Tamar Galatzan is a mother and criminal prosecutor who was elected in 2007 to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education. Her district (3) stretches from Studio City to West Hills, covering the western half of the San Fernando Valley. As a result of her independent voting record, her leadership in school reform efforts, and her approach to fiscal problems, Galatzan was re-elected to a second term in 2011.  She is the only school board member with children attending public schools in Los Angeles. She spoke at our Club on April 22.

 

Galatzan and her six colleagues on the Board of Education oversee the nation’s second largest school district, with more than 650,000 students on 1,300 campuses. She represents 134 schools and 132,000 students.

Since she was a teenager, Galatzan has been a tireless advocate for civil rights, social justice, and safe neighborhoods. She is committed to providing every student in the District with an excellent education, regardless of ethnicity or economic status. Galatzan is also focused on upgrading schools with the technology that is needed to equip students with 21 Century skills.

 

Galatzan has been a passionate advocate for fiscal responsibility, working to eliminate waste, weed out fiscal improprieties, and come up with creative solutions to save the District money and get more money back into the classrooms.

As a Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney, Galatzan worked as a neighborhood prosecutor since 2002. Previously, she served as Western States General Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, where Galatzan focused on addressing discrimination and harassment in the workplace and public schools.

 

Galatzan attended Birmingham High School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA and earned her law degree from Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.  Galatzan is pictured with President Jay Saltzman. (photo by Neal Goldman)