Teachers’ Unions Flex Muscles in School and College Board Elections

There are 38 candidates vying for five seats on the Los Angeles school board and four seats on the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles community colleges in Tuesday’s election. All of them are talking about educational issues.

But talk of overcrowding, low test scores and the construction of new schools has been overshadowed by the role of the teachers unions in the races. The unions have jumped in against most of the incumbents on both boards because of decisions that went against them, and in some of the closer races, the money and volunteers provided by the organizations could tip the scales.

Los Angeles school board President Rita Walters, for example, is facing a well-financed challenge from Mark Ridley-Thomas, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who has been endorsed by United Teachers-Los Angeles. The union, irked at Walters and two other incumbents because of the continuing stalemate over teacher salaries and other issues, has contributed more than $20,000 to Ridley-Thomas’ campaign, according to campaign finance reports.

Endorsement Withheld

And in the community college races, the American Federation of Teachers College Guild has endorsed only one of three incumbents running for reelection.

UTLA decided to oppose Walters and board member John Greenwood, who represents a district stretching from Watts to San Pedro. The union also withheld its endorsement from incumbent Jackie Goldberg, whose district comprises the downtown and Hollywood areas, but it is not backing a challenger in that election.

‘Agency Fee’ Issue

In addition to its dissatisfaction with salary negotiations, UTLA is at odds with the school board over the issue of whether teachers who do not belong to the union should pay an “agency fee” to UTLA because the union is their bargaining agent in negotiations with the board. (About 6,000 of the school system’s 26,000 teachers do not belong to the union.) Greenwood and Walters both voted with a board majority to reject the agency fee.

Inner-City Interests

Walters, 56, touts her record as an advocate of the interests of her inner-city District 1 and emphasizes her authorship of the “C-average rule,” which requires students to be passing in all their courses in order to participate in sports and other after-school activities.

Ridley-Thomas, 32, claims that Walters has been unwilling to meet with area parents and community leaders on certain issues and blames her for low achievement scores among inner-city high school students.

In the District 7 race, the union has given challenger Warren Furutani, 39, nearly $12,000 to help unseat Greenwood, 42. Furutani, an administrator at UCLA, has blamed Greenwood for part of the rancor over the stalled pay talks. In the closing days of the campaign, he also has been highly critical of the board for not ordering the closure of an elementary school in South Gate, where some toxic contamination has been found.

Test Scores Improved

Greenwood defends his record by citing improvements in the test scores of District 7 students during the eight years he has served on the school board. He also accuses Furutani of embellishing his UCLA credentials.

The third race involving an incumbent, in District 3, has been somewhat quieter because of the union’s neutrality. Incumbent Goldberg is running against the man she ousted from the board four years ago, businessman Tony Trias, and is generally regarded as likely to win reelection.

There are two races Tuesday in which there is no incumbent.

In the West San Fernando Valley’s District 4, seven candidates are running to fill the last two years of a term begun by David Armor, who resigned last year. Tom Bartman, who represented the area from 1980-85, was appointed to Armor’s seat and is not seeking election to a full term.

Year-Round Schools Opposed

The candidates agree in their opposition to year-around schools and have had varying degrees of success in raising money. According to campaign reports filed last week, four of the candidates have raised at least $23,000: political fund-raiser Bunny Field, $33,000; former legislative aide George St. Johns, $31,000; accountant Barbara Romey, $24,900, and educational consultant Julie Korenstein, $23,600.

Korenstein was endorsed by the UTLA, but union officials acknowledge that their support may be of limited significance in the relatively conservative district.

In the Eastside District 5, where the union endorsed no one, Los Angeles community colleges trustee Leticia Quezada, 32, has attracted the support of much of the area’s Latino political establishment in her bid to succeed Larry Gonzalez, who vacated the seat to make an unsuccessful run for the Los Angeles City Council earlier this year.

Quezada’s two opponents are longtime community activist Raul Ruiz, who is a Chicano studies professor at California State University, Northridge, and Jefferson High School administrator Frank Tamayo, both of whom have long been involved in local educational issues.

At-Large Candidates

For the community college board of trustees, where all members are elected at large, the contests have attracted 19 candidates. The teachers union for the community colleges, the American Federation of Teachers, is opposing incumbents Monroe F. Richman and Marguerite Archie-Hudson because of their votes to lay off full-time faculty.

Although many of the threatened layoffs did not occur, the union has criticized the incumbents for causing uncertainty among the faculty with their handling of the layoff issue. It also criticizes the board for the community college district’s financial troubles, which include a deficit projected to reach $17 million by June, 1988.

The union has endorsed trustee Harold G. Garvin of San Pedro because of his votes against layoffs.

The candidates have their own solutions to the colleges’ financial woes. For example, one candidate running against Richman, Trade-Tech College instructor Patricia Hollingsworth, says she is uniquely qualified because of her completed doctoral dissertation: “The Management of Finance in California Community Colleges, a Model for the Future.”

Tighter Budget Promised

Several conservatives, including former Los Angeles school board member Richard E. Ferraro and former community college trustee J. William Orozco, also have promised tighter financial measures.

The union has endorsed attorney Wallace Knox against Richman and gave a dual endorsement to librarian/educator Julia L. Wu and retired mathematics professor Bernard Friedman in the race against Archie-Hudson, the board’s only black.

David Lopez-Lee, a professor of public administrator at USC, was endorsed by the union in the race for the seat being vacated by Quezada, who is running for the school board. Carmen E. Luna, a Los Angeles city analyst, is also challenging for the seat.

All the elections are officially nonpartisan, so candidates are not identified by party on the ballot. In contests in which no candidate receives a majority of the votes on Tuesday, the two top vote-getters will hold a runoff in June.

CANDIDATES FOR BOARDS OF EDUCATION CANDIDATES FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEE District 1 Patricia Hollingsworth Community college faculty Wallace Knox Attorney/county commissioner Deborah S. Le Blanc Educator/businesswoman William Orozco Businessman Monroe Franklin Richman Member, Board of Trustees District 3 Marjorie Ann Davis Student Bernard Friedman Professor of mathematics Marguerite Archie Hudson Member, Board of Trustees Julia L. Wu College teacher/librarian District 5 Harold W. Garvin Member, board of trustees Mark MacCarley Educator/attorney Frank Mazzi School principal District 7 Richard E. Ferraro School administrator Douglas Lasken Teacher David Lopez-Lee Doctor, public administration Carmen E. Luna Public administrative executive Elizabeth M. Rowen Student body president Noel Stone Educator Zakary Zeitlin Management consultant/real estate agent CANDIDATES FOR LOS ANGELES SCHOOL BOARD District 1 Annie N. Richardson Educational coordinator Mark Ridley-Thomas Director, community organization Dorothy Rugley Teacher Rita D. Walters (inc) Member, Board of Education District 3 Jackie Goldberg Member, board of education Tony Trias Businessman/consultant Howard O. Watts Disabled veteran District 4 Bunny Field Consultant Mark Isler Educator/businessman Julie Korenstein Educational consultant Barbara Romey Businesswoman/parent Marilynn Mayer Neville Parent/teacher George St. Johns Occupation not listed Douglas J. Wolf Lawyer District 5 Leticia Quezada College board member Raul Ruiz University professor Frank Tamayo Secondary education District 7 Warren Furutani University administrator/educator John R. Greenwood Member, Board of Education