Julie Korenstein

A chronically divided Los Angeles Board of Education failed to offer President Jeff Horton a routine second term in office Monday, electing instead San Fernando Valley board member Julie Korenstein to the top post for the first time in her decade on the board.

Julie Korenstein, the longest-serving Los Angeles school board member ever and a key teachers union ally, announced Thursday that she would not seek reelection, suddenly leaving two pivotal open seats on the seven-member Board of Education. Her announcement came one day after two-term board member Marlene Canter also announced that she would step down when her term expires next June.

The two candidates for the Los Angeles school board's 6th district seat fielded questions Thursday from constituents who rarely show up at school board meetings--fourth-graders. After the debate between incumbent Julie Korenstein, who represents the Los Angeles Board of Education's only all-Valley district, and challenger Tom Riley, students at Knollwood Elementary School appeared as divided as their parents may be April 10.

City Council candidate Julie Korenstein wants to talk about "shaking up City Hall." Instead, she's being forced to explain how toilet paper winds up in a wet, goopy mess on the floor of school bathrooms. Her opponent, Greig Smith, is trying to lay out his plan to send more police officers and provide other city services to the northwest San Fernando Valley. But he's been drawn into a defense of his boss' relationship with developers, and his personal tax returns.

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson goes into the final days of his toughest reelection contest with at least $100,000 to spend on a flood of political mailers and a sophisticated get-out-the-vote drive, according to disclosure reports filed Thursday at City Hall. The embattled Bernson, benefiting from hefty contributions by real estate interests, continued to maintain a large financial edge over his top challenger, Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein, the reports show.

A Los Angeles School Board member from the Westside speaks to San Fernando Valley parents and school officials tonight, drawing charges from some parents that he is jumping the gun to campaign for next April's school board election against a Valley-based opponent. Board member Mark Slavkin scheduled a "community town hall meeting" at Columbus Junior High School in Canoga Park.

Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein asked the board Monday to take steps that could scrap the year-round school calendar introduced two years ago which has proven deeply unpopular with many parents in the San Fernando Valley and on the Westside.

If she had been on the Los Angeles City Council in recent days, candidate Julie Korenstein said, she would have "leaned toward" backing two entertainment-related taxes to help balance the city's budget, but only after slashing some City Hall "luxuries." Korenstein's willingness to rely on new taxes in a budget crunch puts her at odds with Councilman Hal Bernson, the 12th District incumbent she is trying to unseat in Tuesday's runoff election.

Developer Nathan Shapell is seeking city approval for an agreement that would prohibit the City Council from altering his huge Porter Ranch building plan for 20 years, a proposal that City Council candidate Julie Korenstein charges would unfairly tie the city's hands.

Hal Bernson got a plug from Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, and Julie Korenstein pitched herself in phone calls to undecided voters Saturday as the two Los Angeles City Council candidates entered the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday's runoff election. Bernson told about 140 applauding, sign-waving supporters at a Granada Hills park that "this is a very close race" and he needed their help in getting pro-Bernson voters to the polls. "This weekend is going to make the difference. . . .

Two seasoned Los Angeles bureaucrats will face off in May for the City Council seat representing the 12th District, a semi-rural San Fernando Valley area that was the epicenter of support for last fall's failed secession campaign.

Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein announced Friday that she is entering the already crowded race for the 12th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council, which is being vacated by Hal Bernson because of term limits. The seat represents the northwest San Fernando Valley communities of Northridge, Granada Hills, Chatsworth and Porter Ranch.

With the recent reelection of Julie Korenstein to the Los Angeles Board of Education, I hope that she makes school safety one of her top issues. I am a student in her district and I sometimes worry that when a student explodes in class and starts yelling at the teacher, the student may also pull out a gun and start shooting. I hope that all members of the school board will work to diminish this fear in the children of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Of all the things that children worry about, their safety at school should not be one of them.

Two incumbents on the Los Angeles Board of Education were leading challengers backed by Mayor Richard Riordan on Tuesday, early election returns showed. Valerie Fields, who represents a district that stretches from the Westside to the west San Fernando Valley, led three other candidates in a race that was headed for a June 5 runoff. "I'm feeling very good," Fields said during a campaign party at the Sportsmen's Lodge hotel in Studio City.

Change simply for its own sake is a step backward, and that's what The Times is promoting by not supporting school board incumbents Julie Korenstein and Valerie Fields ("3 for L.A. School Board," editorial, March 20). Korenstein and Fields pushed for higher standards and phonics-based instruction, and now test scores are up. Fields and Korenstein led the call for real merit pay--higher pay for teachers achieving the rigorous and prestigious National Board certification. They also led the charge for peer assistance and review, which makes the teachers union accountable for bringing the classroom performance of educators up to standard.

The race for the Los Angeles Board of Education seat representing the San Fernando Valley is a contest between two candidates and their formidable champions. Incumbent Julie Korenstein is counting on a tide of human support from the 43,000-member Los Angeles teachers union to sweep her into a fifth term on the school board. Challenger Tom Riley is expected to outspend his opponent, possibly 2 to 1, primarily with money raised by Mayor Richard Riordan.

A coalition of Latino groups drawing a reapportionment plan for Los Angeles school board districts mistakenly put board members Julie Korenstein and Roberta Weintraub in the same San Fernando Valley district, where they would have to run against each other. But the coalition plans to rectify the error before the incumbents get annoyed enough to fight the plan.

By next April, if everything goes as expected, Julie Korenstein will be embroiled in what most observers predict will be a tough bid to retain her seat on the Los Angeles Board of Education. It will be Korenstein's fourth election battle in six years but will be something new for her in certain notable respects. This fight was precipitated by a bitterly contested redistricting plan that carved up the San Fernando Valley and extended Korenstein's constituency into the Westside.

The two candidates for the Los Angeles school board's 6th district seat fielded questions Thursday from constituents who rarely show up at school board meetings--fourth-graders. After the debate between incumbent Julie Korenstein, who represents the Los Angeles Board of Education's only all-Valley district, and challenger Tom Riley, students at Knollwood Elementary School appeared as divided as their parents may be April 10.