School Board OKs Creation of Human Relations Panel

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved the creation of a 53-member Human Relations Commission to tackle racial tensions at administrative levels and at so-called hot spot schools.

The panel, which will report to the board, will replace seven commissions that addressed the interests of Mexican Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans, as well as gender-equity issues, special education, and gay and lesbian issues.

Critics said those commissions had promoted ethnic and special interest advocacy, which became a liability in the era of Proposition 209, the state initiative that ended racial and gender preferences in public agencies.

“This new commission was needed the day before yesterday,” said board member Barbara Boudreaux. “Its members won’t be sitting back in an easy chair, that’s for sure. There’s some nasty things going on out there.”

Commissioners for the broad-based panel, which will identify problems within the 661-campus Los Angeles Unified School District and recommend policy to the board, are expected to be selected within the next month.

“Who will the commission’s director be?” Boudreaux said. “It will have to be a person who can walk on water, who gets along with people, who is free of biases.”

Observing the board’s activities Tuesday were dozens of Filipinos who were angry over recent racial remarks attributed to the district’s head of internal auditing. The board late Tuesday was discussing whether to terminate Wajeed Ersheid, whose problems were precipitated by a conflict with some employees on his largely Filipino staff.