ELECTIONS : L.A. Schools Race to Hinge on Area Cities : Education: April 20 election is the first in the newly formed, predominantly Latino 2d District. Issues include safety on campus and a voice for parents.

Former Los Angeles school board member Larry Gonzalez wants to “empower parents” to run schools. Belvedere Junior High Principal Victoria Castro advocates improved school safety measures. And Southeast schools activist Willene Cooper says she offers what neither of her opponents can: the voice of the community.

On April 20, voters will choose one of the three to represent the new, predominantly Latino Los Angeles Unified District 2, which stretches from South Gate and Boyle Heights to Downtown and Pico-Union. If no one receives more than 50% of the vote, the two top candidates will meet in a runoff June 8.

As the campaigns gear up, those involved appear to agree on one thing: The outcome will likely hinge on mobilizing grass-roots support in South Gate, Maywood, Cudahy, Bell and Huntington Park. These densely populated Southeast cities have long felt ignored by the giant school district, but find themselves united for the first time because of reapportionment.

“We want to see some high visibility (in the community) among these candidates,” said Ric Loya, a Huntington Park High teacher and city councilman in that city. “If any of them becomes a stranger, they are going to find themselves in trouble.”

The candidates are seeking to guide a district in crisis. Security has become a priority in the wake of the two recent fatal shootings of high school students. All three candidates support the use of metal detectors at schools and additional anti-gang education for elementary and junior high students.

The three share similar views on a number of other issues, including their support of the LEARN proposal to decentralize the school district and their opposition to the San Fernando Valley’s efforts to secede from the district.

But while Gonzalez wants to see a bilingual “person of color” from within the district succeed former Supt. Bill Anton, Castro and Cooper would like to conduct a nationwide search to find the best candidate.

Gonzalez and Castro, who have picked up key supporters, appear to be the early front-runners. A Southeast-area ad hoc committee of local city council members, activists and educators has endorsed Gonzalez; the council of Mexican American Administrators of Los Angeles is backing Castro. Cooper is not seeking endorsements.

The 2nd District was created last year when the Los Angeles City Council redrew school board boundaries and placed the five Southeast cities under one representative in an effort to maximize the area’s Latino voting strength.

Latinos make up 475,833, or 80%, of the district’s residents, but represent only about half the 87,386 registered voters. About 92% of the 2nd District’s students are Latino, according to a 1992 school district survey.

But even though two of the three candidates for the board seat are Latino, political observers disagree over whether ethnicity should be the overriding factor in the race.

Cooper, who is Anglo, enjoys widespread popularity because of her 30-plus years of volunteer work on behalf of Southeast area schools. She has been a South Gate Education Committee member for more than two decades, serving as liaison between the city and the school district, and has chaired an ad hoc legislative committee that lobbies state officials on overcrowding and school funding.

Members of the Southeast-area ad hoc committee said they are impressed with Cooper’s dedication but don’t believe she has the money to win the race. Cooper’s volunteer campaign manager, Maria Morales, said the campaign has “zero (funds) in its war chest,”

and Cooper has not yet calculated how much her campaign will cost. She is using her home as campaign headquarters.

By contrast, Castro and Gonzalez have each raised more than $25,000, and each foresees spending at least $150,000 on the campaign. Already, the two have hired campaign consultants, opened headquarters in Maywood and Huntington Park and won endorsements.

Cooper insists that “endorsements aren’t critical” to a strong candidacy.

“I’ve learned that slick talk and lots of money make you look like a winner,” Cooper said. “But I still don’t believe money buys everything. This area deserves representation from someone who lives here now and who lived here before the fact.”

Some community leaders view Castro and Gonzalez as carpetbaggers. Gonzalez moved from Highland Park to a rented condo Downtown six months ago to reside in the district, and Castro, who lived in Alhambra until early December, now rents a home in Bell. Cooper is the only one of the three who was born and raised in the Southeast area, where her four children attended school.

Gonzalez and Castro were raised in Boyle Heights, and each has won praise.

Castro’s supporters describe her as an innovative administrator. For example, she helped establish a 40-hour training program at an Eastside clinic to help Belvedere Junior High parents cope with the stress of adolescent growing pains. An estimated 450 adults, many of them Latino immigrants, have gone through the three-year-old program.

An 18-year veteran of the school district who has served as math teacher, counseling assistant, administrative dean and assistant principal, Castro described herself as an “education reformer” who wants more freedom for schools in budget and curriculum decisions.

She advocates stepped-up safety efforts, urging that metal detectors be provided to all schools and she wants to reverse district policy that prohibits school police officers from wearing uniforms on campus.

Critics say she does not possess adequate experience outside the classroom to be an effective board member. For example, she was unable to define a Joint Powers Agreement--a tool government agencies often use to build projects or acquire land together--when asked about it by the Southeast-area task force, according to a memo released after her interview.

Castro, 47, said her background as a teacher and administrator gives her a thorough understanding of school needs.

“We need to build the environment at the school level that is conducive to learning,” Castro said. “There is supposed to be a partnership between parents and teachers and between teachers and administrators. Today, I can’t see that on our campuses.”

Gonzalez proposes the creation of boards of directors consisting of parents, teachers and principals that would set budget priorities, oversee education programs and evaluate administrators.

Gonzalez, 37, also wants the district to build a regional high school in the Southeast area to relieve overcrowding, and suggested leasing space from area universities to provide additional classrooms for junior high and senior high school students. Members of the Southeast ad hoc task force said they endorsed Gonzalez because of his numerous ideas.

“Parents need to have control of the schools,” Gonzalez said. “They are shareholders by virtue of their children being there. And it is the parents that have everything to lose if their children don’t succeed.”

But some local officials said they remain skeptical about Gonzalez’s motives, noting that he left the board after one term, 1983-87, in a failed bid for a Los Angeles City Council seat. Critics also question whether Gonzalez, who represented a predominantly Eastside district while on the board, will address the Southeast’s needs.

Gonzalez said his critics overlook his accomplishments, including a successful drive to tap Los Angeles redevelopment funds for schools. Gonzalez said he will not seek higher office if elected.

L.A. Unified School District 2

Three candidates are running for the newly created 2nd district of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The predominantly Latino area stretches from South Gate and Boyle Heights to Downtown and Pico-Union.