Ahead of the June primary election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
Name: Ankur Patel
Current job title: Teacher / Outreach Director
Age: 41
Incumbent: No
Other political positions held: None
City where you reside: Tarzana
Campaign website or social media: ankurforchange.com
How should LAUSD address declining enrollment and long-term budget challenges while protecting student programs and classroom instruction? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
Build trust. Without accountability and transparency, parents, voters and community members don’t believe the district is spending taxpayer dollars wisely. Angelenos want to invest in public education, but that support is redirected toward the priorities of district leadership, rather than parents, community and voters who want to see specific educational opportunities for our students.
This is causing a ripple effect throughout the system, most notably a decrease in enrollment as parents actively look for alternatives they trust with their children’s future. With demographic and regional factors as well, we have to have a plan for closing certain schools, which the district is working on. My ideas around those plans would involve using school sites to provide child care and community services.
The district has many high-performing schools and programs that have wait lists, but if selective parents don’t get into those few programs, they go elsewhere. We must focus on earning enrollment back from private schools, homeschooling and independent charter schools by expanding successful programs, creating new ones that draw parents back to public schools and improving the quality of instruction. Genuine community input is needed to allow us to transition our public school system through these turbulent times.
What steps would you take to improve academic performance and reduce achievement gaps across the district? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
District-wide, social promotion lowers the quality of education. Advanced learners find alternative programs, while parents who can move their kids do so. We have many students entering middle school who are grades behind and will be pushed through middle school and into high school, where they manage their way to a diploma without foundational literacy or numeracy. The best way to raise academic performance system-wide is to hold more kids back at the elementary level.
Conversely, we should take a school-by-school approach in District 4, meeting students and schools where they are. We support, grow and expand feeder patterns, building on the many successful magnets, gifted and dual language immersion programs across our district. Introducing new community-driven programs where there are none. We support special education programs and streamline Individualized Education Plans, and earn parent buy-in. We invest in experiential learning, field trips and hands-on opportunities. We continue developing clear career pathways, vocational training and technical education. Every child should leave school with practical life skills, financial literacy and the confidence to manage money, work and responsibility in the real world. When kids care about their education and are invested, academic performance improves.
How would you address teacher hiring and retention while ensuring strong outcomes for students? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
We need to bring respect back to the education profession, and that starts with fair compensation and critical thinking. Class size starts with teachers, but includes both credentialed and non-credentialed personnel with rosters and caseloads. If we don’t retain good teachers and invest in people at the school site, nothing else works.
Fair pay will lead to smaller caseloads and class sizes, as we rebalance the district from a top-heavy bureaucracy toward one focused on direct instruction and student interaction. A great teacher at a well-supported school, which has a full-time nurse who can proactively support health and wellness, a full-time librarian, counselors, social workers, matters more than any app, product or new teaching method.
How will you help young students who struggle with reading? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
I am a strong advocate for full-time librarians, especially at elementary schools. We need to rebuild a culture of reading, not scrolling. Every school has a library designed and meant to be a haven for reading. Instead of reinventing the book, let’s partner with the Los Angeles Public Library system in a more thoughtful and systemic way.
Primary Promise was a successful intervention and support program for readers in grades K-3. It proved that targeted early intervention takes money, but it also works. With the goal of building foundational reading skills, a teacher plus aide model allows an effective combination of small group learning and individualized attention. This needs to be brought back and expanded.
Finally, I believe that social promotion, just pushing kids to the next grade level even if they aren’t at grade level, is harmful and is best addressed at the elementary level. When kids are reading three or four grade levels behind, we can not move them into middle school unless they have foundational literacy and numeracy.
What role should the board play in overseeing the superintendent and ensuring accountability for district performance? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)
Holding the superintendent accountable and providing oversight of that office is a crucial responsibility that board members, especially my incumbent opponent, have difficulty with. Holding individuals accountable within the existing structures requires clarity, consistency and transparency. Board policies must be tied to clear outcomes and metrics, not vague goals. Success has to be measured and evaluated at set time intervals. Keyboard policies require regular, structured reporting from the superintendent’s office and staff. Most importantly, there should be public feedback and public transparency around implementation in real time, not delayed updates months later without accountability.
While suspended Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has built a national profile, there are serious concerns about governance, transparency and stakeholder trust. In light of the current federal investigation, placing Mr. Carvalho on administrative leave is appropriate while the investigation unfolds. District decisions often lack openness. The board must ensure full transparency when it can.
Finally, the consolidation of power within the superintendent’s office, notably fewer local districts, has reduced local input and created a more entrenched and rigid bureaucracy. The board can address the growing disconnect between district decisions and parents, educators, and school-site leaders with active public oversight of the superintendent.