Professor Favored for Human Relations Post

A professor of education with expertise in conflict resolution is the Los Angeles Board of Education’s first choice to direct its new Human Relations Commission, sources confirmed Thursday.

Edward Negrete, 58, associate professor of education at Cal State Los Angeles, emerged as the top contender for the job after he and three other finalists were interviewed, sources close to the selection process said.

A decision will be announced on Tuesday. The position will draw an annual salary ranging from $68,500 to $85,000.

“We need someone who can jump in immediately. There’s a lot that needs to be done,” board member Julie Korenstein said. “We have ongoing situations at some schools--student to student, parent to teacher, parent to principal.”

Negrete was raised in South-Central Los Angeles and taught in the Los Angeles school district for 15 years before moving to Cal State L.A. in 1985. He is now a consultant on race relations to the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“A new way of looking at race is mandated. Our differences should be embraced, they should not intimidate,” Negrete said in an interview. “I would build proactive programs that start at the elementary school level in a given area and then move up through the high schools.

“It’s a tough job. There’s no magic formula when it comes to race relations,” he added. “But I’m optimistic.”

The three other finalists are district cluster administrator Stuart Bernstein, Hollywood High School assistant administrator Onnik Keshishian and human relations expert Albert de Leon.

The new commission will replace seven volunteer commissions that were scrapped by the board in April. Board members said the change was needed to protect the district from a legal challenge under Proposition 209, the state initiative that ended racial and gender preferences in hiring and contracting public services.

Many educators had also complained that the commissions, which had their roots in the Chicano student walkouts of 1968, zealously protected their own turfs and did not speak for all interests equally.

The Human Relations Commission--which will operate with six full-time advisors, 40 volunteer commissioners and an annual budget of about $800,000--is designed to transcend race, ethnicity and other identity interests.

“The previous commissions were myopic when we needed someone to be our eyes and ears throughout the community,” said board President Victoria Castro. “I expect the new director to alert us before there is a crisis, and bring expertise and programs to our schools.”

Joe Hicks, executive director of the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission, was among those who supported replacing the seven commissions with a single agency.