The influential Los Angeles teachers union has suspended its campaign on behalf of school board candidate Kahllid Al-Alim amid mounting criticism of his social media posts and likes

anti-Semitism

glamorous weapons and celebrated pornographic images, officials announced early Friday morning.

United Teachers Los Angeles took action Thursday evening after an emergency meeting of leaders. The suspension is a blow to…

From Al-Alim

campaign for the District 1 Board of Education seat representing much of South Los Angeles and Southwest LA. The teachers union has poured more than $650,000 into an independent campaign in support of Al-Alim and organized field workers on his behalf.

“Upon becoming aware of the offensive and anti-Semitic content on Kahllid Al-Alim’s social media pages, UTLA convened an emergency meeting of its Board of Directors,” a union statement said. The directors “voted to immediately suspend all campaign activities in Board District 1.”

A post on In an October 2022 post, Al-Alim said the book should be required reading in LA schools: We not Burning or Banning Our Future! We’re not playing, he tweeted.

In a statement on Tuesday, Al-Alim, 56, acknowledged all or most of the posts and likes on social media, for which he expressed regret.

I have fought all my life against anti-Semitism, anti-Arab hatred, Islamophobia and all forms of oppression, Al-Alim said. I have fought all my life for the equality of all people.” He also appeared to acknowledge the pornographic and gun-related likes, adding: I also apologize for my social media likes or graphic content. It was inappropriate. I’ll never do that again.

Al-Alim emerged with the support of UTLA after a months-long process. He was already known to many union leaders as an energetic education and community activist who could be trusted on policy issues, including opposition to the expansion of charter schools.

Like other District 1 candidates, he advocated primarily for black students. Unlike some, he supports the union’s call to defund the school police. Al-Alim was a founding member of Reclaim Our Schools LA, a coalition of parents, students, teachers, and labor and community organizations closely aligned with UTLA.

UTLA leaders have not withdrawn the approval; they concluded that union rules require a formal, multi-step process that will be expedited but take days, in line with the March 5 primary.

On February 27,

On Tuesday, the union will personally convene its 100-member expanded endorsement team. The next day there will be regional meetings across the school system, and on Thursday the union’s Political Action Council of Educators, a body focused primarily on politics, will meet.

The Board of Directors, a fifty-member body, will meet on Zoom from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Monday, March 4. This will be followed by the House of Representatives meeting, also via Zoom.

Revoking an endorsement requires a vote by the union’s 250-member House, which has the power to revoke the endorsement.

After weeks of union-funded campaigns and voting rounds already underway, Al-Alim was still able to make it to the second round. His own campaign had raised $24,302 in the last reporting period.

Based on campaign spending totals, another leading candidate would be teacher Didi Watts, who the union is unlikely to support because a substantial part of her career has been associated with charter schools.

Before Al-Alim’s troubles, this race looked like a classic, expensive showdown between a teacher-union-backed candidate and a candidate backed by allies of charter schools, which are also public schools even though they are privately run.

However, in the field of seven candidates, there are others who could carry the teachers union banner, or make a strong showing on their own if they are able to get their message out.

Teachers

Union support won’t reach the other candidates in time to help them get between the top two finishers in November’s runoff.

The second largest independent funding effort is $280,515 on behalf of Watts, by a Sacramento-based political action committee called Kids First. The contributors to this campaign are protected from immediate disclosure because they did not contribute directly to the campaign on behalf of Watts.

The LA County Federation of Labor has also endorsed Al-Alim. The organization had not yet responded by the end of Thursday to the question of whether it would withdraw its approval.