A well qualified outsider candidate deserves a chance.
Monica Ratliff has emerged as a viable outside candidate, having come in second place to the well-funded Antonio Sanchez. Ratliff's campaign spend ,000 to go up against Sanchez' million warchest, and got 34% of the vote against Sanchez' 49%.
She's got a great story, growing up poor and raised by a Mexican single mother, she got into Columbia Law, worked for the NAACP as an attorney, then quit lawyering to become a schoolteacher in one of the poorest areas of Los Angeles.
She has legitimacy because, of all the schools in her area, hers is the one pulling down the best scores, and getting a "5" on the greatschools website. Unfortunately, the other schools typically get a 1 or 2 score.
People I trust are saying she's the real deal, and has come out against excessive standardized testing. How tough is that - to come out against testing when your school and students are doing well on these pointless tests.
Original: Monica Ratliff for School Board