CANDIDATES SCARCE FOR SLAVKIN SEAT.

Byline: Dennis Love Daily News Staff Writer

With the resignation Monday of Mark Slavkin as president of the Los Angeles school board, the question presents itself: Who will replace him next June?

Oddly enough, even though candidates can't file until January and the primary election doesn't take place until April, very few names have surfaced for the seat that Slavkin's fellow board member, David Tokofsky, calls a ``textbook stepping stone'' for anyone with political ambitions.

District 4 of the Los Angeles Unified School District rolls from the west San Fernando Valley down through the Westside of Los Angeles, a prosperous region that serves as a potentially powerful political base.

Given that, Tokofsky said Monday, the apparent dearth of prospective candidates is ``striking.''

``Normally you would see three to five hot shots in the picture somewhere,'' he said. ``Where are the kids who just came out the public system who want to change it, or the parents who are upset because they feel they have to pay $12,000 to $15,000 in private tuition to educate their children? Where are the young people possessed with politics, the agents of change?''

Slavkin, who spent the weekend moving from West Los Angeles to Westchester, said he will likely work in some ``public policy'' capacity when his term ends. He said Monday he has been approached by ``one or two'' people interested in at least talking about what the job entails. He declined to name them.

But Slavkin said one shortcoming is the position's $24,000-per-year salary, which he said means the job is increasingly suited only to retirees on pension or wealthy individuals - ``people who really don't have to worry about money. And I don't see Steve Forbes running for the job.''

``With the cost of living in Los Angeles, it (the pay) is a factor that can't be ignored,'' Slavkin said Monday.

The race for the District 4 seat is a pivotal one for a variety of reasons, chief among them the battle for San Fernando Valley representation on the board. The Westside maintains about a 60-40 edge over the Valley in voter power in District 4; despite the Valley's numerical disadvantage, some see the seat as a rare opportunity for the area to increase its influence on the board.

``It would be nice to have another board member who resides in the Valley and can more fully appreciate the Valley's concerns,'' said District 5 representative Julie Korenstein, whose presides over the board's only all-Valley district. ``We do the best we can, but another voice would be an asset.''

One potential candidate whose name has circulated is 63-year-old Jerry Horowitz of Northridge, the principal at Richard E. Byrd Middle School in Sun Valley who lost to Korenstein in a runoff in the last election. Horowitz said he has been ``asked to run'' - he didn't say by whom - but won't make a decision for a while yet.

``It's a wide open seat,'' he said. ``It's a very important seat, a swing seat . . . I think the future of our school system will be at stake. We need a decisive person in that seat.''

With the substantial issues facing the board - among them the potential breakup of LAUSD and the future of the LEARN restructuring program - the traditional wisdom has been that Valley interests lie one way and the Westside the other. With most of the disenchantment with LAUSD coming from the Valley side, the District 4 seat seems to be a major chess piece up for grabs.

But Bill Lambert, director of governmental relations for United Teachers-Los Angeles, said he doesn't necessarily see it that way.

``Frankly, the Westside and the West Valley are fairly homogenous groups of people,'' he said. ``Economically they are very similar, their political attitudes are very similar. There isn't a lot of division.''

With power shifting from entities such as the board to the schools themselves, Lambert added, geography may be less of a factor in the future.

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Photo

PHOTO Incoming school board President Jeff Horton, left, is shown with former President Mark Slavkin, before Monday night's transfer.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News