Some Local Parents Oppose Reelection of Laurie Lieberman to Santa Monica School Board, "Because She Shows Contempt to Parents"

Update: Comment from Laurie Lieberman at the bottom of this story.

Laurie Lieberman has been on the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District Board for the last 8 years. Now, some people are opposing a third term for the school board member and candidate. We asked Laurie Lieberman Must Go aka @liebermanmustgo, why they oppose her re-election. The anonymous Twitter account user cited her lack of civility and basic competence.

"Primarily, the issue is her temperament and troublesome comments during public meetings, including publicly insulting parents and teachers," replied @liebermanmustgo, who refused to attribute the following quotes to a person. "You can attribute the comments to a concerned parent who prefers to remain anonymous."

"1. The current school board, including Laurie, has repeatedly stated that we should work toward an environment of civility, and should treat one another with respect and dignity, particularly during public comment at school board meetings. Caring about your constituents should be a basic prerequisite for any elected position."

"Laurie's actions, however, have shown that she does not care to listen to teachers and parents during public comment. She has repeatedly mocked and insulted parents. During a meeting in 2020, she forgot to mute herself and audibly snored at the idea of having to listen to public comment (we recently tweeted the video of this)."

"During a meeting in 2021, she again forgot to mute herself and said the parents speaking were "seriously all crazy" and she had to have her mic muted by Jon Kean, who was sitting next to her (we recently tweeted the vide of this as well)."

"She has also mocked the names of many public speakers, and has made jokes in the middle of public comment while parents talk about their children's suicidal thoughts and otherwise suffering mentally. She simply lacks the very basic requirements of compassion, civility, and respect to serve in a public position."

"2. She lacks the judgment necessary to make important decisions. As we recently tweeted, she supported the appointment of Keith Coleman to fill Oscar de la Torre's vacant position. Jason Feldman had received the most votes after Oscar making him the very logical, and democratic, choice to fill Oscar's position (he was also endorsed by the SMDP). Instead, Laurie supported the appointment of Keith Coleman. Keith did not have any children attending SMMUSD schools. He believed so little in SMMUSD that he sent his child to private school in Brentwood. Keith has of course since resigned amidst controversy that he doesn't, or at least no longer does, live in Santa Monica."

"3. She failed our students, particularly the youngest students, during the school reopening process. While many other schools were applying to the state to reopen their TK-2 grades (our most vulnerable students), Laurie and the rest of the board failed to even submit the application to the state. As a result, many schools throughout Los Angeles, including Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes, Torrance, and more, were able to SAFELY get their youngest kids back into school quickly. They also approved DL+ as the reopening plan, which was NOT supported by the majority of parents according to their own polls, and then they subsequently abandoned that plan when it became obvious it was not a workable solution.

Primarily, the issue is her temperament and troublesome comments during public meetings, including publicly insulting parents and teachers."

We have reached out to Laurie Lieberman for comment on this story. "Thanks for reaching out. I have no idea who this is or why he has it in for me. I wasn’t even aware of this until you sent it," she wrote.

"You have known me for many years. We may have disagreements about issues from time to time but I think you know that the smear campaigns are ugly and dishonest and have nothing to do with who I am or what I have accomplished on the School Board. The lies and misinformation being spread are damaging to the school district and have lowered the level of discourse in this community to a point almost beyond recognition."