Los Angeles has an important school board election coming up on March 5.

The esteemed school board President, Jackie Goldberg, is retiring, leaving her seat open in District 5.

Five candidates are running for the seat, and one stands out: Fidencio Gallardo.

Gallardo is an experienced educator who has worked in LAUSD for 35 years as a middle school English teacher (18 years), a high school English teacher (9 years), an assistant principal (3 years), an adult school teacher (3 years), and as a deputy to board member Jackie Goldberg for the past four years.

He is also the Mayor of Bell, California. And an Adjunct Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Cal State, LA. Whew!

As you might surmise, he is a highly accomplished professional who has devoted his life to educating young people.

Gallardo has been endorsed by Jackie Goldberg, who is one of my personal heroes. I met Fidencio on a Zoom fundraiser where I offered my personal endorsement based on his stellar record.

And he was also endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, which interviewed all the candidates.

Here are a few excerpts:

Of the four candidates running, Gallardo articulates the clearest vision for improving student achievement and well-being in the wake of the pandemic. And his breadth of experience puts him the best position to actually get things done.

Gallardo said he plans to prioritize student literacy and achievement, which along with attendance, has suffered tremendously since the pandemic. He would continue the important work of greening school campuses that are asphalt-laden hot spots and detrimental to children’s health and learning.

His most recent teaching experience as an 11th-grade English Language Arts instructor at South Gate High School gives him insight into the best ways that the school board can allocate resources to help students struggling with reading.

Gallardo is appropriately critical of some decisions by district leaders in recent years. That includes Carvalho’s move to replace the successful Primary Promise program that helps elementary school students struggling with reading and math with a new program that includes middle school students, and the board’s 2021 decision to remove school police from campuses without a clear plan to keep students safe.

Gallardo said he will push for more unarmed school safety officers so that every campus has someone consistently responsible for keeping students safe, and for giving individual schools greater discretion over what type of safety personnel are on their campuses. It’s middle-ground positions like these, that seem reasonable but are at odds with UTLA, that could be a good indication of what to expect from Gallardo on the board.

He also wants to see more educational support for kids during their critical middle school years, including more one-on-one instruction.

Please vote for Fidencio Gallardo in District 5!