Walters Heads School Board for 3rd Year

For the third year in a row, Rita Walters, a staunch liberal and the only black member of the Los Angeles school board, was elected president of the seven-member body at its annual meeting Monday.

Walters, who was also beginning her third term representing South-Central and Southwest Los Angeles, was unopposed for president and won by a unanimous vote.

Calling it a historic occasion, she noted that she is the only black person to serve more than one term on the school board.

Monday also marked the addition of three new board members who give the board its first liberal majority in a decade. They include Warren Furutani, the first Asian-American elected to the board.

The board also officially welcomed Leonard Britton as the new superintendent. Britton, who was formerly superintendent of Dade County, Fla., schools, succeeds Harry Handler, who retired last week.

Furutani, who is of Japanese ancestry, narrowly defeated John Greenwood in April for the right to represent the southern part of the district, a region encompassing South Los Angeles, Gardena and the Harbor area.

Also installed were Leticia Quezada, who replaces East Los Angeles board member Larry Gonzalez, and Julie Korenstein, who succeeds West San Fernando Valley board member Tom Bartman.

Jackie Goldberg, who represents Hollywood and Central Los Angeles, also officially began her second term.

Walters was nominated for board president by East San Fernando Valley board member Roberta Weintraub, who called Walters a “dear friend” and an outstanding board member.

Weintraub’s nomination of Walters was noteworthy because of their past history as ardent adversaries during the busing era of the late 1970s and early ‘80s. Weintraub opposed busing as a means of desegregating the schools, and Walters supported it. During that period, board debate over busing often deteriorated into personal attacks, particularly between Weintraub and Walters.

But Walters noted in remarks to the board Monday that all of that “fractious contention” was in the past, and she made a special effort to acknowledge Weintraub’s role in helping the board learn to operate on a more professional basis.

“Roberta, I want you to know and the world to know that I truly value you and I value your friendship,” she said just after her election as president.

Year-Round System

One of the first major issues the newly constituted board will have to tackle is whether to expand the number of schools on the year-round system, Walters said. Many district schools are badly overcrowded, particularly in the Southeast region, the East Valley and along the Wilshire Corridor. One solution that has been proposed--converting more schools to year-round operation--has stirred considerable controversy.

Both Korenstein and Furutani said during their campaigns that they would oppose expanding the year-round system, and Quezada said she was undecided. Of the incumbents, only Weintraub has been opposed to the concept.