Election 07:
A woman’s place is on the board

Renatta Cooper, a candidate for the Pasadena Board of Education's Seat 2 in the April 17 runoff election, put her son through school in Pasadena. But he graduated from high school nearly eight years ago.

It wasn't until recently that Cooper, who formerly taughtgraduate-level child development programs at Pacific Oaks College and Children's School in Pasadena, noticed something amiss with the way the public school district has been operating.

“I feel that if I can do something that can benefit the children in my community, then I am supposed to do it,” said the 52-year-old Cooper.

“It's a lot easier just to talk about what other people should do, but stepping up and trying to do it is a whole lot different,” she added.

Along with her work at Pacific Oaks, Cooper has also been a member of the First Five LA commission, a group that film director Rob Reiner helped create to better the first five years of children's lives.

“I really feel like I'm an education advocate,” Cooper said during a recent interview at the offices of the Weekly in Old Pasadena.

Born in Berkeley, Cooper said her parents hail from Baltimore, where streets are named after two of her aunts.

If Cooper replaces outgoing Board member Prentice Deadrick, she will be the only African-American and the only woman on the seven-member board.

What's the No. 1 issue facing the district?

The No. 1 issue facing the district is our declining enrollment, because it affects everything else we might want to do, because it affects our funding. I'd like to see less crisis-based decision making. We also need to look at ourselves as a district that's in a competitive educational environment. Given the high number of children that go to private schools in our city, we can't afford to expect them to come to us. I think if we want children from middle-class families we have to be competitive for those kids and we have to start at the very beginning. … I would also like to see much more involvement with PCC, JPL and Caltech.

How do you feel about the city's role in school affairs?

Everyone who runs for any office sounds like they are running for school board. It's really interesting, and I think the school board has put the city in a bad spot. They come to the City Council in crisis all the time. I thought it was ridiculous that the board went to the council to ask for money for the Turkey Tussle. Come on. Why should the city have confidence in them?

What's your impression of Superintendent Edwin Diaz?

It's a positive impression. He's not slick. We've had slick. Slick is usually not substantive. I am encouraged by the fact he worked his way up in Gilroy. He had almost every position there was to have there. So that tells me he has a firsthand understanding of that system. This is a bigger system, it's a more complex system, but I like what I know about his background.

What would you do differently than your predecessor, Prentice Deadrick?

I think this board doesn't work well together, and I don't blame Prentice for that. I think the dynamics of the personalities and I think it has something to do with the fact that they are all men. I don't think there is not a lot of give and take among them. … I think I am more collaborative and will have less ego invested. And certainly I am less dogmatic.  

What would you do to reach out to Altadena and Sierra Madre which have not been part of the decision-making process?

I think it is unfortunate they haven't been part of the process and I am trying to figure out how to best access Sierra Madre. Altadena is a bit simpler because of the Town Council and they have the Education Committee. I think we should work with them. When we have those joint meetings with the City Council, I think Altadena should be there, Sierra Madre should be there.

How would you address the move in Altadena to secede from the district?

Well, they are studying it and they have every right to do that. I think it's not up to me. My hunch is the county won't let them, but they have every right to engage in this project. As they do not feel represented, of course they will do this. I am committed to working with them as long as they are part of our district, and I hope they stay. Given the past history, I understand why they are doing this.

A financial audit revealed that the district is not fiscally sound. What would you do to improve financial accountability?

   I think there has to be a whole different type of planning process. I think we have to stop all this crisis-response management. I believe the current finance director we have is doing a very good job. It's probably a very good thing for our district that changes happened, and since he is an interim, I think it's very important we get a permanent finance person who works closely with the superintendent, who hopefully will have a good grasp of financial issues. I think in relationship to some of the challenges in our district, a great deal was made of the issue of technology. I would like to see the district outsource some of the technology and not try and build that infrastructure themselves.

Have you ever filed for bankruptcy or been arrested?

I have never been arrested or filed for bankruptcy. When I purchased my house there was a lien attached to it. I tried to fight it and didn't really understand it, but the expert person told me to just pay it, so I just paid it. It wasn't that much money.

If you had a criticism of your opponent, what would it be?

He doesn't know a whole lot. He doesn't have a background in education. He's a PTA volunteer. We had to fill out a lot of questionnaires. A lot of answers were, ‘I don't know.' ‘I'll have to find out about that.' I think the issues of the district are way too complicated to have someone in there who doesn't know the district and doesn't really know educational policies or practices and has a lot that he has to learn. If you don't know and you have to learn that means you are going to be heavily guided by other people because you are still trying to figure this stuff out. I also think, as an African American, it's important to have an African American on the board, and he can never be that. He says I think whoever gets the seat can represent everybody. It's a lot more complicated than that. I know it's important to the African-American community that we are represented on this board. I think it's important to the community and for the children.