UNIONS RETAKE LAUSD REFORMERS YOUNG, HAYES LOSING TO UTLA CANDIDATES.Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer Unions appeared Tuesday night to be on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of regaining control of the Los Angeles school The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. board, with incumbent President Caprice ca·price n. 1. a. An impulsive change of mind. b. An inclination to change one's mind impulsively. c. Young losing badly to challenger Jon Lauritzen and a second union-backed candidate leading Genethia Hudley Hayes. Young, Hayes and Nellie Rios Parra - who was losing to union-backed incumbent David Tokofsky - all were backed by former Mayor Richard Riordan's Coalition for Kids, which successfully backed a reform-minded takeover of the school board four years ago. Board member Mike Lansing was the only incumbent who held a substantial lead over an opponent. With incumbent Julie Korenstein, union-backed candidates would hold four of the seven board seats if the trend holds up when the vote count is final. ``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 be·hold·en adj. Owing something, such as gratitude, to another; indebted. [Middle English biholden, past participle of biholden, to observe; see behold. 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 San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , 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 UTLA United Teachers of Los Angeles (California) 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 LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) can be fixed, despite its size. If Young is re-elected, secession leaders across the city said, 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 Bombarding is the process of 'pumping' a Cold Cathode Lighting tube (otherwise called Neon Signs). Information A detailed process of bombarding can be found here, Bombarding. voters with glossy mailers and television commercials accusing his opponent of mismanagement mis·man·age tr.v. mis·man·aged, mis·man·ag·ing, mis·man·ag·es To manage badly or carelessly. mis·man  age·ment n. , 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
``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.'' 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 East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. . Rios Parra, a coalition-financed candidate who was seen as his most formidable opponent, was running a distant second but a runoff was still possible. ``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 Trickle down An economic theory that the support of businesses that allows them to flourish will eventually benefit middle- and lower-income people, in the form of increased economic activity and reduced unemployment. .'' 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 The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. board. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer (2) Los Angeles Unified School District board President Caprice Young was losing as vote counting neared an end in her race for a new term. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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