District 7
“Our school district's most important responsibility,” she said on her website, “is to ensure more students are prepared to thrive in the college, career and life path of their choice.”
Gutierrez, meanwhile, has worked in the aerospace industry as an administrator and has been a public school teacher for more than 25 years.
She has two master's degrees from Cal State Dominguez Hills and a bachelor's from Pepperdine University. She has served on the Coastal SanPedro Neighborhood Council and is cochairperson for the California Teachers Association's legislative committee on adult, alternative and career technical education.
The San Pedro resident is the great-granddaughter of a Terminal Island cannery worker, the granddaughter of migrant farm workers and the daughter of a longshore worker.
Gutierrez has a multicultural bilingual teaching credential and lists her priorities as academic achievement, building fiscal responsibility and focusing on helping students become career ready and college bound. She also wants to create a strategic plan to “dramatically change how LAUSD does business” and improve academic success, according to her campaign website.
“I want our children to be successful in life,” Gutierrez said, “but without a quality education, they will not have a chance in today's competitive global economy.”
Los Angeles School Board District 7
CANDIDATES >> Tanya Ortiz Franklin (incumbent), Lydia Gutierrez.
TERM LENGTH >> 4 years.
DISTRICT BOUNDARIES >> South L.A., Watts, Gardena, Carson, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington and San Pedro.
KEY ISSUES >> Hiring quality staffers, budget decisions, and student safety and success.
2024 presidential primary election
ELECTION DAY >> March 5. Polls close at 8 p.m.
EARLY VOTING >> You can vote at the Los Angeles County registrar's office beginning Monday, Feb. 5. The registrar's headquarters are at 12400 Imperial Highway, Room 3002, in Norwalk. That office is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.
VOTE-BY-MAIL >> Ballots began going out on Feb. 1. You can submit VBMs in three ways: by mailing them to the registrar's office (VBMs include return envelopes with the correct address and postage already included); by placing them in an official drop box; or by dropping them off at any county vote center.
VBM DEADLINE >> VBMs sent via mail must arrive no later than seven days after the election, but they must
be postmarked by March 5. The deadline to place VBMs in a drop box or deliver them to a vote center is 8 p.m. on Election Day. VOTE CENTERS >> Vote Centers open 10 days before Election Day. This year, that's Feb. 24. You can vote at any Vote Center in LosAngeles County. Prior to Election Day, the vote centers will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
On Election Day, they will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
ABOUT THE BALLOTS >> In California, the order races are listed on ballots goes from local to federal, meaning the nominees for president will be listed at the bottom. Except for presidential races, California's primaries for “partisan” offices — now known as “voter-nominated offices” have a top-two system. That means the top two vote getters in a given race advance to the general election, regardless of political party.
To find a drop box or Vote Center and for more information, go to lavote.gov.