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LAUSD Board Member Jackie Goldberg to retire
Los Angeles Aug 01, 2023
Jackie Goldberg. | Photo courtesy of Jackie Goldberg's Office
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Jackie Goldberg, who began her political career on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, announced Tuesday that her career will end in the same place.
Goldberg, 78, said she will not seek re-election to another term on the board, to which she returned in 2019 after stints on the Los Angeles City Council and in the state Assembly. Her term ends in December 2024.
“It’s been the honor of my life to advocate for children,” Goldberg said in a statement. “I got into this work, starting with teaching, because I wanted the best educational experience for teachers and students everywhere. LAUSD is filled with the most astounding, remarkable, inspiring kids, and they are taught and supported by teachers and staff who fight hard every day for them.
“Unfortunately, the hard truth is that there isn’t enough money for our kids. When I first started teaching in the late 1960s, California was one of the top states in the country in per-student spending. Today, we’re 33rd in the nation. Our students deserve better. As a state, we must do better. We must commit ourselves to long-term solutions to get them what they need.”
After nearly two decades as a teacher, Goldberg was elected to the LAUSD board in 1983 and worked to implement a districtwide dual-language education program and build more schools to address classroom overcrowding.
She won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1994, becoming that panel’s first openly gay member. Among other efforts, she worked to revitalize Hollywood and develop a living-wage ordinance for municipal employees.
Goldberg moved to the state Assembly in 2000, serving three terms, which included serving as chair of the Assembly Education Committee. She later became a faculty adviser at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and she chaired Mayor Eric Garcetti’s City Targeted Local Hire Working Group that worked to secure entry-level municipal jobs for veterans, the disabled, transgender individuals, formerly homeless or incarcerated people and those living in high-poverty areas.
She returned to the LAUSD board in 2019, and currently serves as the board chair.
“I’ll miss all of this — the students, and the people who care for them — more than I can say,” Goldberg said.
