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Subject: For the D.C. Board of Education=
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 92 08:47:18 EST
Message-ID: <31.1992Oct31.084718@AmeriCast.com>

For the D.C. Board of Education=

 SIX OF THE 11 seats on the District Board of Education are in-
volved in Tuesday's vote: two at-large positions and posts in
wards 1,3, 5 and 6. In the race for two at-large seats on the
board, the best choices are incumbent Karen Shook and the Rev.
Albert Gallmon Jr. Mrs.  Shook helped determine the excesses in-
volved in hiring more than 400 more school system employees dur-
ing what was supposed to be a hiring freeze. "We are over budget
in personnel costs. We are beginning to make inroads, but we are
not there yet," she says. She has served exceptionally well on
the board.  The Rev. Gallmon has been involved in many important
community issues - on the right side. He is intellectually ener-
getic and a man self-evidently committed to improving the city's
schools and doing well by its children, including the disadvan-
taged. He would bring an inspired moral presence to the board as
well as experience as a former banker and businessman.

 In Ward 1 the most promising candidate, and one who is properly
concerned with restoring the board's fiscal credibility, is chal-
lenger Beatriz Otero. Mrs. Otero is the founder of a bilingual
day-care center for 150 children in Columbia Heights.  She is a
founding member and board chairman of the highly successful Bell
Multicultural High School and a member of the executive committee
of the Committee on Public Education. She would be a far stronger
member than incumbent Wilma Harvey.

 In Ward 3, incumbent Erika Landberg is unopposed for the second
time, and she, too, has pledged to work toward a more fiscally
responsible school system.

 In Ward 5, incumbent Angie King Corley is the clear choice in a
field of three challengers. Mrs. Corley, a former teacher and
school counselor, acknowledges that the past practices of balanc-
ing the school board budget by shifting money from programs to an
overly large work force cannot continue.

 In Ward 6, incumbent Iris Toyer has had just 15 months on the
job, having earned that post in a special election to fill a va-
cancy on the board. In that time, however, this former dropout
who later earned undergraduate and law school degrees says she
has "learned the school system's excesses. It's time to examine
every program and determine what we need and what we don't need.
There are difficult decisions that have to be made." Mrs. Toyer
deserves a chance at a full term on the board and a shot at mak-
ing some of those tough decisions.<02:26 10-31C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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