Quezada Won’t Seek Another Term on L.A. School Board

Leticia Quezada, who became the first Latina on the Los Angeles Unified School Board in 1987, announced Wednesday that she will not seek a third term in April.

Quezada, whose district includes heavily Latino neighborhoods on the Eastside and in the northeast San Fernando Valley, said it was time to move on after a decade of public service.

“I’ve always believed in term limits and I’ve been on the school board for eight years,” Quezada said. “It’s not an easy decision . . . but I know it’s the right decision.”

Before her election to the school board, Quezada served two years on the Los Angeles Community College board of trustees. In 1992, she ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

On the school board she was a strong proponent of bilingual education and was viewed by many parents--particularly Latinos--as an advocate for poor and disadvantaged children. But she was often at odds with Supt. Sid Thompson and had a strained relationship with leaders of the powerful teachers union.

She has been both lauded and criticized for her blunt, businesslike approach, honed by years of corporate work experience. She continued working full time as manager of Latino marketing and community relations with Nestle USA until she became school board president 2 1/2 years ago.

As president, she guided the board through some of its most difficult times, from the battle against a statewide voucher initiative and efforts to break up Los Angeles Unified to a threatened teachers strike and an earthquake.

For Latino education activists, the timing of Quezada’s departure is particularly disturbing because of the recent passage of Proposition 187, which would force public schools to bar undocumented children.

“What is very good about Leticia is that she not only is a visionary and . . . knows politics, but she’s also very much in touch with the needs of real people--especially Latinos and immigrants,” said Rosalinda Lugo, associate director of Hope in Youth and a member of the LEARN school reform board. “Her leadership will be sorely missed, especially after 187.”

But Quezada said she believes her successor will also be Latino and the school board will continue its legal battle against 187 and its leadership in other pro-immigrant-student causes.

Quezada said she has made no career plans beyond June, when her term expires.