COSTS RISE IN BOARD RACES UNION, REFORMERS PAY FOR FAVORITES.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

At odds over how to improve Los Angeles Unified, the teachers union and former Mayor Richard Riordan's education reform group are raising millions of dollars to elect their own candidates to the school board in the March 4 primary election.

United Teachers Los Angeles and Riordan's Coalition for Kids already have poured more than $500,000 into the campaigns and are expected to spend millions on TV commercials, mailers and phone campaigns.

``In the past, the unions were used to getting their way. They pretty much controlled the school board,'' said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a Los Angeles-based think tank.

``Now they are being challenged by the other side. As long as you have two competing forces or more, you are going to have very expensive races.''

Four school board members who won office in 1999 with the backing of the Coalition for Kids are seeking re-election: President Caprice Young, and members Genethia Hudley Hayes, Mike Lansing and David Tokofsky.

The coalition is supporting Young, Lansing and Hayes but targeting Tokofsky for defeat in favor of politically connected challenger Nellie Rios-Parra.

UTLA has endorsed retired teacher Jon Lauritzen against Young for the 3rd District seat, which includes the West San Fernando Valley.

For seats outside the Valley, the UTLA is supporting Tokofsky and retired Principal Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte against Hayes.

With the Riordan camp having successfully elected a school board majority in the last two elections, the teachers union is seeking to regain control.

In the 1999 and 2001 school board races, the UTLA and the coalition spent upward of $4 million on their slates.

The UTLA would not disclose its fund-raising goal for this election, nor would the Coalition For Kids, which is co-chaired by Riordan and billionaire Eli Broad, who is an adviser to Superintendent Roy Romer.

Based on the campaign finance statements for Jan. 1-18, the most recent available, the teachers union has donated more than $153,000 to Lauritzen's campaign and $151,000 to LaMotte. Much of the group's money is raised through contributions to its 11,000-member Political Action Council of Educators.

Most of the coalition's contributions were not included in the latest campaign statements, but Amy Wakeland, the group's executive director, said it has spent more than $270,000 on the election, with the majority going to Young and Hayes.

``One of the missions of the Coalition for Kids is to level the playing field so independent, reform-minded candidates can run competitive races and have the opportunity to communicate to voters their policy agenda,'' Wakeland said.

UTLA President John Perez expects the union will again be outspent by the coalition, which has the support of the deep-pocket downtown civic leaders.

``Based on past practice, whatever we spend, they will outspend us four to one,'' Perez said. ``They have got unlimited resources.''

However, what the union lacks in funding, it can make up with the support of its 48,000-strong members, who can be recruited for phone campaigns and door-to-door precinct walks.

With Young facing stiff competition from Lauritzen, the coalition has paid for five full-color, glossy mailers, plus three rounds of automated phone calls to voters. On Friday, it launched a television commercial blitz on Young's behalf.

Lauritzen's campaign, which got a head start on Young, has bombarded voters with a series of glossy mailers of its own, plus television commercials that began in early February.

Both sides have resorted to hard-hitting negative campaigning, with Lauritzen portraying Young as a failed reformer who is responsible for a bloated bureaucracy and increased class size.

Young, in turn, paints Lauritzen as a ``failed would-be politician who's run for office three times ... and lost.'' Lauritzen, a Democrat, has run unsuccessfully for the state Assembly.

Exploiting his background as a retired teacher, Lauritzen promises voters he would redirect resources back into the classroom. He proposes bringing retired teachers and administrators with teaching credentials back into the classroom to help reduce class sizes.

``One of the reasons why I am in the race is that the direction and leadership Caprice brings is a lot of the problem, rather than the solution,'' said Lauritzen, a Chatsworth resident.

Young, of Studio City, is running on a platform to break up Los Angeles Unified into dozens of smaller neighborhood districts to give parents local control, while Lauritzen is advocating a ``Valley Education Congress,'' composed of representatives from neighborhood councils.

``The key thing is parents need to have voice,'' Young said. ``As a parent of three children, I have a very personal stake that I am committed to making this happen.''

Young also is running on the district's success in raising elementary school test scores, and its massive school construction program, which promises to deliver 120 schools by the end of the decade.

Although Young and Lauritzen are going head to head, their greatest challenge is not each other, said Stern. It's voter apathy in an election year when there are no major state or national races.

``The big problem is, of course, turnout. That's the big question mark,'' Stern said. ``A very small number of people is going to make decisions. If it's even 20 percent, it would be amazing.''

LAUSD District 3

Caprice Young

Age: 37

Occupation: LAUSD board member; director of corporate and foundation relations for the Anderson School at University of California, Los Angeles 

Residence: Studio City

Web site: www.capriceyoung.com

Money raised: $189,000

Jon Lauritzen

Age: 64

Occupation: retired teacher; congressional director of ``We the People'' program of the Center for Civic Education

Residence: Chatsworth

Web site: www.lauritzen2000.org

Money raised: $186,000

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Caprice Young

(2) Jon Lauritzen

Box:

LAUSD DISTRICT 3 (see text)