LAURITZEN LEADS YOUNG BATTLE RAGES BETWEEN UTLA, SCHOOL REFORM CANDIDATES.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

Los Angeles school board President Caprice Young - a key reformer backed by former Mayor Richard Riordan - trailed union-supported challenger Jon Lauritzen in partial returns late Tuesday.

Two other Riordan-backed candidates- Genethia Hudley Hayes and Nellie Rios Parra- were locked in tight races, with the outcome certain to determine the direction of the nation's second-largest school system. School board member Mike Lansing was the only incumbent candidate who held a substantial lead over an opponent.

``We have had a really super campaign,'' said Lauritzen, who ran with heavy financial backing from United Teachers Los Angeles.

``The teachers were just really upset about the way she (Young) has done things on the board. I really think that our play to the fact that she is beholden to the downtown corporate interest - I think that issue has really come through loud and clear.''

Young, who was running for a second four-year term in the 3rd District in the south and west San Fernando Valley, had the support of the Coalition for Kids, a well-funded campaign finance group with strong ties to the business community.

The Young-Lauritzen race was the most hotly contested and expensive among the four board races on the ballot. The two candidates collected a total of nearly $2 million, with the bulk of Lauritzen's campaign being bankrolled by the UTLA and Young's by the coalition.

Political observers saw the Valley school board race as pivotal because Young ran on a platform of breaking up the nation's second-largest school district into scores of independent neighborhood districts.

The UTLA has consistently opposed breakup and Lauritzen believes the LAUSD can be fixed, despite its size. If Young is re-elected, secession leaders across the city say, they are prepared to help with a movement to break up the 746,000-student district.

Lauritzen ran an aggressive negative campaign early on, bombarding voters with glossy mailers and television commercials accusing his opponent of mismanagement, abuses and increasing class size.

Young's campaign got off to a slow start and tried to regain ground with heavy expenditures toward the end.

In the 1st District race in southwest, South Central and West Los Angeles, Hayes was in a dead heat with challenger Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte in early returns. LaMotte, who had the UTLA's support, raised more than $563,000 for her race, nearly double the amount raised by Hayes, who was favored by the coalition.

``We are hopeful over here in Leimert Park,'' said LaMotte, a retired principal. ``We are in this to win. My campaign was really at the grass- roots level. I think the community is speaking and the community wants change.''

School board member David Tokofsky, who ran with the support of the UTLA against three challengers, was holding a slim majority in the 5th District race in southeast and East Los Angeles. Challenger Nellie Rios Parra, a coalition-financed candidate who was seen as his most formidable opponent, was running a distant second.

``My elections are always long nights,'' said Tokofsky, who won his previous two elections by narrow margins. ``The question is, how much will I trickle down.''

If Tokofsky maintains a majority, he will avoid having a runoff election.

Rios Parra's candidacy was dealt a major blow last week when it was revealed that her husband sought millions in donations from billionaire Eli Broad, co-chairman of the coalition, in exchange for her candidacy in the race.

Challengers Maria Lou Calanche and Jose Sigala, who also ran against Tokofsky in the heavily Latino district, were well behind.

In the 7th District race in the Harbor area, Lansing held an overwhelming lead over challenger Gilbert Carrillo, who only raised $3,500 for his campaign - a fraction of Lansing's $130,900 war chest.

Tuesday's school board election was Round 3 of the struggle between the teachers union and Riordan for control of the Los Angeles school board.

In the previous two elections, the well-funded coalition helped elect six candidates to the school board with support from the business community.

Since the Riordan reform slate was elected, test scores in elementary schools have risen substantially, although secondary schools continue to languish.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jon Lauritzen is the UTLA-backed candidate for Caprice Young's seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District board.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(2) Los Angeles Unified School District board President Caprice Young was losing in the early vote count in her race for a new term.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer