Peterson, Dean Trade Snipes at Forum : Campaign: Between the digs, the two gave straightforward answers to educators’ questions about their positions on a variety of matters.

County Supt. of Schools Robert Peterson and challenger John F. Dean headed into the home stretch of their tight race Wednesday night, answering tough questions from a large crowd of educators and taking snipes at each other during a forum.

Meeting at a joint gathering of the Assn. of California School Administrators and the Orange County School Boards Assn. at the Irvine Marriott, the two spent an hour fielding probing questions submitted by the more than 100 educators in attendance.

Although the forum was generally congenial and sedate, each candidate managed to slip in the occasional swipe at the other, creating an undercurrent of antagonism consistent with their campaigns.

Peterson, 70, is facing his first serious challenge in his 24 years in office. He wasted no time in getting off the first shot of the evening. In answer to the first question, which asked both candidates about the sources of their campaign funds, Peterson suggested that if elected, Dean would be a tool of the California Teachers Assn. The association has endorsed Dean, and it donated $5,000 to his June primary campaign.

“In the campaign up to now, we’re underdogs in regard to funding,” Peterson said. “The voters have concerns about positions that have plums to offer--maybe that’s why CTA leadership is doing what they’ve done.”

Campaign financial disclosure statements submitted last week show that Dean has raised five times as much money as Peterson. At the forum, Dean said that about half of the $70,000 his campaign has spent for the June primary and the November runoff has come from his own pocket.

Dean, 63, is head of the education department at Whittier College. He took advantage of several opportunities to criticize Peterson’s record. At one point, he accused the superintendent of failing to attend his own cabinet meetings, saying that voters should let Peterson “enjoy his retirement.”

Dean capped his criticism of his opponent by using his closing statement to assert to the audience that Peterson had threatened to drop out of the forum unless he was guaranteed the opportunity to speak last.

“That’s protocol,” Peterson said after the debate, arguing that incumbents are usually afforded the right to defend any accusations made by challengers.

For the most part, however, the candidates provided straightforward answers to pointed questions on their positions on matters ranging from affirmative action to drug and gang prevention programs.

Dean pledged to “open the lines of communication” between the Orange County Department of Education and the county’s 27 school districts. He said he would “get a handle” on the department’s $74.5-million annual budget, which he charged is being poorly managed by the current Administration.

Peterson countered that the way budget money is allocated is severely restricted by state law, and he charged that Dean had “not done his homework” in studying the matter.

“All you need to do is ask the proper type of question” to learn more about budget allocations, Peterson told Dean.

Peterson also said that he would make few “dramatic changes” in current department operations, although he did say that he would seek more grant money to circumvent state restrictions in the use of certain budget funds.

Dean won the June primary by a margin of just 0.3%. The post runs for a four-year term and pays $98,663 a year.