Bennett Kayser
Director, Region 21, Los Angeles USD
Bennett Kayser is a board member for Los Angeles Unified School District and is the Region 21 Director of the California School Boards Association representing Los Angeles Unified School District and Los Angeles County Office of Education. With degrees in biology and zoology from Cal State Long Beach and UCLA, and a Lifetime California Teaching Credential, Bennett has worked in education as both a teacher and an administrator. He taught 7th Grade Science and Health at both King and Irving Middle Schools. He was a teacher and Director of Information Technology for the Pasadena Unified School District and was both a middle school teacher and the Technology Coordinator for LAUSD's Independent Studies school, City of Angels School.
Always active in the community, from 1997 to 1999, he represented the 13th City Council District on the Elected Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission to re-write L.A.'s constitution. He was the driving force for the inclusion of Neighborhood Councils in the new Charter, to give people more local control and resources in their neighborhoods. Bennett was proud to be the Commissioner who made the motion to create them. He was also responsible for including a section in the Charter that provides equal benefits for domestic partners and married couples, and at least a Living Wage for City employees and contractors. He is also a member of the Echo Park Historical Society, the Citizen's Committee to Save Elysian Park, the Echo Park Improvement Association, the Echo Park Security Association and the Echo Park Chamber of Commerce.
Bennett is a passionate and tireless advocate for education, social justice and community participation. He and his wife Peggy have raised two children.