Endorsements for Board of Education : Victoria Castro, Mark Slavkin and Eli Brent can provide the leadership that L.A. requires

The Los Angeles Unified School District is beset with problems that complicate the challenge of educating 640,000 students.

Horrific budget cuts have taken a huge toll on the public schools, and the financial hemorrhaging has not stopped yet. Labor problems, specifically the prolonged threat of a teachers strike, have kept the district off kilter much of this school year. Some politicians have made matters worse with an ill-timed and potentially divisive debate over whether to break up the district. Public safety is also a paramount concern because two students were shot to death on high school campuses this year.

At a time when the district needs strong, sure-footed leadership, an acting superintendent (the fourth schools chief in the last decade) is at the helm. Choosing a new superintendent is one of the major challenges the Los Angeles school board will soon face. We have suggested that the acting head, Sid Thompson, may well prove to be the best choice and that board members should consider that possibility.

For Los Angeles voters the next decision point is Tuesday’s primary, in which 10 candidates compete for three board seats. Here are our thoughts on those decisions:

District No. 2: We endorse Victoria Castro in the predominantly Latino District 2, which stretches from South Gate through the Pico-Union district, downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. A veteran educator who insists that all children can learn, Castro is currently principal of Belvedere Middle School. A strong disciplinarian, she supports the promising LEARN reforms and greater accountability at every campus. Although she is concerned about teachers’ pay, she won’t approve raises to the sacrifice of all else. Her opponent is former school board member Larry Gonzalez, station manager at KMEX-TV. He too is knowledgeable and committed to public education, but we prefer Castro, a professional educator.

District No. 4: The Santa Monica Mountains divide this newly redrawn district, which stretches from the Westside to the northwest San Fernando Valley. Despite criticism that he sometimes seeks to micro-manage schools, Mark Slavkin, the incumbent, definitely merits another term.

District No. 6: In this San Fernando Valley district, we endorse educator Eli Brent, president of the School Principals Assn. of Los Angeles. Incumbent Julie Korenstein deserves respect and has done a good job at calling attention to the security needs of schools, but she too facilely endorses breaking up the school district before the LEARN reform has had time to prove its worth. Brent would give LEARN that chance before taking up the breakup issue. This is the more sensible approach.