Glendale : Whitaker to Run Again

Glendale school board member Jane Whitaker has announced her intention to seek reelection in the spring. Seven candidates have so far entered the race for three board seats at stake in the April 6 election.

When the district faced a $6.3-million shortfall last May, Whitaker and board member Sharon Beauchamp backed a proposal to set up a broad-based community task force to re-examine the budget. They also advocated cuts in salaries of top district administrators and other personnel to help save student programs.

Both of those proposals were defeated, but Whitaker and Beauchamp received kudos from parents who feared the impact of the state budget crunch on Glendale schools and students.

Whitaker, 63, was elected to the board in 1981 and will be running for her fourth term. She opposes term limits for local officials, who unlike state and federal officials, she said, receive no perks and small stipends.

“I like the idea of term limitations on the state and federal level, where there is influence peddling,” she said. “On the school board level, however, there isn’t any of that.”