Now, on With the Reforms

Los Angeles school Supt. Ruben Zacarias should have turned down the one-year extension of his contract that the school board approved Tuesday during the final session of the outgoing board. He didn’t. However, he took a step in the right direction: He invited the new board to evaluate him in January, the midpoint of this contract year. He promised to forfeit the extra year, which would take him to July 2001, and the compensation if the new board is unhappy with his performance.

His offer is welcome, but the fact remains that a contract extension pushed prematurely by an outgoing board is classic bad management. After the 5-1 vote, with Valerie Fields the sole “no” vote and David Tokofsky abstaining, Zacarias properly appealed for an end to the divisions stemming from this controversy. The passionate dispute roiled ethnic allegiances. Some Latino political and community activists rushed to ensure Zacarias’ job for an additional year. They put the squeeze on Tokofsky, who represents a predominantly Latino area of the school district. The pressure, we’re sorry to say, worked. After initially, and courageously, opposing the contract extension, he ducked when it came down to the vote.

More is expected of Tokofsky because, although he is not new to the board, he is a member of the recently elected reform slate.

The three newcomers, Genethia Hayes, Mike Lansing and Caprice Young, will be sworn in July 1. The new members are expected to shift the focus of the seven-member board from political and personal agendas to the education of children. If Tokofsky wants to remain one of the reformers he’ll have to resist the pressures of the job better than he did Tuesday.

The controversy over extending the superintendent’s contract distracted the board from more important priorities in the Los Angeles Unified School District, an all too common situation. Two out of three third-graders cannot read in English at grade level. At least 100,000 students are at risk of being held back next year, after the state ban on social promotion takes effect. A shortage of fully credentialed teachers is expected to worsen because many veteran teachers are expected to retire. The mess at Belmont continues unresolved as the district tries to build a monstrously expensive high school on contaminated land.

When the new members join the board next week, let some of the energy and decisiveness squandered on the political issue of the superintendent’s contract be focused instead on these serious educational challenges.