girls’ basketball head coach, athletic director and dean of students. Also active in the teachers union, and the mother of sixth- and fourth-graders attending L.A. Unified schools.

Quote: “Consistency among staff and administrators would result in a stable community, creating a sense of security and confidence. This confidence and community can translate into improved academic performance.”

Website: www.sherlett.com

Where do they stand on the issues?

The Times asked each candidate to explain their priorities and stances on key district issues.

Most of the answers below were compiled before the primary, but candidates were invited to update these responses and to respond to two new questions we asked — about their positions on L.A. Unified’s school bond and about the district’s handling of funds from voter-approved Proposition 28, intended to increase arts instruction.

The answers are summarized or lightly edited for length or clarity.

What are your priorities?

Al-Alim: To “expand student wellness and support,” including through the district’s special program for Black students, mental health services, class size reduction and special support for “unhoused youth, immigrant students and communities, LGBTQIA students and staff.” Al-Alim also wants to “protect and expand recent victories” such as establishing expanded family services and community input at schools through the community schools effort.

Hendy Newbill: Supporting policies and programs that improve academic achievement for marginalized students, especially Black students and students with disabilities. Expanding apprenticeship programs, with an eye toward improving student achievement and attendance as well as graduating qualified workers.

What is your evaluation of Supt. Alberto Carvalho?

Al-Alim: “Supt. Carvalho has made a number of unilateral decisions on matters that should have been made with input from students, families and educators,” Al-Alim said, adding: “Too often, the board sits on its hands and lets the superintendent determine the direction for the district. We need to be visionary.”

Hendy Newbill: “It is a great pleasure to have someone with prior experience as a superintendent,” Hendy Newbill said. However, she said she would be watchful that he follows through with the commitments of his strategic plan.

What is your evaluation of retiring incumbent George McKenna?

Al-Alim: Board District 1 “needs a board member that doesn’t talk down to children and families ... a board member that is visionary around issues facing Black education,” someone willing to get their “hands dirty by working with educators and families and communities to make our schools the best schools in the district,” Al-Alim said. “The incumbent has not done that.”

Hendy Newbill: She pledged to continue McKenna’s work supporting schools that provide family services and academic and social support for Black students. She said she also wants to continue her boss’ push for free public transportation for students and for starting additional sports analytics clubs at schools to cultivate data science skills. She praised him as empathizing with parents, teachers, coaches, administrators and alumni.

What is your position on charter schools?

Al-Alim: “I plan to fight any form of privatization of public education,” Al-Alim said, including challenging the sharing of district-operated campuses with charter schools. “LAUSD faces a decrease in enrollment. This means decreased funding and resources for students,” he said. “We need to invest more into the schools that currently exist rather than further drain their resources by expanding the number of charter schools.”

Hendy Newbill: The district needs to evaluate how sharing campuses has helped or hurt traditional public schools, Hendy Newbill said, adding that new restrictions on when charters can share district-run campuses are “a start of accountability that is far overdue for our public/charter partnership.” She also supports a moratorium on approving new charters.

What is your position on school police and how would you keep schools safe? Would you restore officers to campuses or eliminate police?

Al-Alim: “I believe in reimagining policing,” Al-Alim said, adding that school safety, as a top priority, can be achieved through such efforts as safe passages to and from school, the Black Student Achievement Plan, mental health supports, schools with family supports and specialists who work to improve the school climate. “I have been disappointed that the district has been slow to fully implement programs like these,” he said.

Hendy Newbill: “School police should be an option to any school’s comprehensive safety plan, if the stakeholders of that school so desire,” she said, calling for keeping “the funding necessary for school police to function at an optimal level” and putting “safety first.”

What is your position on the $9-billion bond measure the school board has placed on the November ballot?

Al-Alim: No response.

Hendy Newbill: “I agree with the need for a bond because of the conditions of the schools and many schools that are over 100 years old. One of the key areas in our schools is the need for upgrades and retrofitting sites. We also have many sites without working air conditioning, poor technology and lack of green space. This is very important, especially during this election cycle, but not to increase the cost to our taxpayers.”

How well has the school district managed Proposition 28 funds for increased arts education? What is your response to allegations that the district misused these funds for other purposes?

Al-Alim: No response.

Hendy Newbill: “It is a challenging issue to address when the public is not able to review where the dollars have been spent. As a parent and local candidate, I am interested in learning more about where the funds went and how they were used. Once I have that information, I will be able to make an appropriate assessment.”