Layla Avila Brings the Experience Necessary to Ensure that Every Student in the South Whittier School District Receives an Excellent Education

By Layla Avila

My experiences working with students, teachers and administrators in public schools make me uniquely qualified to serve as a Board of Trustees. I will continue to bring the same work ethic, passion and optimism that have driven my success, first as a teacher and now as Vice President of The New Teacher Project, to my work as a Board of Trustees of the South Whittier School District.

During the past ten years, I have worked with The New Teacher Project (TNTP), a national organization dedicated to ending the injustice of educational inequality by ensuring that poor and minority students get outstanding teachers. As the Vice President of The New Teacher Project, I oversee high-quality teacher recruitment and training programs in more than 20 of America's most challenged school districts with a staff of more than 90 and a $17 million budget. Each year, these programs bring approximately 3,000 top-quality teachers to schools serving high-poverty communities. I have overseen recruitment programs in the Compton Unified School District, the Los Angeles Unified School District, Denver Public Schools, and the Dallas Independent School District, focusing on aggressively recruiting outstanding individuals into teaching, selecting only the most qualified candidates to teach children, and training and supporting them in order to maximize their effectiveness in the classroom.

My work with The New Teacher Project is an extension of my professional efforts in education. While my current work focuses on partnering with school district administrators, my belief in the public schools stems from my experiences as a student and a teacher. Growing up as a public school student in one of the highest poverty neighborhoods of East Los Angeles, I benefited from the extraordinary commitment and drive of several teachers who saw my potential and ensured that I maximized my abilities. While we so often read stories of failing schools and teachers in low-income areas, my teachers and school administrators demonstrated that in all environments, students given opportunities can thrive. Because of several exceptional teachers, I graduated from Columbia University and later from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government with a focus on education policy.

After earning my Masters in Public Policy from Harvard, I felt an obligation to return to the public schools in Los Angeles. I taught second grade in the Compton Unified School District through a program called Teach For America. During this time, I worked to improve my skills and ensure my students were making significant gains in student achievement. My experiences in the Compton Unified School District reinforced my belief that, in fact, teachers have a greater impact on student learning than any other school factor. While all the teachers at my school had similar students, I noted that teachers with perseverance, an unwillingness to accept failure for themselves or their students, and the drive to continue to hone their craft, were able to achieve academic success for the same students others had deemed "unteachable." This experience prompted me to work to make a systemic impact in the education of all students focused on hiring and training teachers.

At The New Teacher Project, I have worked closely with superintendents and district managers from several major urban areas and have seen the realities of the fiscal and structural challenges they face. Specifically I've worked with district administrators to ensure that there are adequate funds for TNTP projects and that the resources dedicated to these projects are well spent. This has entailed working with District wide and department level budgets. I am realistic in understanding the trade-offs that school districts face in building thriving schools that work despite challenging fiscal climates. But I remain an optimist that we can and must build exceptional public schools for all students + even the poorest students with the most significant challenges.

If I am re-elected to the South Whittier Board of Trustees, I will continue bring my lifelong passion for working to improve the lives of children through education. I have had a rich variety of educational and professional experiences, and have developed significant expertise in helping school districts solve critical challenges of school reform. I think I am a unique school board member because I have significant professional experience working at the classroom and school level with teachers and principals, but also at the administrative level working with superintendents and district managers. I have good insight into the systemic barriers that often impede success + especially working with low-income students. Yet I have a fundamental belief that there are no excuses; that success is attainable even in challenging environments. And, in fact, it is our moral imperative to ensure that our children have the opportunities they deserve.

I will continue to bring the same work ethic, passion and optimism that have driven my success as Vice President of The New Teacher Project. I would be honored to serve the community once again as a Board of Trustees of the South Whittier School District.