[Second of two parts. See “It Is Time to Confront Thorny Issue of Permits,” Says Contender Zeidman,” Oct. 2.]
With less than a month to go before the School Board election on Nov. 6, the candidate C. Scott Zeidman is getting the kind of instant education all first-time campaigners encounter:
In this case, it is about numbers. Statistics that may excite you can be a curse or a blessing. Which are they? Twenty percent of the public school enrollment in Culver City arrives here each morning via permit, a number that some find troubling.
Mr. Zeidman was saying the other day that it is time for the Culver City Unified School District to scrutinize the slippery, rubbery subject of permits issued to students living outside of the city limits.
Now About ‘Liars’
“You know that Benjamin Disraeli (the 19th century British politician) said there are liars, damned liars and then there are statistics,” Mr. Zeidman recalled. “I have been told we are adding in new permits (presumably because of declining enrollment) in the Middle School and the high school.
“There are two ways of looking at the subject of declining enrollment. Our enrollment this year is down from five years ago. Fewer kids, less money. If you look at this year’s enrollment compared to seven, eight, nine,10 years ago, though, we are up.
“Is enrollment declining? Or is it declining from a major peak? You can look at it both ways.”
No Parrying. He Answers
Mr. Zeidman’s succinct conclusion: “I think we have too many kids in our schools right now. But I don’t have figures to find out what the maximum allowable would be. It was asked for, of the School Board, and we haven’t gotten them yet. If there is overcrowding, and I don’t know that there is, it would be at the Middle School and the high school.
“At this point, our elementary schools seem to be fine. They are perceived to be great. Test scores in elementary schools all are good, and all are improving. Three of the five schools are nominated for Distinguished Schools, and the other two should be.”
Walking the campaign trail through Culver City neighborhoods, Mr. Zeidman, what have you learned?
“That most people don’t know who the School Board members are,” he said, even though the same five have been on the Board for the past six years.“They have never spoken to a School Board member, and most of them are not interested in going to a Board meeting and sitting there for four, five, six hours.
“If they are interested in the schools, they don’t see a way to reach anyone. Investing five hours in a meeting to get three minutes to speak is not worth it to them.”
Acknowledging Limits
Mr. Zeidman said he understands the restrictions placed on California elected officials by the Brown Act, written in the last century with the intention of increasing the openness of public meetings.
“I would like to see our School Board members make themselves available, as individuals, and listen to what members of the community have to say,”Mr. Zeidman said. “They ought to make themselves available. But I heard one School Board member say, ‘They can find me at the market.’ I should not have to find out when a Board member goes shopping to ask her what is going on.
Greeting the Community
“I think members of the School Board should make themselves available once a week, separately, somewhere, maybe at an elementary school, for two hours. The Board member would say, ‘I am not here as a Board member. I am here as Scott Zeidman who happens to be on the Board. If you have something you want me to look into or something you want me to propose to the School Board, tell me.’
“How else are you going to get to me unless you email me, which you can do, or speak directly to me?”
Mr. Zeidman, you have spoken several times about the lethargy on the part of some residents. How would you stimulate them?
“By making it easier for them to talk to a School Board member,” he said.
“Otherwise, your choices are sitting through a four- or five-hour meeting or staking out somebody’s house. If you don’t go shopping at the right time or the right store, you are not going to meet those people.
“I don’t know how many times I have been invited to peoples’ homes. We sit there for 35, 45 minutes, talking about their concerns. People do care. There is just no place for them to go.
“Realistically, I don’t think much can be done about the structure of School Board meetings. But items of interest to the public should be moved to the early portion of the agenda.”
A Recent Example
Mr. Zeidman remembered one of the landmark School Board meetings of last school year, when the controversy over the reduction of kindergarten classes was on the agenda. Two hundred parents turned out at Lin Howe School, and 190 of them were there about kindergarten. The Board knew it was going to be crowded, which is why the meeting was moved. They expected hundreds to speak. They knew it. Yet, it was buried deep in the agenda. I brought my seven-year-old son so he could see what was going on. They should have had consideration for the people and used common sense, moving the issue up earlier.”
That was the night he decided to run for the Board where two seats will be open, those held by Stew Bubar and Marla Wolkowitz.
He is wide open, the candidate said, going into the final month. Uppermost in Mr. Zeidman’s mind “is that I am here to learn. I want the job. But I want to learn. That is why I am going door to door.”
