Schools Chief Campaign Focuses on Fiscal Management

In his second attempt to unseat his boss, the head of one of the county’s vocational education programs criticizes the superintendent of Orange County schools as being “fiscally irresponsible.”

Darrell Opp, 57, chief education officer of the Central County Regional Occupation Program, charges that Supt. John F. Dean “gambled” with tax dollars by putting the money in a county investment pool, which collapsed in 1994, leading to the county’s bankruptcy.

“That was like taking the kids’ milk money and playing bingo with it,” said Opp, who lost to Dean in 1994. “He should be held accountable for that.”

Opp, of Laguna Beach, also accused Dean of bloating the department’s budget by about 40%. Vowing to trim bureaucratic fat, Opp proposes to cut the county Department of Education by 10% for each of the next four years and return the money to local schools.

But Dean, 71, of Newport Beach, said the department’s budget has increased in recent years to about $100 million this year because of the growing student population and the rising need for instructors.

“Our budget is student-driven. The more enrollment we have, the higher the budget,” said Dean, whose department served about 14,000 students last year. “My opponent has no real concept of what the job is.”

The administrator also pointed out that he consolidated three top administrative positions to two after an assistant superintendent retired in 1994.

Since he took the post in 1990, Dean said, the department’s staff has shrunk from 1,300 employees to about 1,100.

Dean discounted the investment criticisms, saying state regulations require that the education department’s finances be commingled with county investments.

Seeking a third term, Dean said he wants to complete various projects, including the county’s $1-million technology program, which will link all local school districts to the Internet and provide them with computer support services.

Dean, a former local school district administrator and former dean of Whittier College’s education department, supports bilingual education, saying it allows students to retain their native language while mastering English.

But Opp, a self-proclaimed conservative who previously worked at Orange and Garden Grove unified school districts and in the private sector, said he strongly opposes bilingual education and would replace it with English immersion programs.