Southeast Area : 4 Campaign for Redistricted L.A. Unified Schools Seat

Four contenders for the Los Angeles Unified school board seat in District 2 are focusing their campaigns on school safety, overcrowding, jobs and proposed cutbacks in teachers’ pay.

The district was redrawn by the City Council last year in an attempt to increase Latino representation on the seven-member Board of Education. The district includes South Gate, Cudahy, Bell, Huntington Park, Maywood, Vernon, and areas of east and northeast Los Angeles.

The four contenders in the April 20 election are:

- Victoria Castro, a longtime educator and Belvedere Junior High principal.

- Larry Gonzalez, a former school board member.

- Willene Cooper, a Southeast-area education advocate.

- Gale Shangold, a Los Angeles union activist.

Castro, 47, said the district’s “resources and budget must address the need for safe and successful schools,” particularly in the wake of the recent shooting at Fairfax High School. She said that metal detectors should be provided to elementary, junior and senior high schools requesting them and that more counseling programs should be provided for at-risk youths in all grades.

“Kids need to feel safe at school to be at their best,” Castro said. “The biggest crime at Fairfax High is that the kids knew that the gun was being carried but didn’t have the support network . . . to talk about it.”

Although school safety is important, the board should also focus more attention on overcrowding, an issue that has long affected Southeast-area schools, said Cooper, education commissioner for South Gate and chairwoman of an independent legislative committee on Southeast school overcrowding.

Shangold, 42, who described herself as the “Socialist Workers’ candidate,” said local jobs programs need to be tied to a broader national employment agenda for young people. She said she supports teachers and students who oppose a plan to cut teachers’ salaries.

“I will be on their picket line,” Shangold said.

Gonzalez could not be reached for comment.