Zacarias Gets Key Backing for Job Extension

After an intense political battle, Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ruben Zacarias on Monday clinched the majority of school board votes needed to approve a one-year extension of his $188,000-a-year contract.

The critical fourth vote on the seven-member panel was signaled during a rally for Zacarias at which school board member Jeff Horton announced, “I’m in favor of it.”

“I owe my allegiance to the children who are beginning to see the benefits of reforms implemented under this superintendency,” said Horton, whose tenure on the board ends June 30. “I’m in favor of renewing the contract and allowing those reforms to have a chance to succeed before the district is plunged into chaos.”

Board members Barbara Boudreaux and George Kiriyama, who also recently lost reelection bids, and Victoria Castro had already publicly endorsed the controversial proposal to extend Zacarias’ contract before three newcomers take their seats next month.

The school board is expected to vote on the matter behind closed doors today. Zacarias has declined to comment until after the vote.

Mike Lansing, who was elected to the seat currently held by Kiriyama, expressed concerns about the public’s perception of the politics swirling around the board debate.

“A lot of people have been saying, ‘Gosh, I can’t believe all these things are happening just before you guys even take office,’ ” Lansing said in an interview. “I tell them, ‘It’s all part of the current mind-set on the board, and something that we have to change come July.’ ”

The four incumbents were among 50 people who attended the rally at Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters, led by elected officials and community leaders including state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles).

“At a time when we are implementing major changes--the end to social promotion, the mandates of [anti-bilingual education] Proposition 227, class size reduction--we must have continuity,” Polanco said. “Secondly, it is neither fair nor logical to ask a new set of board members to do an expedited evaluation of Dr. Zacarias when they have absolutely no experience working with him.”

Besides, Polanco and others said, it would not be unprecedented for a board to act on a matter of critical importance to incoming members. The previous board authorized a two-year extension of then-Supt. Sid Thompson’s contract just a few days before Kiriyama and David Tokofsky took their seats on the panel.

The deadline for extending Zacarias’ three-year contract, which was due to expire in July 2000, is Jan. 1. The debate over whether the current board should extend the school chief’s job or defer to the newcomers has galvanized Latinos, who make up 70% of the city’s student population.

Supporters say no one has done more to reform the district than Zacarias. As evidence, they point to the attention he has focused on the 100 poorest-performing schools, on demoting weak principals, and on establishing performance standards and a system of accountability.

“The man’s roots are in East Los Angeles. Zacarias is a favorite son,” said educator and community activist Sal Castro. “The Latino community is flexing its muscles in support of Zacarias, who deserves the extension.”

Of particular concern to Zacarias’ many supporters is that three newly elected board members and incumbent Tokofsky, who won reelection in April, were heavily financed by Mayor Richard Riordan.

The mayor and his successful slate of candidates are widely perceived as wanting Zacarias replaced at the first opportunity, as part of an effort to reform the district from top to bottom.

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) said in a prepared statement, “I am informed that there is an active, behind-the-scenes effort by a number of key private-sector leaders to replace the superintendent with a corporate czar model of control in the district, one in which the board members will play a diminished role.”

“They may move to directly dump the superintendent, or more likely phase the effort between now and January beginning with an audit or evaluation process.”

Hayden added: “This could cause a prolonged adversarial atmosphere during the initial months of the new board’s tenure.”

Riordan was unavailable for comment, but spokesmen have repeatedly denied that any such plot is afoot.

“My main concern is over why this issue has to be so politicized,” Lansing said. “How the public views this in terms of how the board does its business is my second-largest concern.”

Tokofsky, who won reelection by a few hundred votes in a heavily Latino district, has been criticized by constituents over his opposition to the contract extension on the grounds that it would put the superintendent “in a bad position with the new board members.”

After Monday’s rally, a dozen Latino community leaders marched into school district headquarters angrily chanting, “Where’s Tokofsky? We want Tokofsky!”

“He’s been using our community--and lying to us,” said Gina Alonso, chairwoman of a group called United Communities. “If he’s not going to respect our community, we’re going to recall him--and my name will be first on the petition.”

“We’ve been double-crossed by David!” shouted another man.

Adding to the furor, the fact that Kiriyama drafted the motion to extend Zacarias’ contract just four days after the superintendent offered him a job as an adult school principal has raised questions about the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Both men insist it was a coincidence.

As for the other incumbents, Julie Kornstein remains undecided on the contract issue. But Valerie Fields has her mind made up.

“I’m opposed to extending the contract now--it’s defying the will of the people who voted for three new board members,” she said. “And it’s a mistake for Zacarias because he’s going to be starting off on the wrong foot with the new board.”

Harold Williams, president emeritus of the J. Paul Getty Trust and president of a group of local business and civic leaders organized to improve governance of the school district, agreed.

“Who’s going to vote for extending the contract? The three losers in the last election and Castro, a longtime supporter of Zacarias,” he said. “We’ll just have to move on from here.”