COMPTON — There will be no shortage of candidates on Election Day here next month, when voters will choose from 11 hopefuls vying for four seats on the Compton Unified School District board.

Over the course of several weeks, The Wave has spoken with 10 of those candidates. And if one unifying theme emerged from those not currently in office, it was that each would-be newcomer to the board wants to see a more cohesive body that doesn’t allow special interests to dictate its decision-making process.

“What has happened is that they have gotten away from the main focus on the issues,” said Tomas Carlos, a business administrator seeking his first elective office. “I believe that somehow, people have lost sight of the true agenda of what the board is, and that ultimately [its goal] is to take care of the kids. … They have lost focus on the students and it is very difficult to watch board meetings now.”

Added Carlos, who said understanding and negotiating complex contractual agreements “is like second nature” to him, and that voters should consider that he has “no history” with those who routinely lobby the board: “Sometimes the answer is right in front of you, but because you are upset or angry, you fail to see the answer right in front of you. You have let your personal agenda get in the way of the true agenda and that’s when you see the fighting and the disagreement.”

Board collegiality is also a chief concern of candidate Deatra Handy, a human services administrator for a foster care agency who was educated in CUSD schools. “If I can help and give back to where I came from,” she said, “that’s my goal.”

While rattling off a list of issues she would like to tackle if elected — starting a district-sponsored mentoring program and putting a greater focus on students’ mental health, to name just two — Handy sees very little chance of progress if board members aren’t able to work together effectively. 

“There is no strength in division,” said Handy. “I am hoping to … assist in that divide and be goal-oriented so that we keep our focus on the children to make sure that the well-being, education, and progress of the children comes first and foremost. I don’t know why there is that divide, but it can’t [exist] if our children are going to succeed.”

Willie D. Carson, a former CUSD director of operations and facilities manager for Compton Community College, believes his past experience working for the district would give him the ability to hit the ground running on school board business. Much of his campaign is focused on emphasizing a more practical approach to education.

“We are living in a community where not everybody is going to go to college and the  dropout rate is real high. We have low enrollment on the high school level where we have even considered closing down [Centennial High School],” he said. “With that in mind, I think that if we went out and made that a vocational institution — got together with the local unions, carpentry, painting, electrical, plumbing [businesses] and got them behind that — and identified those students that were high-risk in elementary and junior high, we can provide meaningful opportunities.”

Given the chance, “I can make some real changes,” he said. “All of us are really supposed to be there for the betterment of the district, rather than being for or against a person. We should be for what’s right.… I am still a team player. I’m not an island, I won’t go out there and try to do my own thing, but get behind those that are trying to do the right thing.”

Joseph Lewis, an educator with Compton Community College for 12 years, believes that “in order to be an effective board member and provide leadership, it is important to get board members to understand the value of negotiating and persuading others to participate in shared values when it comes to decision-making.”

If elected, Lewis said his agenda would involve promoting “civil negotiations,” while pushing for more vigorous scrutiny of district finances and putting more focus on matters of student retention. “I strongly believe that it’s based upon how you allocate those resources and what you prioritize as most important for the district — which is to try to decrease the dropout rate … especially [among] Black and Hispanic males,” he said. “I think we should introduce more retention-oriented programs, more student-service oriented programs. … We spend an awful lot of money on contracts. The way that we can deal with that is to decrease the amount of money we spend on consultants and increase the amount of money we spend on school-oriented programs.”

Candidate Paulette Simpson-Gipson said one thing that is clear about the current CUSD board “is a lack of unity.” President of the Compton NAACP and a minister at Christ First Baptist Church, Simpson-Gipson wants to change the image of CUSD schools so that they better appeal to the community, increase student enrollment, and work on decreasing the dropout rate.

One concrete plan she would like to see implemented: creation of a partnership between the CUSD, city government, Compton College, non-profit organizations, faith-based organizations and local businesses that would provide students with a network of support systems. Simpson-Gipson suggested that the widely-observed animus on the board prevents such ideas from taking shape.

“I think when it becomes more personal than about the children, I think it reflects in our decision-making,” she said. “For me I see that there is such a divide … people are lined up with each other as opposed to being lined up for our children.”

Candidate Margie Garrett is running “because I want to make a difference in the direction in which the Compton school district is going, and bring consensus and some type of togetherness on the direction in which our children need to be educated.”

A former educator with CUSD for more than 40 years, Garrett wants to address student retention and dropout rates, as well as facility maintenance. “I think we are losing our children to other surrounding districts and our dropout rate is atrocious,” she said. “There are so many children dropping out of high school, so I want to tackle the problem and figure out what it is that we can do that will keep our children in our district.

“My number one priority is...to work as a board member and ensure that the leadership that we have is focused on student achievement and successfully educating our youngsters,” she said. “I’ve  taught for 43 years, I’ve been there in the trenches trying to work things out and now I want to take the fight to another level. I want to be a part of decision-making so that whatever decisions are made they will be in the best interest of our children. That’s exactly why I’m running”

Better facility maintenance can be achieved if “we can reach out to business partners as we’ve done at the school where I worked, Carver Elementary School,” said Garrett. “And I know that it was successful and I know that we were able to get a lot of help in making that campus attractive, beautiful and clean and wonderful for the children and the employees. I was one of them and I know the difference it made in the morale of the students at that school. I know that when children have a clean, happy, healthy climate in which to learn and teachers have that same environment, it makes a difference in student achievement.”

Candidate Nydja Quarles, a CUSD teacher, did not respond to several calls and e-mails requesting comment for this story.

As for the incumbents on the ballot — Mae Thomas, Marjorie Shipp, Joel Estrada and Satra Zurita — each said in separate interviews that they had unfinished work to complete on the CUSD board.

“I believe a healthy relationship among schools, residents and the city is vital to the continued economic growth of … Compton and the health and welfare of the people who live and work here,” said Zurita, who was first elected in 2005. “It is my belief that even when there are differences of opinion and ideals, working toward the common goal of what is best for our children should be the incentive for persons with different educational and socioeconomic backgrounds to find common ground.”

During her tenure, Zurita said, she has worked to increase the district’s Annual Perfor-mance Index scores, graduation rates and college transitions as well as spare teachers from layoffs and support school renovation projects.

If re-elected, she wants to increase the transparency of district finances, secure additional funding for needed resources, close the achievement gap and eliminate wasteful spending. If re-elected, Estrada, who has also been on the board since 2005, wants to address budget cuts that result in decreased funding, pending layoffs and budget gaps. He also seeks to increase enrollment, student test scores, employee accountability and communication between departments. In addition, Estrada seeks to eliminate wasteful spending and identify other sources of income for the district.

“When initially elected … we inherited a district that had embraced a dangerous political ideology … that demanded that School Board Trustees be revered and feared, encouraged the distrust of school administrators, orchestrated the hiring and firings of key staff, and placed personal political ambition before the education of children,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Accountability of workers was near absent (over 65 percent of annual evaluations were never completed), Board leadership was lacking (one board member resigned before her term even concluded and another sporadically attended board meetings upon losing their bids for city council seats), district leadership was virtually non-existent (key Associate Superintendents were dismissed by the Board and never adequately replaced).

“The ripple effects were dire. The percentage of our teachers who were highly qualified was a little over 50 percent and no progress was made. Our facilities bond program suffered and within 1 year, over $28 million in lawsuits were filed against the district,” he added. “In 4 years, a four-member majority … has lead the charge in transforming our district in a positive way. We are not perfect, no human being is, but we understand that much more is accomplished with proactive behavior and an optimistic, inclusive attitude than with the alternative.”   

Shipp, a former CUSD educator who has been on the board for eight years, would like to continue increasing tests score, especially on the district’s elementary campuses. She wants to step up teacher recruitment in difficult-to-fill areas such as math, science, special education and social studies and get all of the teachers to a point where they are highly qualified. 

“It’s difficult, but by the same token I think we are making a difference in the kids’ lives and I would hope that the other board members would come to see that this is a children’s district, where we are doing things for children and helping them become productive citizens,” said Shipp. “I’m hoping that eventually it will catch on that it’s … not about special interest group[s].”

Thomas, a former CUSD employee and SEIU Local 660 member, feels that the teachers should be more heavily-involved in the decision-making process as it pertains to curriculum and instruction.  “I feel that classified needs to be involved and on every panel also dealing with our facilities and other issues that affect the morale of the school,” she said. “I fought hard to keep the teachers from being laid off and that I know I have done. I fought hard for employees that have come into closed session. … I fought hard for parents to be involved and be treated fairly. I am about the employees and I am about serving the community that voted for me and put their faith in me.”

As for unity on the board, Thomas said, “I don’t think [we] ever will. … No board is 100 percent on the same side because your version of right [and wrong] may not be my version.”