Voucher Issue Splits 2 Vying for County School Board

While a supporter of creationism runs unopposed for one of two seats on the Ventura County Board of Education, the other race pits an incumbent and foe of vouchers against a challenger who supports the use of taxpayer money to pay for private-school tuitions.

Incumbent Janet Lindgren, a 72-year-old church secretary, faces Camarillo attorney Mary M. Howard, 50, in the race for the Area 3 seat that includes Camarillo, Santa Paula, Ojai, Fillmore, Piru and Somis.

Ron Matthews, the incumbent for Area 5, is unopposed. Area 5 includes El Rio, Oxnard and Port Hueneme. Elected four years ago, Matthews, 52, is an Oxnard businessman and conservative trustee who has championed teaching creationism alongside evolution in public schools.

The five-member board supports Ventura County’s 20 school districts by guiding curriculum in the county-run campuses, such as the Regional Occupational Program, Juvenile Court schools and special-education schools. The board also controls a $60-million annual budget for instruction and district support and supervises the education of about 1,750 students.

While Lindgren and Howard agree that the teaching of creationism doesn’t have a place in county schools, they disagree on Proposition 38, which would allow parents to use $4,000 in taxpayer money to send their children to private schools.

Lindgren said she opposes the initiative because it doesn’t place any accountability on the private campuses. Howard supports it, saying that “it has the potential of improving public schools by decreasing some of the enrollment.”

“But I think it needs to go hand-in-hand with some effort to make sure that public schools are not left in the lurch financially,” Howard said.

They both support state Proposition 39, which would reduce the percentage required to pass local school bonds from two-thirds to 55%.

Lindgren, elected four years ago, served on the Oxnard Union High School District board for 22 years and is a past president of the Ventura County School Boards Assn. During her first term as county trustee, the Juvenile Court schools were accredited and the board secured a $1-million, three-year grant for school-to-career programs.

If reelected, Lindgren said her priorities would be expanding teacher training, working more closely with the community colleges and the local Cal State campus and ensuring that all teachers are qualified.

She has been endorsed by state Sens. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo) and Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley).

Lindgren called herself a “common-sense candidate” with a strong reputation in the county. “I don’t have any agenda except what’s best for students. I study an issue and make a decision based on what I feel is best for the students.”

Howard said her priorities are building a new conference center, getting more drug and alcohol counselors at the Juvenile Court schools and promoting stronger partnerships between the community college and the schools.

The interim director of the Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation, which controls money for public health care needs, Howard said her business and legal experience would make her a strong board member. She has been endorsed by Sheriff Bob Brooks.

“I’m one of those cross the Ts and dot the I’s kind of people,” she said. “Having an attorney on the board with a business background would assist the board in making sure the [members] adhere to all the procedural requirements.”

The fourth-generation Camarillo resident has three children, ages 9, 11 and 13, all enrolled in the Pleasant Valley Elementary School District. Howard said her three children all have attention deficit disorder, giving her a special understanding of the needs of special-education students. She said she doesn’t believe that Lindgren’s experience as a school board member makes her a better candidate.

“I have . . . children, and I think the world the children face has changed in the 20-plus years she has been on boards,” she said.

Ventura County Supt. of Schools Chuck Weis has endorsed Lindgren, calling her a model board member. “She’s well known statewide, she asks good questions, and she does her homework in terms of researching the items,” he said.

In the past, Weis has clashed with the board’s conservative majority over sex education, teen-parenting programs and job training funds. While no such conflicts exist now, both Lindgren and Howard said they want to improve relations on the board and promote more cooperation between the board and Weis.

“The board was in disarray when I came in,” Lindgren said. “Things are running smoother, but I’d like to do what I can to make the board work more as a team and work more with the superintendent.”

Countywide teacher training programs are coordinated by the superintendent and the board. Last summer, teachers from Simi Valley to Santa Paula attended sessions on reading, math and technology. Lindgren said she wants to add more seminars for teachers countywide.

But there is a lack of space, Weis said. Last summer, the board voted to build a new conference center in Camarillo to replace the current one, which officials said needs to be torn down. But the project has been delayed because the board wanted to ensure the project would be able to meet all of the needs of the county-run programs.

Because of the delays, the superintendent’s office is remodeling the educational services center on Verdugo Way.

Howard said the county should start building now, so the county office has sufficient meeting space for teachers, parents and administrators. Lindgren said she wants to examine the needs of the various educational programs before construction begins.

FYI

For more information on this and other political races in Ventura County, please see the Los Angeles Times’ Ventura County Web site at www.latimes.com/editions/ventura/elections.