School Board President a Valley Booster

To some, Julie Korenstein makes her home in Tarzana, the address she has used since she ran for reelection to the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education representing the 6th District, which was redrawn in 1993.

To others, Korenstein’s home is in the northwest Valley community of Porter Ranch, where she has lived since her early years on the school board, which date to 1987.

Regardless of her official address, Korenstein, 53, is a longtime Valley resident with nearly 30 years in the land north of Mulholland Drive. She is the school board’s senior member and the only member whose district is entirely in the Valley. This month she was elected to a one-year term as the board’s president.

With 10 years on the school board, the former educator has become a self-cast champion of Valley needs, pushing heavily for air conditioning in schools and supporting the effort to split the 667,000-student district. Korenstein has repeatedly backed the idea of having a single San Fernando Valley school district.

As chairwoman of the board’s Business and Operations Committee, Korenstein has become known for her conservative approach to district spending. Most recently, she opposed the approval of the $80-million-plus Belmont Learning Center, the new downtown high school dubbed Taj Mahal by its opponents.

Korenstein’s tenure on the school board began after another member resigned midterm. She was reelected in 1989 after a bitter race against Byrd Middle School Principal Jerry Horowitz. In 1993, she ran again for the school board, defeating Eli Brent, past president of the principals’ union.

Korenstein’s political aspirations have gone beyond the confines of 450 N. Grand St. In 1991, she waged an intense campaign to unseat Hal Bernson from his 12th District City Council seat. She came in a close second to Bernson in the primary, but was overwhelmingly defeated in the general election. After that, she pledged her time and energy to the school board, saying that outside politics were not for her.

She reiterated that pledge in her recent reelection bid to the board in April, when she easily defeated three little-known opponents.