Money Is Major Issue in School Board Elections : Education: Candidates in several districts aim their criticisms at the governor and Legislature for under-funding of public schools.

The issue in the fall school board elections is money. Candidates from Whittier to Norwalk are talking about where money for schools is going, how to get more, why there is not enough and whose fault it is.

The bogyman is the state. Candidates are aiming potshots and missiles at the governor and Legislature for what they call the state’s under-funding of education. In attacking state government, office seekers have found a common enemy who will not return the fire.

The money issue extends far beyond state-funding levels in the Montebello Unified School District, however, where five candidates vie for two seats. The state’s 12th largest school district, with about 33,000 students, has been fighting bankruptcy all year. To remain solvent the district borrowed $12.4 million in June and laid off about 145 employees, most of them teachers. By Dec. 1, the district plans to lay off at least two dozen more workers and cut the hours of others. The budget cuts have decimated district programs that were years in the making.

Montebello candidates have no problem finding someone to blame. They attack past and current board members as well as administrators for poor money management. They have that luxury because not one candidate is a true incumbent. Frank Serrano is an incumbent in name only, having joined the board after winning a June special election.

That special election could prove to be a subplot in the Montebello contest. In that previous campaign, Serrano ran as a reform-minded, almost antagonistic outsider. He defeated Barbara Chavira, even though Chavira had the support of employee unions and board members.

Serrano has toned down his rhetoric in efforts to deal with the sitting board members he once attacked. Meanwhile, Chavira, a district parent, is primed for a rematch. And she has sharply criticized district practices at recent board meetings. The other candidates are Ricardo Valdez, principal of Salesian High School in Monterey Park; bus driver Guadalupe Stern and Joseph Maytorena, a field representative for Rep. Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park).

For board candidates in the ABC Unified School District, the issue is how best to make money for the district, which serves Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens, most of Cerritos and parts of surrounding cities. The board recently approved a moneymaking plan that would involve leasing district property to developers for projects ranging from office buildings to shopping centers and senior citizen housing complexes.

In two Whittier-area districts, the most noise is being made about a moneymaking scheme gone awry. Over the summer, trustees of the Whittier City School District and the Whittier Union High School District passed a fund-raising vehicle known as a maintenance assessment district. The assessment district allows the school systems to charge property owners an annual fee. The money must be used to maintain or improve facilities such as auditoriums and tennis courts.

District officials say it is fair for the public to pay for the upkeep of fields and buildings it uses. Critics call the fee an illegal property tax, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. has filed suit against the Whittier Union district, calling the fee unconstitutional.

The fee so angered Richard Bries and William Wise that they entered the Whittier Union school board race on a platform of repealing the assessment. They also are trying to recall three board members who do not have to run for reelection this fall.

In the Lynwood Unified School District, challengers are accusing incumbents of misspending money. The object of their wrath is the district’s new $5.5-million administration building. They say the money should have been used to build a new high school or install classroom air conditioning.

Incumbents say the administration building will streamline district costs. They also say they intended to build a new high school first, but that project got delayed by litigation.

Money matters are just one of a number of issues in some districts. Challengers for the Compton Unified School District board blame incumbents for the low scores of Compton students on standardized tests. Among other complaints, they say the district cannot keep good teachers and has failed to defuse tensions between Latino and black students and between members of rival gangs. Several incumbents say the current board is addressing these problems and that board members are cooperating with each other for the first time in years.

In the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, challengers have raised the issue of safety for school employees and students. This year, a district teacher was arrested for allegedly molesting students and a custodian was murdered at a Norwalk elementary school. Incumbents insist that the two incidents are isolated occurrences. They are focusing instead on plans to begin middle schools in the district.

The future of the superintendent is at stake in the race for the Paramount Unified School District board. The current board voted 3 to 2 in August to replace Supt. Richard B. Caldwell when his contract expires next June. The election results could reverse that decision for Caldwell, who has been superintendent since 1978 and a district employee for 39 years.

Two incumbents are up for reelection: Vivian Hansen, who voted against Caldwell, and Kenneth Teeples, who supported the superintendent. The challengers are Craig Olson and Ann Krejci. Neither has taken a stand on Caldwell. Olson voted unsuccessfully to replace Caldwell, however, when he was a board member in the mid-1980s.

Caldwell has thrown his support behind Teeples and Krejci. “My only chance to get a contract renewal is to have Mrs. Hansen defeated and Mrs. Krejci elected,” Caldwell said. “I have to go with one known and one unknown.” Board members “have said I’m doing a good job, but they said they just want a change. They have a right to do that. I don’t know why they want to . . . All I can do is sit tight and watch the election results.”

Starting today, and over the next two weeks, The Times will be running brief profiles of candidates for the various school board and community college board races on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Candidate biographical and campaign platform information was compiled by Times staff writer Howard Blume and community correspondents Connie Simonian, Mary Becker and Phil Garcia.

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District

Enrollment: 19,000

Areas served: most of Norwalk and La Mirada

On the ballot: five candidates for three seats.

INCUMBENTS

Salvador Ambriz

Board member since 1987

Age: 34

Profession: financial analyst for Hughes Aircraft

Residence: Norwalk

Remarks: “The major issue in this election is the implementation of middle schools throughout the district. We don’t have middle schools now. I hope to expedite . . . establishing middle schools.” He is proud of having taken part in choosing the current superintendent (Robert Aguilar) and “setting the direction and vision for the ‘90s. One of the key programs is Practical Academic Study Success, which is based at Norwalk High School and La Mirada High School. I’m really proud of that program because we are providing much more sensitivity for the average student, which is the dropout.”

Bruce Butler

Board member since 1987

Age: 71

Profession: retired teacher and school district administrator

Residence: La Mirada

Remarks: “I am very glad we are moving into school-based management, which empowers the schools to make decisions that they feel are pertinent to the school. We (also) have (a) program which takes dropouts and brings them back to school. . . . The biggest issues for this election are the financial problems of the district, the need for middle schools and getting the board working for the one and only purpose of a better education for the students. I have higher qualifications than any other person applying: a master’s degree, I have taught, I’ve written articles, and have expertise in school business management.”

William Campbell

Board member since 1987

Age: 64

Profession: retired director of personnel for the district

Residence: La Mirada

Remarks: “One of the biggest issues is money. The resources the state gives the schools are inadequate. I am proud of keeping the district financially afloat. You can go hog-wild and go bankrupt.” Campbell opposes busing and requiring parents to transport their children beyond their neighborhood school. He also favors having middle schools to better service sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. “Another big issue is gang violence. How are we going to cure the gang problem? . . . I will do everything in my power to erase them from the schools.”

CHALLENGERS

Rudy Bermudez

Age: 33

Profession: law enforcement officer with Department of Corrections

Residence: Norwalk

Remarks: “We need a true public-private partnership. The school district has squandered opportunities to obtain monies through community redevelopment in La Mirada and Norwalk.” He said the school board must work more closely with city councils and community members to provide for children’s needs. “No. 2, we have a gang problem. I don’t want to utilize somebody’s death to make a point, but we have had a death already on a campus,” he said, referring to the August murder of a custodian at a Norwalk elementary school. “What we need to do is work with all the agencies and make our schools safe for our children to attend and our staff to work at.”

Mary Lou Gomez

Age: 50

Profession: retired preschool teacher Residence: Norwalk

Remarks: “I think middle schools are long overdue. . . . There is not a latchkey program in every school, and I would like to see them implemented. I am a mother and grandmother and teacher. I have knowledge about how a school runs. We need another woman on the board and a person who deals with kids.” In addition to an overall concern with school safety, “my concern also is that we really do not hide anything. Since I have worked in the district I know there are a lot of unreported shootings going on. It’s not going to do any good to keep a shooting under wraps. Don’t say parents are going to panic. Maybe they will, but maybe they have a right to panic about things. Knowledge is power.”

Paramount Unified School District

Enrollment: 13,233

Areas served: Paramount and parts of Long Beach, South Gate, Downey and Lynwood

On the ballot: four candidates for two seats

INCUMBENTS

Vivian Hansen

Board member since 1987

Age: 45

Profession: homemaker

Residence: Paramount

Remarks: The biggest issue is trying to maintain programs in the face of budget cuts and “finding alternative educational programs for those who are unable to make it in a regular program. Looking at the feasibility of year-round education is also a big issue . . . I have children in the school district, two boys who just graduated and one daughter in the eighth grade, so I have a perspective from the students’ point of view. I also am very levelheaded and have the ability to look at all the issues before making a decision. I’ve been involved in the schools for 13 years through the PTA and I know how the district runs.” Accomplishments during her term include “initiating a teen parent program, and we have more students going on to college.”

Kenneth Teeples

Board member since 1986

Age: 48

Profession: route supervisor for a laundry service for businesses

Residence: South Gate

Remarks: “Probably the biggest issue is not being funded (adequately) from the state. The state is cutting the allotment, and they want us to continue to have a fine program. It’s really strapping us. If we don’t have the money, how are we going to educate the kids? . . . I am in support of continued AIDS education. If we just turn our back on kids and ignore it, kids will find out on their own, and then it will be too late. . . . I want to work with parent education. If a student can’t relate to parents, it makes it extremely hard. I’m in favor of helping kids in school and parents in adult education, and of helping pregnant minors getting an education.”

CHALLENGERS

Ann Krejci

Age: not given

Profession: owner of Rosecrans Mortuary in Paramount

Residence: Paramount

Remarks: “The budget is the biggest issue, and teaching methods also. The budget isn’t handled correctly. Money that is for the school should be used for the children, so when they get out of school they can fill out an application for a job, because there are so many children who can’t do that. Only 10% of our children go on to college. What happened to the other 90%?” She said she could manage a school budget because “I’ve been in business for more than 40 years, and I’ve never gone bankrupt. I credit myself with at least having common sense.”

Craig Olson

Age: 64

Profession: retired Paramount teacher and administrator, former school board member

Residence: Paramount

Remarks: “The biggest issue is the way that funding is coming from the state. We’re going to have to go back to operating with a little less money. . . . The issue of year-round school is coming up and I’ve been acquainted with year-round schools since my ex-wife was a teacher at a year-round school.” Olson was on the board from 1985 to 1989 and left to become a professional golfer on the seniors tour. “I’ve been around for a long time, I know all the people around here, and I can make educated decisions. . . . I want to help the kids. I think that what we need is schools which can give kids an excellent education.”

Little Lake City School District

Enrollment: 4,231

Areas served: most of Santa Fe Springs, parts of Norwalk and Downey

On the ballot: four candidates for three seats

INCUMBENTS

Alva Folsom

Board member since 1978

Age: 58

Profession: a lead dispatcher, Southern California Gas Co.

Residence: Downey

Remarks: “In this election there are no bad guys as such. The main issue is financial stability. I am the only person among the candidates with any business experience. All the rest are either teachers or housewives, and I have more experience on the board than anybody else.” He is proud of how the district has sold and leased surplus properties in order to bring more money into the school system and “the very friendly relationship the board has with the agencies that represent our employees. It’s a cooperative, open relationship.”

Sara Mendez

Board member since 1982

Age: “over 65”

Profession: retired instructional aide, part-time community liaison for Santa Fe High School

Residence: Norwalk

Remarks: “The difference between myself and some of the candidates may be that, all through my board membership, I have been working in schools. I think I have a better insight about what is happening in schools. I am able to see the problems and how they affect students . . . My main accomplishment is that I raised eight children in this community. I am very proud of all my eight children.” As a board member, she takes pride “in the fact that we have tried to bring back a more rounded curriculum: science, music and art. The children have done wonderful things.” She believes that school funding cuts have endangered the progress the district has made.

CHALLENGERS

Louie Gonzalez

Age: 30

Profession: elementary schoolteacher in a neighboring district

Residence: Norwalk

Remarks: “I think a lot of people in the community are concerned about what’s going on in schools, especially with all of the cutbacks. I would like to make sure that the taxpayers’ money is being spent wisely. That means keeping the people who have an impact on our children’s education. One of the things that I think makes me qualified is being a schoolteacher. This is the first time I’m running for a political seat.”

Betty Putnam

Age: 61

Profession: retired Little Lake schoolteacher

Residence: Santa Fe Springs

Remarks: “The big issues are financial support for kids and overcrowded classrooms. We need to get (class size) lower and we need to address technology with computers and VCRs, and prepare the students for life . . . I have raised five students who graduated from the district, and I’ve worked in the PTA and Girl Scouts for 30 years, and I have taught school in the district. All of those experiences make me qualified. Parents come to me and tell me problems. I have good rapport with the parents and children. I have the time and the experience to do the job.”

Bellflower Unified School District

Enrollment: 10,000

Areas served: nearly all of Bellflower, parts of Lakewood and a small portion of Cerritos

On the ballot: five candidates for two seats

INCUMBENTS

Jay Gendreau

Board member from 1977 to 1981 and since 1983

Age: 33

Profession: title officer for title insurance company

Residence: Bellflower

Remarks: “There’s not much controversy (in the district). . . . We do not have a major budget problem. We’ve got peace within our employee groups. . . . We’ve survived the state budget for the last several years without having to cut programs. . . . We’re in the top 10 in the state of California for having the fewest dropouts.”

Phyllis John

Board member since 1987

Age: 45

Profession: volunteer and community activist

Residence: Bellflower

Remarks: “We are running smoothly financially, and our curriculum is fine. We are progressing. I don’t see any issues anyone can campaign on. My most important accomplishment was the hiring of the new superintendent (George Bloch) and leading the six-month search. I am proud of finding the best qualified person for the job.”

CHALLENGERS

Carla Colin

Age: 37

Profession: grocery checker

Residence: Bellflower

Remarks: “I grew up in Bellflower. I have four kids. I’m not a politician; I don’t have a lot of money--I’m just interested in the schools.” She said there are no major campaign issues, but that she is concerned about how lottery money is being used.

John Gomes

Age: 39

Profession: structural mechanic

Residence: Bellflower

Remarks: “The biggest issues in this election: how the district is using the money it receives and if it is using the money correctly. I’d (also) like to see a little more discipline in the schools. . . . My qualifications include raising two boys. I think that if the school has children for one-third of their lives that we as parents should have a say-so in what the schools are doing.”

Larry Myers

Age: 53

Profession: sheet metal journeyman

Residence: Bellflower

Remarks: “I think we need a junior high school in Bellflower. That and (what to do with) surplus land are the big issues. If there’s going to be surplus property (in the district), I want to see that it’s properly used and doesn’t go into developers’ pockets. . . . I don’t like the fact that our teachers are having to reach into their pockets to pay for supplies for the classroom.” Myers said he is concerned that school lottery money counts for little.

Downey Unified School District

Enrollment:15,885

Areas served: all of Downey, parts of Bellflower, South Gate and Bell Gardens

On the ballot: The Downey public school system is divided into election areas. The unopposed candidates are Margo Hoffer in Trustee Area 2, Mary Tesoriero in Trustee Area 3, Donald LaPlante in Trustee Area 4 and D. Mark Morris in Trustee Area 6. In Area 5, for an unexpired term ending Dec. 3, 1993, there are two candidates for one seat.

INCUMBENT

Betty Ferraro

Appointed to the board in November, 1990

Age: 44

Profession: dental hygienist

Residence: Downey

Remarks: “We need to increase instruction time. We need to try to get our Legislature to support education. . . . I am concerned with violence on campus. We need gang prevention and a program that teaches cultural pride and family pride and alternatives so students don’t have to go to gangs. We need to instill positive peer pressure, teach students to respect and teach them multicultural values. We need to draw in parents who have communication problems to get involved in their child’s education (through) parent workshops, parent teaching programs. . . . I am the mother of three children. I have been active one-fourth of my life in the PTA here. I do volunteer work on campus. My kids see me there, and they understand that school is important.”

CHALLENGER

Patrick McDermott

Age: 66

Profession: maintenance worker for Downey Unified, retiring at the end of October to avoid conflict of interest.

Residence: Downey

Remarks: “I have worked in the district for the last six years, and I know where the faults are. . . . The biggest issue is food service and maintenance. We get a good deal on food and we buy it. There’s no supervision on what the kids” should eat. “In all (other) places where I’ve ever worked, everything was preventive maintenance, and we have deferred maintenance here. Put it off, put it off. Don’t fix it until it breaks. We should be on top of it before it breaks.” He believes that more supervisors and administrators should have been laid off during recent budget cutbacks rather than burdening the rank-and-file.