School Board Candidates’ Qualifications

Sam Enriquez’s March 7 article questions Gerald E. Horowitz’s qualifications as a school board candidate since he got his doctorate by mail from an unaccredited school.

Julie Korenstein’s campaign consultant, Barbara Grover, passed judgment that unless a doctorate has been issued by an institution accredited by the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges, it makes a mockery of education and produces unfit educators.

I supposed this flap is to convince everyone that Korenstein is far more qualified than Horowitz. Forget that she lacks Horowitz’s accredited master’s degree, two years of mail-order unaccredited home study and 32 years of teaching and administrative experience. I for one am not convinced.

I completed both the class requirements for a master’s of education at Cal State Northridge and two years of home study at California Coast University and find both programs equally academically sound, challenging and beneficial. Many Coast graduates feel they actually benefited more than by the classroom approach.

Let’s hope Korenstein’s and Grover’s faulty reasoning could be corrected through the use of a high-grade California Coast program. Maybe this one distraction will allow Horowitz to be left alone long enough to do a good job as a new member of the school board.

GERALD L. FENNELL

Woodland Hills