Which Way, L.A.?

Debate for Superintendent of Public Instruction

California-s Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected statewide to run the Department of Education and to execute policies set by the State Board of Education, which is appointed by the Governor. The office is officially non-partisan. The two top vote-getters are Democratic State Senator Jack O-Connell, a 20-year veteran state legislator representing California-s Central Coast, and Katherine Smith, a 30-year veteran of real estate management who-s president of the Anaheim Union High School District. Does either have a formula for rescuing California-s public schools? We find out as they present their thoughts on improving the state of state education, the importance of teacher accountability and the value of class size reduction. Newsmaker: New Survey Shows Davis Leading Simon by 10 Points A month ago, the Public Policy Institute of California showed Gray Davis leading Bill Simon by 8 points in the Governor-s race. Since then, Simon made what turned out to be a false accusation against Davis, and Davis- TV ads have switched from the negative to the positive. Has all that made any difference? Mark Baldassare, who directs the PPIC-s survey, says voter turnoff is largely unchanged. Reporter-s Notebook: Proposition 50: Yet Another Water Bond Initiative Proposition 50, the fourth water bond on the California ballot in six years, is an initiative measure, put on the ballot by a signature-gathering campaign. The proposition would allow $ 3.4 billion in bonds to be sold for a host of water projects. Nancy Vogel, who reports from Sacramento for the LA Times, analyzes the measure that has divided environmentalists and developers up and down the state.