In Bassett : Student Scores a Leading Issue

Bilingual education, test scores and the high school dropout rate are being championed or challenged by 12 candidates running for three seats on the Bassett Unified School District’s board of directors.

Three incumbents are being challenged to determine who will represent a district with more than 9,800 pupils drawn from the unincorporated community of Bassett and portions of unincorporated Valinda and the city of La Puente.

- Barbara Boyd, 49, of Valinda is a marketing representative for an educational materials firm. Boyd, mother of three sons, worked for the district as an elementary school principal for two years and as a reading specialist for eight years. She said her expertise and teaching experience qualify for the job of providing new leadership.

“I plan to try and straighten out our priorities,” said Boyd. “More money needs to go the classroom and less should be spent on administrative and clerical staff. There has also been an improper emphasis on bilingual education. All the effort seems to be going to these students.”

- Richard D. Cooks, 28 of La Puente, is a self-employed financial services instructor and a career counselor. He said graduating from district schools has given him special insight into the needs of the district’s students and teachers.

“You have to have an overall plan of action” to reduce dropouts and the loss of teachers, Cooks said. One way, he said, would be to improve counseling for students and provide personalized career counseling for teachers.

- David A. Medina, 27, of La Puente, is a science teacher at Bishop Amat High School, a La Puente school run by the Roman Catholic Church. Also a tutor at the Jones Reading Clinic in La Puente, he has lived in the district since 1959.

“I don’t expect to work miracles, but I would like to improve the district’s low test scores with better test preparation and more emphasis on remedial English and math” and offer continued support for the district’s bilingual education program, he said.

- Edward L. Chavez, 21 of La Puente, is studying toward a bachelor’s degree in public administration at California State University, Los Angeles, and has worked in district schools as a teacher’s aide and tutor. Chavez said graduating from Bassett High School in 1981 has made him aware of the need to update the high school’s vocational and academic curriculum and counseling services.

“In the area of high-tech courses, Bassett High School continues to fall behind,” said Chavez. “We need more computer education classes to help students get better jobs and to help them advance in the four-year colleges.” If elected, Chavez said he would look for ways of reducing the high school dropout rate, which he estimated at more than 40%.

- Theodore W. Hooker, 59, of La Puente, is a retired Baldwin Park High School instructor with 20 years of teaching experience. He was unsuccessful two years ago in winning a seat on the board.

Not as Important

“I think the people in the district ought to know that administrators are not as important as students and teachers,” said Hooker, who also proposes that the district be absorbed by a neighboring district because of what he claims are its chronic financial problems.

Calling himself a proponent of bilingual education, Hooker said the district’s Regional Occupation Program, a district-run job-training program, should also be abolished unless the program can assure students of meaningful jobs or apprenticeships. “They are training kids for jobs like shop assistant. That means sweeping the floor. That’s not a career,” she said.

- Incumbent Carol A. Smithberg, 51, of La Puente, mother of two Bassett High School graduates, is a photographer with the Highlander, a weekly newspaper published in Industry. She is seeking a second term and said she wants to finish the job she started four years ago.

“I want to continue to raise test scores and give greater attention to curriculum development,” said Smithberg. Taking credit for past successes, she said, “Good things are happening. In the past year we have selected a new superintendent, negotiated a new teachers’ contract and placed three new principals at three schools.”

- Incumbent Hector Varela, 42, of La Puente, a vocational rehabilitation counselor, is seeking his second term on the board. To Varela the most important issue in this campaign “is restoring credibility to the district” by continuing with programs designed to teach basic skills and providing a safe learning environment through stricter discipline and tough campus security.

“Six years ago we had very little academic credibility. Discipline in the high school was out of control. We had one of the lowest academic achievement rates. Today, we arestarting to approach the 50th percentile in (California Assessment Program) test scores. We are not where we want to be, we have a lot of work to do, but we can get there with the programs we have implemented.”

- Marie L. West, 76, of La Puente, a mother of four who is a free-lance writer and poet, said she will represent the interest of students and teachers more effectively than any other candidate in the race.

Sheriff’s Volunteer

West, a civilian volunteer at the Industry sheriff’s station and a member of the La Puente Valley Historical Society, said the present board of directors lacks members “who will speak up in behalf of students. For too long the board has been a rubber stamp for administrators.”

- Incumbent C. A. (Carl) Taylor, 61, of La Puente, a financial consultant, is seeking a third term. Taylor is campaigning for a return to “common sense education” and for changes in priorities.

“There is no place on the board for personal ambitions or grudges, for the selfish interest of individuals or special groups, partisan politics or anything else except complete devotion to the educational needs of the community,” he said.

- Frank Vigil, 59, of La Puente, is a retired electronics technician and a former board member. He was recalled in 1979 over a budget controversy in which he claims he his opponents misrepresented his record to the voters.

“I am seeking a position on the board because I will represent the community’s desires for an effective educational program within the financial limitations of the district,” said Vigil. “If elected, I will concentrate on improving programs through curriculum development and by prioritizing monies to be used for textbooks and other things. I don’t support bilingual education, but I will abide by the law.”

- Noel A. Wychico, 32, of La Puente, a real estate broker and vice president of the La Puente Lyons Club, is running on a platform of eliminating drugs and gangs from district schools and improving communications between the board and parents.

“I want to observe what’s going on the in the classroom. I want to review the abilities of all the teachers. I want to totally eliminate drugs and gangs from our schools.” Wychico, whose daughter attends a local private school, would transfer her to a district school, he said, “once I can rely on the schools. Staff morale is low, teacher salaries are embarrassingly low and facilities are in need of repair. I would sell Bassett Elementary School to raise surplus (revenues) to finance building maintenance.”

At $18,636 annual salary for a first-year teacher with no experience, Bassett ranks 24th among 43 districts in Los Angeles County; but Bassett drops to 42nd with the $32,748 maximum it pays its most experienced teachers, who have fulfilled incentive programs.

- Leonard Swerdlow, a school personnel commissioner who resides in La Puente, did not return telephones calls from The Times.