District A contest a hot one
Money major focus in school board race

By Maureen Magee
STAFF WRITER

October 30, 2000

Next to the mayoral race, the contest to represent La Jolla, University City and Linda Vista on the San Diego school board has drawn more attention, money and controversy than any other local race.

Outspoken trustee Frances O'Neill Zimmerman wants four more years to help manage the state's second-largest school system. Embraced by some as the watchdog on a rubber-stamp board, Zimmerman's criticisms of Superintendent Alan Bersin are frequent, often ill-tempered and biting.

Her opponent, attorney Julie Dubick, has more than a half-million dollars from some of the city's most powerful businessmen working to her advantage. More than anything else, including her support for most of Bersin's policies, Dubick believes her brand of civility and evenhandedness makes her better for the job.

No matter which La Jolla woman wins the seat on the San Diego Unified School District board, education politics here may never revert to the old days when campaigns cost, at the most, $50,000.

"Unbelievable. This race has been unbelievable," said Zimmerman, 60. "It is very serious and it will be very damaging in terms of the kind of (school board) candidates you are going to get in the future -- you are not going to get average citizens."

Even though two other city school board members are up for re-election -- Ron Ottinger and board president Edward Lopez -- the Zimmerman-Dubick District A contest has clearly dominated this campaign season.

Zimmerman's face and name have been thrust into San Diego living rooms since a half-million-dollar blitz of television commercials targeting the incumbent began airing last month.

Paid for by a cadre of millionaire businessmen, including Padres owner John Moores, Wal-Mart heir John Walton and Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs, the ad campaign touts education reforms and asks television viewers to "tell Fran Zimmerman to stop voting against back-to-basics reforms."

But even those behind the ads -- the Partnership for Student Achievement -- acknowledge the intent is to unseat Zimmerman and change the board majority from 3-to-2 in favor of Bersin's reforms to 4-to-1 in favor of the superintendent's policies. Trustee John de Beck consistently votes in the minority with Zimmerman.

Supporters and opponents of Zimmerman alike believe the campaign has backfired.

"The sad part is that this has shifted the debate from the issues, which is what I want to focus on, to the money," said Dubick, 51.

Dubick said she has been blamed for the ad campaign, which she believes has wrongly put her opponent in the victim's seat.

"But the one thing the (ads) do highlight is the fact that Fran really has voted against every major reform -- no matter what her reasons are," Dubick said.

In addition to the barrage of television commercials, the half-million-dollar effort has made national headlines, giving Zimmerman heightened name recognition that she said is working to her advantage.

"I think there is absolutely a backlash," Zimmerman said. "And I am thankful for that. I will continue to get my message out and rely on the fact that I have been a good school board member who has been committed to grade-by-grade standards, the (academically gifted) programs, art and music and a comprehensive education for all students."

The mother of two daughters -- both La Jolla High School graduates -- Zimmerman earned a teaching credential and worked as a substitute teacher after her husband died 12 years ago.

She has been skeptical of Bersin and his policies since the former U.S. attorney took the superintendent's job in July 1998. Since then, growing corporate interests in education and new attention to district real estate assets have Zimmerman worried about what is in store for the school system.

Zimmerman disagrees with the district's recent reforms, which keep the lowest-performing high school students in long blocks of literacy and math classes. Zimmerman believes the remedial courses targeting mostly minority students segregate students and deny them comprehensive education. The incumbent also has concerns that the district's full-day kindergarten classes are too hard on the youngest students, many who start school at the age of 4.

In fact, Zimmerman has been critical of Bersin since he was hired, and she was the only trustee to abstain from the vote to hire him. She does not refrain from expressing her dislike for the man and his supporters.

School board meetings have become fertile ground for bickering, political pot shots and predictable 3-to-2 split votes.

The five-member board oversees the second-largest school district in California, with 185 campuses and more than 142,000 students. The panel is in charge of managing a billion-dollar annual budget.

Dubick said the school board has become a laughing stock and its meetings are a disgrace because of the panel's inability to behave and conduct business.

Her experience as a mediator, Dubick believes, could be put to good use at the district's Normal Street headquarters. And although Dubick supports most of Bersin's reforms, she is not without criticism of the superintendent.

"My biggest complaint of the superintendent . . . is not building community information and support," said Dubick -- perhaps the one issue she agrees on with Zimmerman. "The administration has failed to make people part of the process."

After practicing law for 25 years and turning 50 last year, Dubick began searching for an outlet to serve the community. The mother of three -- her youngest is in private school, her middle child at La Jolla High, and her oldest in college -- has taken a leave of absence from the downtown law firm Seltzer, Caplan, Wilkins & McMahon to pursue public office.

In the March primary, Dubick won about 600 more votes than Zimmerman. The race has been largely seen as a referendum on Bersin.

If Dubick is elected along with Ottinger and Lopez next week, Bersin will have support from four of five trustees. There are very few actions that need four votes to pass, but the sale of district land is among them.

The district has for the first time in decades taken a hard look at its assets. Administrators have been directed by the superintendent to study the possibility of selling off real estate as a matter of good business practice.

It is unclear, however, what -- if any -- property would end up for sale.

Next week when voters go to the polls, the District A election could end up as a measure referendum on the public's stomach for soft-money campaign politics. It could gauge support for Bersin. It could raise red flags about the possible sale of district property. It could call an end to a divisive school board.

In a series of sparsely attended community school board debates, the district's three incumbent trustees and their opponents have traded insults. And although recent school board meetings have been stripped of any meaty issues, they have been tense, to say the least.

A final debate for all school board candidates has been scheduled Friday at the Catfish Club, a predominantly African-American civic forum led by the Rev. George Walker Smith.

Until then, the last leg of the election usually showcases big efforts -- mailers, television and radio spots -- from candidates and their supporters.

In addition to the business-backed television commercials, part of a campaign that has cost at least $545,000, Dubick has collected more $120,000 in campaign contributions. She has nearly $37,000 on hand, according to the county elections office.

Zimmerman has support from the teachers union. She has received just over $105,000 in campaign contributions from educators, professionals and parents since October of last year. She has about $14,000 on hand, according to documents filed with the county elections office.

Copyright 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.