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LA school board president elected to 2nd term



Richard Vladovic
Richard Vladovic
via vladovic.laschoolboard.org

Richard Vladovic was elected by fellow board members Tuesday to a second term as president of the Los Angeles Unified School District board.

There was no discussion of Vladovic's track record nor his plans for the coming school year. The whole thing took less than three minutes and Tamar Galatzan was the only no vote.

Vladovic guided the board in a year of major changes: the switch to Common Core, the start of the district's one-to-one iPad technology program, a waiver from No Child Left Behind and a move to a new state funding stream aimed at high need students.

The school board pledges all of the reforms will improve academic outcomes for students. 

A former Social Studies teacher and administrator, Vladovic has served on the board since 2007, representing San Pedro, Gardena, Carson and surrounding areas. He replaced Monica Garcia as president last July. 

The district launched an investigation last year into allegations he sexually harassed an employee. The results remain confidential.

Vladovic also came under fire when he sought to end board member Monica Ratliff's committee investigating the iPad purchase and related technology expansion. The Common Core Technology Project Ad Hoc Committee continued to meet, uncovering problems with the software loaded on to each device. It will soon be folded into Ratliff's Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Committee.

Vladovic is often a swing vote on the school board, bridging the deeply divided politics of its members. The board is often split into two camps: the labor allies and those pushing for relaxed labor protections and other reforms.

The board lost a reliable union vote after the unexpected death of sitting board member Marguerite LaMotte last year.

At it's meeting last week, the board discussed delaying the vote for board president until the an August runoff election determines LaMotte's replacement, but an attorney for the district advised against it.