About Tamar
Tamar Galatzan is a criminal prosecutor, mother, and LAUSD School Board Member representing District 3, which covers most of the San Fernando Valley. As a result of her independent voting record, her leadership in school reform efforts, and her pragmatic approach to fiscal problems, Tamar was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term on the Board of Education in 2011. She received more votes than any other candidate in the entire city. She continues to be the only school board member with children attending public schools in Los Angeles.
Presiding over the second largest school district in the country, Tamar and her six colleagues on the Los Angeles Board of Education oversee a budget of 7.1 billion dollars—as much as the entire budget for the State of Colorado. Tamar represents 134 schools and 132,000 students in District 3, which stretches from Studio City to West Hills.
Since she was a teenager, Tamar has been a tireless advocate for civil rights, social justice and safe neighborhoods. She decided to run for the school board when her oldest son was about to enter kindergarten. She is committed to providing every public school student in Los Angeles with an excellent education, regardless of ethnicity or economic status, and ensuring they graduate from high school career/college-ready. Another priority: Getting technology into schools so our students are prepared for the work place of the 21st century.
As endless budget cuts have devastated public schools in Los Angeles, Tamar has been a passionate advocate for fiscal responsibility. From questioning the extensive district use of overpriced computer consultants to unnecessary calculator purchases, she has worked tirelessly to eliminate waste, weed out fiscal improprieties, and come up with creative solutions to save the district money and get more money back into classrooms.
Despite more than $1.5 billion in state cuts to LAUSD since 2008, and another $400 million this year, Tamar is proud of increased graduation rates and higher test scores across her district. Thanks to dedicated teachers and supportive parents, students in District 3 continue to shine academically.
A persuasive and passionate speaker, Tamar’s comments appear frequently in the Los Angeles Times, the Daily News and local radio and TV stations.
Committed to serving the Valley community, Tamar has been a Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney with the Neighborhood Prosecutor Program in the LAPD Van Nuys and North Hollywood divisions since 2002. She has been credited by numerous civic organizations for solving hundreds of community problems that had been ignored by city agencies for decades.
From 1996 through 2002, Tamar served as Western States Associate Counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, where she focused on addressing discrimination and harassment in the workplace and public schools.
She attended Birmingham High School in the San Fernando Valley, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA, and earned her law degree from Hastings College of the Law in 1994.
An avid runner, Tamar has completed three marathons and several triathlons, as well as the Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay, in which she competes annually as a member of the L.A. City Attorney’s team.
Tamar and her husband, Brendan, have two sons, both of whom are receiving an excellent education at their local public school.