TOKOFSKY'S TOUGH CHALLENGE SCHOOL CANDIDATES PREPARE FOR PRIMARY.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

Targeted for defeat by downtown power brokers and three challengers, Los Angeles school board member David Tokofsky faces a tough race for re-election in the March 4 primary.

One of four incumbents seeking re-election, the former Marshall High School teacher is the only one expected to be forced into a runoff to defend his 5th District seat in East Los Angeles and independent Southeast cities.

The Coalition for Kids, a well-funded campaign finance group that once supported Tokofsky, is now backing challenger Nellie Rios-Parra, a preschool educator. Co-chaired by former Mayor Richard Riordan and billionaire Eli Broad, the coalition has so far donated $100,000 to Rios-Parra, making her a competitive candidate.

In the meantime, Tokofsky's most influential backer, United Teachers Los Angeles, has contributed only $30,773 to his campaign. The UTLA has reserved most its cash for retired educators Jon Lauritzen and Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte to unseat board president Caprice Young and Genethia Hudley Hayes, who were both elected with the coalition's support.

But the California Teachers Association also donated $25,000 to Tokofsky, and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, $11,000.

The most recent campaign finance statements dated Jan. 19 through Feb. 15 showed that Tokofsky had raised $176,571 - about $54,000 more than Rios-Parra, whose contributions total about $122,000.

``The focus is increasingly on a runoff between David and Rios-Parra. That's where the smart money is,'' said Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Edmund G. ``Pat'' Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.

``Most ... don't expect David to win outright in the primary,'' which requires 50 percent of the votes plus one, he said. ``If he does, I would be surprised because he has been targeted.''

But Tokofsky appears to have significant grass-roots support with $21,000 of his campaign chest coming from contributions of $100 or less, while Rios-Parra's small contributions totaled $6,900.

With four candidates vying for the 5th District seat - the most crowded of this year's Los Angeles school board races - contributions for that election so far total $438,000, making it the third most expensive.

The most expensive race is between Lauritzen and Young in the 3rd District covering the West San Fernando Valley, with each raising more than $700,000. The coalition has put $611,540 into Young's race while UTLA poured about $623,000 into Lauritzen's.

The second most expensive race is between incumbent Hayes and challenger LaMotte in the 1st District covering southwest, South Central and West Los Angeles. Hayes has raised nearly $268,000 - $100,000 from the coalition, while LaMotte's contributions total $425,000, including $400,000 from the UTLA and the California Teachers Association.

The least expensive race is in the 7th District, which covers the Harbor area. Incumbent Mike Lansing, a heavy favorite, has raised nearly $130,000 - $50,000 of which came from the coalition. His challenger, tax auditor Gilbert Carrillo, has only reported $2,500 in contributions.

Besides Rios-Parra, two other Latino candidates are challenging Tokofsky to represent the heavily Latino 5th District: Maria Lou Calanche, a political science professor at East Los Angeles College, and Jose Sigala, district director for California Assembly Majority Leader Marco Firebaugh. Sigala has raised more than $83,000 and Calanche, $56,000.

Once encompassing the East San Fernando Valley, the 5th District was redrawn substantially last year in a redistricting scheme that was widely perceived to benefit Young and hurt Tokofsky.

That district's boundaries are now entirely outside of the Valley, extending from Eagle Rock and Los Feliz to include a string of independent Southeast cities, such as Cudahy, Bell and South Gate. It's nearly 73 percent Latino - making it the most heavily Latino area within the Los Angeles Unified School District. Approximately 40 percent of the 5th District is new.

``It's been tailored as a district ready-made for Latino candidates,'' said Regalado, who predicts that the three Latino candidates will split the vote.

Tokofsky, who won his two previous elections by narrow margins against Latina candidates and who holds two degrees in Spanish, said his ethnicity is irrelevant.

``I think when people can't think of any other topic, such as my leadership or watchdog role or instructional success as a teacher, they try to say the `L word,''' he said. ``I think the real `L word' is leadership.''

During his eight years on the school board, Tokofsky built a reputation as an outspoken critic of waste, a maverick who counterbalances the board majority with dissenting votes, and an individual willing to expose the district's embarrassing shortcomings.

He has criticized the environmentally troubled Belmont Learning Center as a boondoggle and opposed the district's acquisition of the Beaudry building for its new headquarters, which cost taxpayers more than $150 million. One of his proudest accomplishments is the creation of the Inspector General's Office to stem abuse.

Most recently, Tokofsky was one of three board members who voted against increasing class size to balance the district's budget.

However, the traits that endear Tokofsky to supporters anger others who see him as a renegade. In explaining their opposition to Tokofsky's re-election, members of the Coalition for Kids privately accuse him of not being a team player.

Coalition director Amy Wakeland said the group supports Rios-Parra because ``people in the 5th District are extremely dissatisfied with the status quo.''

Wife of Alvin Parra, East Los Angeles field deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, Rios-Parra is the director of the Lennox School District State Preschool Program. A former elementary school teacher, she holds a multiple-subject teaching credential along with two master's degrees in education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

``With my experience, background, knowledge and education, I am definitely someone who can represent (the 5th District) and serve well on the school board,'' said Rios-Parra. ``I have classroom experience, but I also have administrative experience.''

Rios-Parra said if elected, she would focus on keeping new school construction on track, and recruit and retain qualified teachers to staff them. She said she would also make sure ``parents are involved in the decisions made on school sites.''

Tokofsky said his knowledge of the intricacies of the district bureaucracy makes him the best candidate. If elected, he said he would focus on the classroom.

``I am going to fix what happens in the classroom, how we retain, train and obtain the best teachers we can,'' he said.

``I am going to make sure we give solid, basic, demanding curriculum to children who are spending more time playing with Game Boys than they are learning about the physical and social world around them because they can't read.''

LAUSD District 1

Genethia Hudley Hayes

Age: 57

Occupation: LAUSD board member

Residence: Leimert Park

Web site: www.genethiahudleyhayes.org

Money raised: $267,800

Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte

Age: 69

Occupation: Retired educator

Residence: West Adams District

Web site: www.margueritelamotte.com

Money raised: $425,000

LAUSD District 5

Jose Sigala

Age: 33

Occupation: District director for Assembly Majority Leader Marco Firebaugh

Residence: Echo Park/Silver Lake

E-mail: jose-sigala(at)yahoo.com

Money raised: $83,200

Maria Lou Calanche

Age: 34

Occupation: Political science professor at East Los Angeles College

Residence: Highland Park

E-mail: calanche2003.com

Money raised: $56,000

Nellie Rios-Parra

Age: 35

Occupation: Director of the state preschool program for Lennox School District

Residence: El Sereno

E-mail: nellie4kids.com

Money raised: $122,100

David Tokfosky

Age: 42

Occupation: LAUSD board member

Residence: Eagle Rock

Phone number: [phone]

Money raised: $176,000

LAUSD District 7

Mike Lansing

Age:46

Occupation: Executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of San Pedro

Residence: San Pedro

Phone number: [phone]

Money raised: $124,900

Gilbert Carrillo

Age: 37

Occupation: Senior tax auditor for the California Board of Equalization

Residence: Wilmington

E-mail: gcarrillo4member7(at)sbcglobal.net

Money raised: $2,500

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Jose Sigala

(2) Maria Lou Calanche

(3) Nellie Rios-Parra

(4) David Tokfosky

(5) Genethia Hudley Hayes

(6) Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte

(7) Mike Lansing

(8) Gilbert Carrillo

Box:

LAUSD (see text)