EASTSIDE : School Board Rivals Keep Sights on Issues

If there was one thing lacking at a forum last week featuring the two candidates vying for the Los Angeles school board’s 5th District seat, it was political promises.

Lucia Rivera and David Tokofsky are not career politicians, which both said makes them the best choice to represent the district stretching from East Los Angeles to the northeast San Fernando Valley. Rivera is a parent volunteer at Eagle Rock High School; Tokofsky is a social-science teacher at Marshall High School.

During a two-hour debate Tuesday at Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles, all in Spanish, the candidates in the June 6 run-off election said that only parental involvement can solve the problems in the besieged school district.

“We all have to work hard at making the schools a better place for our students,” said Rivera, who recently received endorsements from Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina and City Councilman Richard Alatorre. “That has not been happening. We need to redirect our priorities. Who better to do that than a parent?”

Tokofsky, the teacher who led the Marshall High academic decathlon team to a national championship in 1987, said that finding creative solutions to dogging problems such as a lack of money is the best way to get results. He made a point to emphasize “burro” when he told the crowd of stagnating “bureaucracy” of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“It really is a jackass mentality,” Tokofsky said after the meeting.

“The district is cutting art education in the schools when it is surrounded by one of the wealthiest arts communities in the world,” he said. “Why doesn’t someone go to the Getty Foundation and ask them for the $2.4 million? It could put an art teacher back in every school in this district.”

He warned that a “poverty of the mind” is sweeping through the school system because “no one seems to care anymore what happens in L.A. schools.”

“Take me as your ‘portavoz’ [voice of the people],” he told the crowd. “I wish the helicopters dumping malathion could go up again and drop anti-depressant drugs over the school system because nobody is talking about what the mission is anymore.”

Rivera said educating parents about the needs of the school system will turn the district around.

“Parents are not part of the solution right now,” she said. “We need to teach parents what is needed from them to make the schools a success. They need to take part in the system. They need to take responsibility for their roles as parents.”

The district includes San Fernando, parts of unincorporated East Los Angeles and all of the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Mission Hills, Sylmar, Pacoima, Arleta, Sun Valley, North Hollywood, Toluca Lake, Atwater, Eagle Rock, Cypress, Glassel Park, Mount Washington, Highland Park, Montecito Heights, Monterey Hills, El Sereno and Boyle Heights.

Though some politicians have said race will be a major issue in the election--Tokofsky is white and Rivera is Latina--the subject was never mentioned at Tuesday night’s forum. More than 80% of the students in the district are Latino, but less than half of the registered voters are listed as such.

The seat has been held by a Latino since Larry Gonzalez was elected in 1983. The seat became open this year when Leticia Quezada, who was elected to the seat in 1987 and 1991, decided to return to private business. The district boundaries were redrawn in 1992 and most thought the seat would automatically go to a Latino.

Tokofsky, who is fluent in Spanish and has advanced degrees in the language, said the color of someone’s skin should not be the motive for casting a vote.

“This election isn’t about race, it’s about the spirit and soul of the system,” he said outside the school cafeteria.

Rivera agreed, saying: “I have never made race an issue. My concerns are with the children and how to get the parents involved. If that happens, we can go a long way to making the schools a better place.”

Amalia Rodriguez, a parent and a board member of the California Assn. for Gifted Children, said both candidates gave her good reasons why she should vote for them. For her, race is not an issue.

“We’re not interested in whether they’re Anglo or Latino,” Rodriguez said. “We’re interested in finding the best children’s advocate. Rivera is a good candidate because she is a parent and understands our issues. But David is a teacher and he knows how the system works. I wish we could have them both.”

Rosalba Mendoza was leaning toward casting a vote for Tokofsky.

“He has experience and he talks of making a change,” said Mendoza, who has a child in the 11th grade at Roosevelt.

“Rivera has experience in the parents’ community, but not in board rules and regulations.”

Alfred Fraijo, a senior at Roosevelt and president of the student body, said he came to the forum because while his peers are directly affected by school board decisions, they often have little input.

“We have to live with the decisions of the bureaucracy,” Fraijo said. “Parents are losing their drive to improve education, so many of us feel we have to be more involved.

“I liked what I heard tonight. The style of politics is changing. No one is promising too much. “