School Board Debate Ends Before It Starts When Kiriyama Walks Out

An angry and disappointed audience booed loudly Thursday night at what was to have been a Los Angeles school board candidates’ debate, when incumbent George Kiriyama abruptly read a 15-minute speech and then strode from the stage and out the door.

Some of the 120 people who had braved pouring rain to attend what they expected would be a spirited exchange of ideas between Kiriyama and his challenger for the 7th District seat, Mike Lansing, shouted “Go home, George!” and “No wonder our kids aren’t learning!”

But Kiriyama, whose prepared statement focused on his accomplishments, dismissed those remarks as he strode out of the Fleming Middle School auditorium in Lomita with head held high. Dozens of his supporters followed him out.

“I feel cheated,” said Rena Marnani, who described herself as “just a mother who wanted some questions about education answered.”

With chin resting on folded hands, Lansing, a former parochial school teacher who operates the San Pedro Boys and Girls Club, sat at a table on a stage draped in posters, visibly shaken by the disruption.

“This is the sixth time Mr. Kiriyama has failed to basically show,” Lansing said. “If this hasn’t been a wake-up call about the current board members, nothing has.”

He added, “Some hard choice are going to have to made in the next few years; if we don’t, we’ll be beyond the breaking point. I feel there is a major problem. Mr. Kiriyama doesn’t think so. You can’t solve a problem if you don’t believe there is one.”

In an interview later, Lansing said: “I think Mr. Kiriyama is a nice guy, for the most part. Maybe he feels frustrated that he’s not doing enough. I just feel badly for the people who came out.”

Thursday’s forum was the third sponsored by the Committee for Effective School Governance, a group of 26 business and education leaders who have called for all members of the school board to adhere to five business-oriented principles.

The principles include forming a strategic plan, setting measurable goals and objectives, providing clear authority to Supt. Ruben Zacarias, and shortening board agendas to focus only on the most significant issues facing the district.

The committee, which contends that the board is ultimately responsible for the substandard education of children in the Los Angeles Unified School District, has mailed 107,000 invitations to the forums, divided among the four districts whose board seats are up for election Tuesday.

Nearly 90% of registered voters responding to a recent survey conducted by the committee said they would tend to vote for candidates who support the committee’s proposed reforms.

Ninety-three percent of 3,889 voters questioned by mail last month also said they believed the school district faces a crisis, and that extensive reforms are needed.

The final debate sponsored by the committee will be held tonight at the Foshay Learning Center, 3751 S. Harvard Blvd., Los Angeles. The candidates scheduled to appear are Genethia Hayes, an education activist; Moses Calhoun, a teacher; Austin Dragon, an employment recruiter, and 1st District incumbent Barbara Boudreaux.