3 for L.A. School Board

This election brings us many candidates for mayor and City Council who are campaigning as if they were running for school board. Actually, several candidates are running for the Los Angeles Board of Education in the April 10 election. Given the mammoth challenges facing the nation’s second-largest district, including the threat of breakup, strong leadership has never been more acutely needed.

Incumbent Valerie Fields faces three challengers. Two are likely to outspend her in a race that is expected to top $1 million, while the third, a former math instructor, has neither the money nor the political backing needed to get his message out. During her first term in office, Fields often provided a vote for reform, as long as she didn’t have to buck the powerful teachers union. This board needs independent thinkers who can consistently make tough decisions.

For example, it’s easy to support higher pay for hard-working teachers. But the salary package that Fields supported, retroactive to July 1, is expected to cost $150 million over budget. The district unfortunately has a history of making promises it doesn’t have the cash to keep. It was a critical time for Fields to stand up and say just that. She didn’t.

Marlene Canter, one of the candidates running against Fields in the Westside/San Fernando Valley’s 4th District, is knowledgeable about education and business. Her company specialized in training teachers for 25 years before she sold it in 1998. She serves on the board of Pacific Oaks College, which is known for expertise in preparing teachers and in early childhood development. She began her career in special education, an area that remains particularly challenging for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Independent of both Mayor Richard Riordan and the teachers union, the two dominating forces in the school board races, Canter would represent a breath of fresh air.

The outcome is all but assured in the 2nd District, which stretches from the dense Pico-Union neighborhood just west of downtown to East Los Angeles. Jose Huizar, an environmental lawyer, is supported by Mayor Riordan, the teachers union and many Latino elected officials in his quest to replace Victoria Castro, who is not running for reelection. His only opponent has little cash and no major political support.

Huizar views overcrowding as the 2nd District’s major problem and would work to open the unfinished Belmont Learning Complex if health and safety concerns could be resolved. Huizar says he wouldn’t be beholden to the mayor. He likens himself to Mike Lansing, a Riordan-backed board member known for his independence who challenged LAUSD administrators on fiscal issues. With Huizar’s broad base of support, he should be free to exercise the independent thinking that is so critical on the board.

Julie Korenstein has been on the board for 14 years representing the San Fernando Valley. She has dragged out school board meetings; one lasted until nearly 2 a.m., largely because of incessant and redundant questions she posed as she tried to reserve more money for pay raises at the expense of remedial education for failing students and other programs. Tom Riley, who has the backing of the mayor, was recruited by another Riordan-backed board member, Caprice Young. If elected, Riley should follow Young’s lead until he gains expertise; he will have to confront a steep learning curve, but it is time for a change in the 6th District, and Riley represents that.

The Los Angeles Board of Education sets policy for a district that enrolls 723,000 students, most of whom can and must do better in school. The Times endorses three newcomers for the board, Marlene Canter, Jose Huizar and Tom Riley.