School Board Favors Thompson for Top Job : Superintendent: Black deputy to Anton is backed for interim post. Latinos call it a slap in the face.

A majority of Los Angeles school board members say they intend to support Sid Thompson, an African-American deputy superintendent, for interim district chief, despite intense lobbying by Latinos to fill the vacancy with one of their own.

Four of the seven board members--Barbara Boudreaux, Roberta Weintraub, Jeff Horton and Mark Slavkin--have told The Times that they favor Thompson, who is second in command of the district, over Ruben Zacarias, a Latino deputy superintendent responsible for community relations.

On Tuesday, school board President Leticia Quezada was the only board member to publicly support Zacarias. Two other board members could not be reached. The appointment of the interim superintendent is expected today, when Supt. Bill Anton steps down after two years in the district’s top job.

The interim chief will serve until June 30, when a nationwide search for a permanent superintendent is expected to be completed.

Board members appeared to be influenced primarily by Thompson’s day-to-day experience in running the nation’s second-largest school district at a time of fiscal and labor turmoil. A 36-year-district veteran, he has regularly taken command of operations in Anton’s absence and is viewed as having a thorough understanding of the school system.

“He has served well as deputy superintendent,” board member Barbara Boudreaux said Tuesday. “He’s worked very closely with the board in the absence of the superintendent. . . . To not have the second in command take over is uncalled for.”

Latino community leaders said Tuesday they would regard the selection of Thompson as a symbolic slap in the face, and they threatened to temporarily withdraw children from school and push for the breakup of the mammoth district.

Since Anton’s stunning retirement announcement last week, a vocal Latino coalition has demanded that Zacarias be named to lead the district, arguing that its 65% Latino student population would be best and most fairly served by a bilingual, bicultural chief.

“This is not racial politics, it’s majority politics,” said Gina Alonso, head of Latinos for Excellence, a coalition of 20 Latino organizations and parent groups. “We deserve a leader who is sensitive to our linguistic and cultural needs; someone who is a role model for our children.”

At the same time, black leaders have been waging a lobbying effort in support of Thompson, sending telegrams and phoning board members.

“I stand by the fact the best qualified person right now happens to be an African-American man,” said Lawrence Moore, president of the Council of Black Administrators. “I acknowledge the fact that numbers is an issue, and I’m not taking anything away from Ruben (Zacarias). But we still feel at this point in time, Sid would be the best person to serve in the position as interim superintendent.”

Moore added that he hopes the decision will not divide the district’s various ethnic groups. “I’d rather we focus on helping our kids rather than creating a racial issue,” Moore said.

Quezada described the board discussions as “touchy and very divisive. . . . Racial politics makes everyone uncomfortable and that’s what we are talking about here.”

Supporting Zacarias, Quezada said, “is an easy issue” for her.

“Both candidates are qualified, both have been with the district for a long time. When we have this kind of equality, I believe ethnicity can tip . . . the scales,” Quezada said. “Based on demographics, I can make a case for Zacarias.”

But other board members were clearly not moved by the demographics argument.

Anton’s retirement announcement leaves a leadership void in the district as it copes with the consequences of a $400-million budget shortfall and complex contract negotiations with the teachers union, which is threatening to strike over drastic pay cut proposals.

For the majority of board members, Thompson’s hands-on experience in overseeing the district’s daily operations and instructional programs make him better equipped to handle the superintendency.

Veteran board member Weintraub has said that Thompson could “hit the deck running” and that she could not think of a reason to elevate Zacarias over him.

Board member Slavkin, who was undecided last week, said Tuesday afternoon: “I’ve decided to support Sid Thompson. . . . I’m going to urge we bring some closure here and make a decision.”

Quezada said that in their closed-session discussions, some board members questioned the contention that only a Latino superintendent could be sensitive to the needs of a district with a majority of Latino students.

She said some board members voiced concerns that allowing demographics to dictate the choice means the district can only be served by a Latino superintendent. “For some, that’s very threatening,” Quezada said.

Thompson, 61, oversees instructional and administrative offices. He has risen steadily in the ranks, beginning his career in 1956 as a math teacher at Pacoima Junior High. Well-respected by district rank-and-file, he was promoted to principal and area administrator, and named deputy superintendent in July, 1986.

He and Anton were finalists for superintendent in 1987, a post that went to Leonard Britton, former head of the Miami school system. If chosen, Thompson would be the district’s first black superintendent. Anton was the first minority to head the district.

Zacarias’ career rise is similar to Thompson’s. He began working for the district in 1965, serving as a principal and assistant superintendent. He was named deputy superintendent of human resources, parent and community services last year.

In his current role, and because he speaks fluent Spanish, Zacarias, 63, has frequent contact with numerous parent and community groups, and that exposure contributes to his popularity among Latinos. They see in him an able administrator who understands the needs of Latino children.

After a heated press conference Tuesday, in which about 60 Latino leaders, politicians and parents reiterated their demands that Zacarias be named to the interim post, Quezada urged several organizers to direct their energy toward the selection of a permanent replacement.

Several Latino activists, however, argued that the interim choice would send a powerful message to Latinos about how the board views the importance of their community.

“We do not accept the board’s contentions that this interim position is just that--an interim position that will later be filled by another individual,” said David C. Lizarraga, president and chief executive officer of The East Los Angeles Community Union and spokesman of the Latino Coalition for a New Los Angeles. “We know that in this city possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

Bolstering the fervor of the Latino campaign for Zacarias has been a sense among many that the city’s power brokers have given short shrift to their demands for greater representation in key posts and boards.

Members of the Latino Coalition for a New Los Angeles, organized in the wake of the spring riots, cited the elimination of Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department division chief, from the list of finalists for Los Angeles police chief; the fight for an expanded Latino voice on the Rebuild L. A. board, and the lack, so far, of a strong Latino contender for the mayor’s race as fueling their calls to have a leader in the school district.

“This is not paranoia out of context,” Quezada said. “There is evidence in the recent past where Latinos have reason to say we are not a part of the everyday policy process in this city.”

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