The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region this week announced its endorsement of Jackie Goldberg who is a candidate for the special general election for Los Angeles Unified Board of Education District 5 set for March 5, 2019.
Goldberg is a lifelong activist with a long record of public service. A former teacher who served in the California State Assembly, Goldberg was elected to the LAUSD Board of Education in 1983 where she served for two terms. Her leadership was instrumental in creating a districtwide K-12 dual language (bilingual) education program, creating and implementing a secondary peace curriculum, establishing on-campus health clinics, improving curriculum in reading, math and science, fostering policies that helped the District overcome an acute teacher shortage, successfully building new schools and additions to begin to address multi-track calendars and other overcrowding issues, and developing school-based management to create accountability and ownership for teachers and administrators at each school site.
In the 1990s, Goldberg was elected to the 13th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council representing Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Glassell Park, Historic Filipinotown, Hollywood, Little Armenia, Mid-Wilshire/Koreatown, Thai Town and Silver Lake. She was responsible for getting the city to approve the designation of Little Armenia. During her time as a California State Assemblymember, Goldberg also supported the grassroots efforts of the ANCA-WR to pass the Trade Office Bill in 2002, whose goal was to establish a California Regional Trade Office in the Republic of Armenia to facilitate trade and commerce between the two entities. After the devastating earthquake in Armenia in 1988, Goldberg collected donations from students and personally delivered the generous aid to quake-ravaged areas in Armenia.
As a part of this endorsement process, the ANCA-WR Board worked in conjunction with its Education Committee and local chapter constituents to carefully review Goldberg’s track record. An interview was then conducted where it became obvious that Goldberg’s long-standing affinity toward the Armenian community and issues of importance to it remains steadfast. For this reason, the ANCA-WR proudly endorses Jackie Goldberg for LAUSD District 5 and urges our community to turn out to vote for her.
LAUSD District 5 begins Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Echo Park, curves through Highland Park and Eagle Rock, then slices down through a sliver of El Sereno into the southeast cities of Vernon, Huntington Park and South Gate.
Anyone who needs assistance with mail-in ballots or voter information, please contact the ANCA-WR office at 818-500-1918.
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a broad range of issues.