Carl J. Petersen
Bio
Carl Petersen is a former Green Party candidate for the LAUSD School Board and a longtime advocate for public education and special needs families. Now based in Washington State, he writes about politics, culture, and their intersections.
Stories (328)
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The Budget That Cried Wolf: A School District's Endless Fiscal Cliff
“It’s clearly a budget. It’s got lots of numbers in it.” – George W. Bush The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is currently operating under a $11 billion ($11,000,000,000) general fund budget (per the second interim report). These funds not only cover teaching Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, but also provide critical services at neighborhood schools like maintaining facilities, after-school care, and delivering special education supports.
By Carl J. Petersen9 months ago in The Swamp
Pride Under Siege: The LAPD’s Troubled History With the LGBTQ+ Community
“I’ve got nothing against fags; that’s not what this is about.” – Attributed to LAPD Officer Skip Giuliani While thought of as a deep blue city, Los Angeles has elements of far-right extremism that betray its liberal electorate. This is especially true within its police force as displayed by its historical treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) spokesperson offered the following apology:
By Carl J. Petersen9 months ago in Pride
Deporting Children to Die Is Not Pro-Life
“Boy, these conservatives are really something, aren't they? They're all in favor of the unborn. They will do anything for the unborn. But once you're born, you're on your own. Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that, they don't want to know about you. They don't want to hear from you. No nothing. No neonatal care, no daycare, no Head Start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing.” – George Carlin
By Carl J. Petersen10 months ago in The Swamp
Public Funds, Private Loopholes: Neighborhood Council Questions Charter School's Plans
“The mission of CWC 4 is to provide a…learning environment that develops each individual student’s…individual responsibility as citizens of the world in which we live.” – Citizens of the World charter document
By Carl J. Petersen10 months ago in The Swamp
Do Charter School Students Deserve To Be Safe?
“Across Los Angeles Unified, we all want: Students who are safe…” – LAUSD’s Strategic Plan Even more important than providing students with a quality education, the LAUSD is responsible for ensuring the students attending schools within its borders are safe. This includes the public schools under the District and the charter schools it oversees. My concerns about the LAUSD's failures in this area were expressed during the public comment period of the School Safety and Climate Committee's meeting on May 22, 2025:
By Carl J. Petersen10 months ago in The Swamp
County School Board Punts
“Why is accountability too much to ask of charter schools?” – Steven Singer, Gadfly On The Wall Under AB 1505, the decision to uphold the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) vote to close down the Crete Academy Charter School should have been easy. Unfortunately, the unelected Board of the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) has a history of overlooking charter school failures. I, therefore, took the opportunity to remind them of their responsibilities to students and taxpayers before they considered the appeal of the Crete Academy Charter School on Tuesday, May 13, 2025:
By Carl J. Petersen11 months ago in The Swamp
Oops
“F*ck you with the freest of speech this Divided States of Embarrassment will allow me to have!” – Eminem The CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo) mega-prison in El Salvador is the type of place America used to condemn. As the leader of the free world, we were supposed to be against a prison whose occupants are purposely dehumanized, confined to 100-person cells for 23½ hours a day, with lights always on. We were supposed to be against making people disappear into this type of hellhole, losing contact with their families for the rest of their lives.
By Carl J. Petersen11 months ago in The Swamp
A Change of Rhythm
“Man plans, God laughs.” – Yiddish proverb My co-workers and I thought we were gathering for the facility-wide “communication meeting” held periodically throughout the year. The area was noisy as workers from different lines and shifts greeted each other. When someone we did not know stepped up to the microphone instead of our plant’s leader, it was the first sign that something was off.
By Carl J. Petersen12 months ago in Beat
