ELECTION TO CHART LAUSD COURSE UNION VS. MAYOR BATTLE ON BALLOT.

Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN

Staff Writer

A multimillion-dollar battle for control of Los Angeles Unified will play out Tuesday, when candidates backed by the powerful teachers union face off against a reform slate supported by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Eleven candidates' names are on the ballot for four seats on the board -- three backed by Villaraigosa and two by United Teachers Los Angeles. The outcome, experts say, will help set the course for the nation's second-largest school district as it struggles to overcome high dropout rates and lagging student test scores.

"What's at stake is the governance of the school district and the role the mayor's going to play in it in the next couple of years," said Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor at California State University, Fullerton.

"It's really a battle between the existing network of influence within the school board and outside people, including the mayor. ... It's really a struggle over what reform really means over the school system."

Villaraigosa hopes to get four supporters on the seven-member board to push through his stalled effort to boost the number of charter schools and increase his influence in the district.

He has provided financial support for three candidates, and another supporter was elected last year. Yet another candidate in Tuesday's election is considered a Villaraigosa ally although he hasn't received funding from the mayor's group.

UTLA, meanwhile, is pushing to improve student achievement by working within the existing system.

While the mayor's supporters and the UTLA have poured some $2 million into their respective candidates' campaigns, the most expensive and hotly contested race is for the San Fernando Valley seat defended by Jon Lauritzen.

UTLA has spent about $475,000 to get the former teacher re-elected to a second term in the District 3 seat, while the mayor's Partnership for Better Schools has contributed about $915,000 to Tamar Galatzan, a deputy city attorney and the wife of Brendan Huffman, chief of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.

Lauritzen has touted his experience with the district and on the board, while Galatzan has promised to bring a vision for reform. Teacher Louis Pugliese, third candidate in the race, has vowed to be an independent voice on the board.

The union has also donated $450,000 to the campaign of District 1 incumbent Marguerite LaMotte, who is being challenged by charter school leader Johnathan Williams and publisher Gloria Zuurveen.

Williams, considered Villaraigosa's ally, has received more than $810,000 in donations from individuals and groups nationwide who support public-school reform.

In the District 5 race to succeed David Tokofsky, who opted not to seek a fourth term, Yolie Flores Aguilar got $115,000 from Villaraigosa's team, while teacher Bennett Kayser got no contributions from UTLA.

And in the District 7 race, retired LAUSD administrator Richard Vladovic got about $150,000 from the Partnership for Better Schools. He is running against retired principal Neal Kleiner and California Teachers Association organizer Jesus Escandon to fill the seat being vacated by two-term board member Mike Lansing.

Board President Marlene Canter, a vocal opponent of the mayor's efforts to gain a greater role in LAUSD, said the election outcome is crucial for the district's students.

"I encourage people to make it a priority to vote," said Canter, who's not running in the election. "The dynamics (on the board) will definitely change."

Monica Garcia, a Villaraigosa ally, said at the very least there will be two new board members in the two open seats on July 1, and she hopes they will bring a fresh perspective -- much like she did as a new board member last year.

"There's an opportunity for new energy, new vision ... it'll move us forward," she said. "The fact that I was a new board member created a new dynamic, it created another set of eyes and another voice that moves the organization, so I think the fact that we are for sure seeing a new board is significant.

"What we continue to struggle with is the need for urgency, the need for change and the need for us to better serve students."

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