TOP DEMOCRATS TAP EDUCATION ASSEMBLY RACE KREKORIAN, QUINTERO SEEK 43RD DISTRICT PRIMARY WIN.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS and JASON KANDEL Staff Writers

The two Democrats vying for Dario Frommer's state Assembly seat are focusing on one word - education.

Glendale City Councilman Frank Quintero and Burbank school board member Paul Krekorian both know that focusing on schools plays to their respective strengths.

Quintero started a business called Alliance for Education in 1976 to retrain laid-off workers for new jobs. He retired from the job a few years ago.

``I've spent a lifetime helping people achieve their goals, so this isn't so different,'' said Quintero, a City Council member since 2001.

Now he wants to reduce college tuition and improve the type of career training schools offer.

Krekorian is president of the Burbank school board. When the attorney is not representing businesses in breach of contract and other disputes, he puts in 20 hours a week on the board for $400 a month.

``I have always strongly believed that public education is the foundation for what we hope our society will be in the future,'' he said. ``Students in public school now will be leaders, employees and citizens that our state will rely on for generations to come.''

Krekorian said one of his proudest accomplishments on the school board was helping create energy-conscious programs, making the district among the most energy efficient in the state.

The two candidates seek higher office now as Frommer, D-Glendale, the Assembly majority leader, is termed out. Frommer was first elected in 2000 in a race Krekorian also ran in and lost in the primary.

Forty-five percent of voters in the 43rd Assembly District are Democrats, and 30 percent are Republicans. The Democratic contender who survives the June 6 primary will face one Republican, Michael Agbaba, and one Libertarian, Steve Myers, in the Nov. 7 general election.

Krekorian was born in Reseda and became the first in his family to go to college. Quintero is a Vietnam War veteran, serving in the Marines from November 1965 to December 1966.

``I went over as a young American kid and came back very much changed, and wanting to obviously help people,'' he said.

Both candidates are married, and Krekorian has two young sons while Quintero has one adult son.

Quintero reports raising about $380,000 since the campaign began, including thousands of dollars from the California Federation of Teachers, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the Service Employees International Union.

Krekorian received fewer contributions from unions, but did receive $6,700 from the California Teachers Association. Other contributors include Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and the Humane Farming Action Committee.

The Edvoice Independent Expenditure Committee of Mill Valley, Calif., also has spent $90,000 to get Krekorian elected.

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