PUBLIC FORUM : OVERSIGHT NEEDED.

I wholeheartedly support your call in your editorial (``Cry for help,'' Feb. 12) for greater oversight of the funds and resources of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

I do wish, however, that you had taken the opportunity to support my call for the creation of the position of an inspector general. It is an idea you have endorsed in the past and one that has been used by many other government agencies to ensure that corruption and malfeasance is rooted out and prosecuted.

It is my firm belief that, without an inspector general, this district and its budget of more than $6 billion will continue to be vulnerable to those who would steal from our children. My motion has lacked a board majority for almost a year.

In this time there have been many incidents, each of which I thought would cause enough uproar that my colleagues and the superintendent would see the need for an IG. Sadly, I do not believe this latest crime will result in the necessary oversight, but readers should not give up hope. I will continue to keep fighting for more oversight and, with all your help, this district will eventually do the right thing.

- David Tokofsky

Member of the Board

5th District

Forgive this

Regarding President Clinton's apology:

The president states that any person asking for forgiveness must be prepared to give it.

We have watched for the past year as the Clinton attack dogs set out to destroy the people who tried to bring the president's conduct before the public. When the attacks failed, we heard the president call for an end to ``the politics of personal destruction.''

We have listened as the meaning of words coming out of the mouths of the president and his supporters mutated to match political and public-relations needs. Words such as ``sex,'' ``alone'' or ``lying'' came to mean something quite different from the generally accepted meaning.

Now we hear the word ``forgiveness.'' We must wonder what awaits those who might be about to receive the Clinton version of forgiveness.

- Jerry L. Allen

Woodland Hills

No guts, no glory

What a combination! A profoundly sorry, habitual liar and a gutless Senate.

- Paul Spink

Los Angeles 

Moral superiority

The Republicans are loudly proclaiming that they will capture the White House in 2000 and ``return morality to government.'' Would that be the morality of Helen Chenoweth, Henry Hyde, Dan Burton, Bob Livingston, etc.?

Apparently, their definition of morality is: ``When you're caught committing adultery, 'fess up and your virtue is intact.''

- Bernard Feuerman

Winnetka

Learn the language

I see the Los Angeles City Council has called for opposition to House Rule 50, which would repeal the Bilingual Education Act and amend the 1965 Voting Rights Act to repeal bilingual voting requirements (``Council to oppose federal English bill,'' Daily News, Feb. 13). That figures.

While immigrants have much to offer that is positive, the fact remains that English is still our national language in actual use. I feel that it is up to those from other parts of the world who immigrate here to adjust to this country's traditions, language and responsibilities.

Having pride in their backgrounds is admirable, and I can certainly understand that, but there is no reason whatsoever for their allegiance to their original homelands to supersede complete loyalty to this, their new country.

If they want to come to this country, fine, but first and foremost it is their responsibility to be willing to become Americans in every sense of the word. And they can start by learning the language of the land.

- Graydon Wayne

Santa Clarita 

Rotten forest deal

Regarding the Feb. 7 article by Lisa Mascaro, ``Forests feeling wear and tear of local visitors'':

I felt that $30 for an annual Forest Adventure Pass was a good investment in the national forests, so I didn't mind the fees. I hoped that we would give a little, the government would give a little, and there would be a vast improvement in our national forests.

I was shocked, but not surprised, to read that the Forest Service had to cut the recreation budget in both the Angeles and Los Padres national forests.

So the bottom line is that while we were giving, the government was taking. That was a devious maneuver by those charlatans in Washington - the president, his administration, Congress, etc.

I should have known better than to trust the government to do the right thing.

- Steve Gabel

North Hills

Unfair knock on Kochevar

Your recent editorial on the appointment of a new Van Nuys Airport manager (``Headed for clearer skies,'' Feb. 11) was a mean-spirited and unethical attempt to further the newspaper's political interests at one person's expense.

I suggest you begin with the mayor's appointed Board of Airport Commissioners who actually have the authority to effect change and set airport policy.

In regards to Airport Manager Ron Kochevar's performance, let's set the record straight. During the past seven years, Kochevar has improved airport safety through a number of runway, taxiway, lighting and signage improvement projects. After the devastating Los Angeles riots and Northridge Earthquake, he made the airport available as a staging area for vital relief efforts.

During his tenure, the residents of Los Angeles have had the opportunity to help benefit dozens of local nonprofit organizations, see their tax dollars at work and witness the first ever Los Angeles flyover of the B-2 stealth bomber at the annual Aviation Expo. Congratulations, Daily News and Valley VOTE for giving the Valley's most positive family event an undeserved black eye.

In addressing the noise issue, Kochevar has established a satellite Noise Management Office with a team of employees dedicated to reducing noise at the source, utilizing a state-of-the-art noise monitoring and tracking system. In fact, he has helped implement virtually every recommendation in the original Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study, including a one-hour extension of the airport's partial curfew and plans for a residential soundproofing program.

Your recent article also failed to mention that the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council, an 18-member citizens panel, recently passed a unanimous resolution commending Kochevar for his outstanding services as an airport manager.

So, for the record, let's be honest. The Daily News has waged a political war against Van Nuys Airport in the name of Valley secession. The casualties are individuals such as Kochevar, who is being unfairly blamed, and ordinary citizens who are being denied the truth.

- Cristina Smith

Northridge

Reagan shines

Joe Goodchild may not share my enthusiasm for President Reagan (Public Forum, Feb. 15), but we do agree that serious change is needed in Washington. I, too, probably would have voted for Jesse Ventura in Minnesota. He is a refreshing dose of honesty and sincerity.

I would point out to Goodchild that much of Reagan's appeal was because he had these same characteristics. The liberal news media attempted to convince people that his sincerity was all an acting job. The GOP haters bought it, but most knew better. Sincerity, or the lack of it, always comes through. It's not difficult to detect. Observe President Clinton for a lesson in how a phony tries to act sincere. Despite his long-practiced acting skills, he can't hide phoniness.

Goodchild blames Reagan for the arms-for-hostages debacle. The news media worked overtime attempting to connect Reagan to this, as well as every other misdeed done by others during his watch. Reagan rose above these attacks and demonstrated true leadership skills by accepting the responsibility for the flaws of his administration, even though none was of his own doing.

Goodchild further comments, ``It has been widely accepted that President Reagan was of only mediocre intelligence.'' I don't know who administered the IQ test and I don't recall seeing any published results. This is another bit of nonsense promulgated by those attempting to diminish Reagan's accomplishments.

Restoring faith in America, bringing back feelings of patriotism, ending the cold war and bringing down the Berlin wall were not the works of a dummy.

- William M. Hamburg

Woodland Hills

UTLA president condemns attack on principal

Re: ``Parents say new principal needed at Burton,'' Feb. 12:

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I saw community groups with an ax to grind accuse teachers of torturing students in East L.A. with whips and cat-o'-nine-tails and of committing other atrocities conjured up by overheated imaginations.

That's why statements about teachers that appeared in your article about the controversy at Burton Elementary School were so disturbing. They stir memories of the hyperbole and hysteria of the witch hunts endured by teachers in the past.

We also do not like double talk. The attack against Principal Norman Bernstein is simply to be condemned, as we condemn an attack against anyone on any school campus - or anywhere, for that matter.

That condemnation cannot be mixed with other messages that speak of ``condoning,'' ``understanding'' or ``excusing'' the action. To say the attack was inexcusable and make excuses in the same breath is itself inexcusable.

United Teachers Los Angeles asks all public officials, all civic organizations of goodwill and the entire Los Angeles Unified family not only to stand against violence but also to stand against the divisions that arise from misunderstanding in our schools and in our community.

- Day Higuchi

President

United Teachers Los Angeles