Los Angeles Unified school board candidate Ref Rodriguez collected $21,000 in campaign donations from employees of his charter school network, Partnerships to Uplift Communities, in his bid to unseat incumbent Bennett Kayser in East Los Angeles’ District 5.
Most striking, a handful of his workers – a janitor, maintenance worker, tutor — are donating at or near the contribution limit, $1,100.
The contributions are a measure of supporters’ high hopes to unseat Kayser in favor of Rodriguez, a candidate friendly to charter schools.