LONGTIME TEACHER JON LAURITZEN DIES FORMER VALLEY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER WAS 68.

Byline: RICK COCA

Staff Writer

Jon Lauritzen, who used decades of experience in the classroom to help teachers and students as a Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education member, has died. He was 68.

Lauritzen, who grew up in rural Arizona and represented the San Fernando Valley's 3rd District on the board, died Monday after a long battle with brain cancer. A Chatsworth resident, he was elected to the school board in 2003, but lost his bid for re-election earlier this year.

"He personified everything that was good about a teacher," said A.J. Duffy, United Teachers Los Angeles president. "If you put the word teacher in the dictionary, you could very easily put Jon Lauritzen's picture. ... He was truly a good guy."

Former LAUSD board member David Tokofsky said that on an often contentious board Lauritzen was a "gentle gentleman" who never forgot his rural background and believed that education was a vital function to a successful democracy.

"Schools have made a difference in his life as a frontier kid in a one-room schoolhouse and so he thought that schools ought to make a difference in every student's life," said Tokofsky.

With a mother who taught in elementary schools in Arizona and in the San Fernando Valley, Lauritzen's love of teaching began early and carried on into the next generation.

"His wife and daughter are both teachers, so it was one of those families that really, really valued teachers," Tokofsky said.

Former LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer said that despite differences on some issues, he and Lauritzen had much in common.

"We both came from a rural, small-town country atmosphere," Romer said. "Yet, here we were sharing our abilities to try and run the second- largest school district in the country. We had a common language.

"There was a great respect between the two of us even when we differed."

Lauritzen's family arrived in the San Fernando Valley in 1954, according to Lauritzen's school district biography.

A Canoga Park High School and Pierce College graduate, Lauritzen earned two degrees as well as a teaching credential from California State University, Northridge.

Enlisting in the U.S. Army, Lauritzen rose to the rank of second lieutenant before returning to the San Fernando Valley along with his wife, Janice, where the two embarked on their respective teaching careers.

Lauritzen spent 17 years as a math and computer science teacher at Columbus Middle School before transferring to Canoga Park High School, where he developed computer courses for both faculty and students.

As a board member, Lauritzen was a staunch supporter of the teachers and the teachers union. He worked to dismantle the district's bureaucracy and believed schools should be given more autonomy to reduce the need for districtwide staffers. He also fought to cut the number of local districts from 11 to eight.

"The people of Los Angeles have lost a first-rate educator, public servant and neighborhood leader," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a statement. "Jon Lauritzen worked tirelessly to fulfill the promise of a public education, that hard work in our classrooms will lead to success in life. He believed teaching personal responsibility, honesty, discipline and respect were essential to preparing students to become active members of society."

Lauritzen is survived by his wife, Janice; children, Eric and Ridi; and sisters, Hallie Spence and Karen Shapley.

Staff Writer Naush Boghossian contributed to this report.

rick.coca(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Jon Lauritzen visits with fellow Los Angeles Unified School District board member Julie Korenstein in Granada Hills on May 15 as they await election results.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer