Rita Walters to Run for City Council

Rita Walters, an 11-year member of the Los Angeles school board and its only black, said Wednesday she will run for the City Council, becoming the second influential board member opting not to seek reelection this year.

The absence of Walters and board President Jackie Goldberg, who announced in November that she would not seek reelection, will substantially change the dynamics of the seven-member board, where four seats will be on the ballot this spring. Board members Leticia Quezada and Warren Furutani, whose terms are also expiring, have announced they will seek reelection.

“It means we won’t have people with a long history on the board and that will change things dramatically,” said Roberta Weintraub, the other senior board member who has served for 11 years. “We are going to miss their expertise on a variety of issues. It’s going to be very difficult, particularly in this climate of budget cuts.”

Walters, a fiery veteran of school desegregation battles, has been a strong advocate of multicultural education. Goldberg was an articulate, high-profile force for the district and was widely credited with helping to forge agreements on such key issues as year-round schools and relieving overcrowding.

Walters is seeking the 9th District seat that became vacant with the death of Gilbert Lindsay. In 1987, Walters, who then lived in Hancock Park, briefly considered running for the seat of Councilman David Cunningham when he left to enter private business, but decided to run for reelection to the school board.

Walters, 60, has represented South-Central and Southwest Los Angeles and lives in South Los Angeles. She says she is ready to enter a larger political arena.

“The job here is far from complete,” she said. “We’re looking at dwindling resources in the state but the problems are ongoing in society and there are different ways to address them.”

At school board meetings, Walters has long been known for her pointed questions and often rancorous debates. She sees herself as a watchdog for the city’s black youths, whom she says have received a raw deal in the educational system. Walters, who attended segregated schools until she was 24, stresses that education is the key to breaking the cycle of black poverty and discrimination.

Before winning election to the school board in 1980, Walters taught adult education and English as a second language in Watts for four years. Beginning in the 1960s, she was active in civil rights organizations, including the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, the Urban League and the American Civil Liberties Union.