Korenstein Accuses Horowitz of Neglecting His School

With a runoff election just two weeks away, Los Angeles Board of Education incumbent Julie Korenstein on Tuesday blasted her opponent, a Sun Valley junior high school principal, for leaving his campus to campaign while teachers are on strike.

Korenstein faces Gerald E. Horowitz, principal of Byrd Junior High School, in a June 6 runoff election for the west San Fernando Valley seat on the board. And with the strike in its second week, and with many schools forced to ask bus drivers, janitors and parents to supervise classrooms, Korenstein accused Horowitz of “abandoning his school during a time of extreme crisis.” She said he had left “a glaring leadership void . . . at the precise time his leadership was most needed.”

Korenstein, meanwhile, has “suspended all campaign activity” to concentrate on ending the strike, said Barbara Grover, a Korenstein campaign manager.

Horowitz responded that he had been away from his campus for campaign activities only 2 1/2 hours since the April 11 election that put him into a runoff with Korenstein, who fell 57 votes short of an outright victory. He said that he received permission from school district superiors each time to be away and that he had the time deducted from his pay.

Horowitz took personal leave time May 17 to conduct a 1:30 p.m. news conference. He also took time off May 19 to appear at an 8 a.m. meeting of the San Fernando Valley Lincoln Club, a Republican Party organization. Principals are paid to work from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

During the strike, Horowitz said, he has been working far more hours than normal. “If Miss Korenstein had been working as long, as hard and as responsibly at her job as I have been working at mine, we would have a settlement and the strike would be over,” he said.

Backs Out

In another campaign development Tuesday, Korenstein backed out of a candidates’ debate tentatively scheduled for tonight. Her campaign staff accused Horowitz’s aides of unilaterally changing the ground rules and the location for the face-to-face meeting.

Horowitz said Tuesday that Korenstein was “stalling and stalling” and was afraid to debate him. He said that he had attended numerous candidates’ forums to which Korenstein had been invited but that she

had not shown up.

In April, Horowitz proposed a series of five debates on specific topics. But tonight was the only time on which aides for the two candidates could agree. Grover said that the candidates were to debate at Reseda High School but that a Horowitz staff member changed the location without telling her. Grover also said the amount of time allotted to the candidates for their statements had been changed.

Horowitz said he was “ready, willing and able” to debate Korenstein. “It’s obvious her handlers want to hide her,” he said.

Grover made a similar statement about Horowitz’s staff. “It’s clear that they didn’t really want to debate,” Grover said. “They basically let it drag out five weeks. They just wanted to make it a press issue.”