I warmly, heartily, enthusiastically endorse Scott Schmerelson for re-election to the LAUSD board, representing District 3. I have known Scott since he was first elected in 2015, and I admire his dedication to the children, families, and educators of the schools in his district. He is a steadfast champion of public schools.

It was Scott who told me in 2019 that 80% of the charter schools in Los Angeles had empty seats. When I saw him a year ago, he told me that the percentage of vacant seats is even higher now.

The best way to introduce Scott, aside from expressing my heartfelt admiration for him, is to post his story, which appears on his website. No razzle-dazzle here: just an experienced and dedicated educator who wants to work to make the schools better for all children. Here is his campaign website.

Scott Schmerelson knew when he graduated from high school that he wanted to become a teacher. The first member of his family to attend college, he graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Foreign Language Education and soon began his career as a high school Spanish teacher in Philadelphia. In 1978, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the LAUSD family.

Scott’s commitment and service to the children of LAUSD began with 12 years at Virgil Middle School as a teacher, school counselor and Assistant Principal. He later became an Assistant Principal at Griffith Middle School in East Los Angeles for 5 years and the Principal at Lawrence Middle School in Chatsworth for 5 years. Scott retired as Principal of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Middle School in South Los Angeles after 10 years of leadership that included significantly improving test scores, a deteriorated physical plant, and student, teacher and parent morale.

After almost four decades in the classroom, and school counseling and administration, Scott could not envision a retirement that did not include continuing to advocate for the future of public education in the second largest school district in the United States. In 2014, at the urging of colleagues and community members, Scott decided that he could make a difference for kids and for our neighborhood public schools, which he considers the heart of our communities, by running for School Board.

On July 1, 2015, Scott Mark Schmerelson took the oath of office as the duly elected LA Unified School Board Member representing Board District 3. He was re-elected on November 3, 2020.

Scott has been a proud member of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, United Teachers Los Angeles, and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. He also served as the treasurer of the Middle Schools Principals’ Association and is currently the treasurer of the Cuban-American Teachers’ Association. He is a member of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and served a two-year term as President of ACSA Region 16. He is past Executive Director of Region 16 which encompasses the entire Los Angeles Unified School District.

If you live in School District 1 in Los Angeles, please cast your vote for Scott Schmerelson!