Hot Campaign for Schools Chief Won’t Catch Fire

There’s a heated political campaign going on in Orange County that has been rife with antagonism and peppered with charges of mismanagement and incompetence. Problem is, hardly anyone knows about it.

Although the county superintendent of schools commands a staff of 1,100 employees and oversees a $74.5-million budget, the low-profile candidates--including the incumbent, Robert Peterson--have failed to capture the attention of the public.

With little financial support and dwindling campaign funds, Peterson and his opponent, Whittier College professor John F. Dean, have had to rely on volunteers to hand-deliver brochures and on small and poorly attended candidate forums to state their positions. Since the June primary, which Dean won by a margin of 0.3%, forcing the November runoff, neither candidate has been able to generate enough money to do even one countywide mailing.

The result: Both candidates are shouting at and about each other, but they might just as well be hollering into a hurricane. However, the fact that the race is not in the limelight hasn’t kept Peterson and Dean from acting as if the campaign is at the center of Orange County politics.

Peterson, who turned 70 on Oct. 1, is past his prime and it’s time for the voters to “let him enjoy his retirement,” Dean says. Peterson counters that Dean, 63, is naive when it comes to the inner workings of the county Department of Education and is attempting to lure voters with glib slogans and empty promises.

And the campaign has its slogans.

“You have a proven product with Peterson,” the incumbent crowed at an issues forum last week. “A vote for Dr. John F. Dean is a vote for quality education for all our children!” screams a passage from Dean’s campaign flyer.

The campaign also has a slew of harsh shots fired from both camps.

Peterson suggests that Dean wants his job for nothing more than two selfish reasons--the $98,000-plus salary (which rises to more than $106,000 when mileage and other expense allowances are factored in), and a shorter commute from his Newport Beach home.

“I think the contender would like very much, instead of having to work in Whittier, to work here (in Costa Mesa) where the county office is located (so he) wouldn’t have to drive so much,” Peterson said during a recent televised forum.

At a subsequent forum, Dean stopped just short of calling Peterson a liar. Dean said that Peterson had “made statements about my professional experience that were completely untrue. If, in his final statements tonight he distorts the truth, I request and expect an opportunity to correct the factual information.”

What is missing from the campaign is a clear picture of the candidates’ positions.

Dean and Peterson have spent so much time deflecting salvos that there’s been little discussion about what plans--if any--either has for education in Orange County.

Peterson admits that there will be few “dramatic changes” in the county Department of Education if he is elected to an unprecedented seventh term. Like any incumbent, Peterson has used public appearances to tout past successes, including his brainchild, the Academic Decathlon, a competition that has grown from a local contest to a nationwide event. He also points to his “All-Star Readers Book Box,” a pet project that he claims is the answer to students who spend too much time watching television and not enough time reading.

Dean has used public forums to outline a few plans for change, including regular meetings with district superintendents, more in-service training for teachers, realignment of the county’s education budget and securing more lottery funds for Orange County schools. But he has offered few clues on how he would implement such changes and how much they would cost.

Still, Dean appears to have the upper hand at the moment. He has five times as much money in his campaign account as Peterson--$9,100 to the incumbent’s $1,700, as of Sept. 30--but still lacks enough to blanket the county with his name and position. And he also has the advantage of “a tremendous anti-incumbency feeling (that’s) out there right now,” said his campaign manager, Dave Ellis. This year’s campaign is the first real race for the nonpartisan seat in more than two decades.

But perhaps most important, Dean has the endorsement of the 15,000-member California Teachers Assn., which Ellis said is behind a “real aggressive grass-roots effort” among teachers and some administrators on Dean’s behalf.

“One thing that’s clear is there’s not a lot of love for Peterson among the rank and file,” Ellis said.

Peterson contends that “a lot of things could tip the balance” in the election. But, given that Dean won the June primary by a scant 1,000 votes, his endorsement by the large teachers union could be the deciding factor if enough teachers show up at the polls on Nov. 6 and take the CTA’s advice. CTA official Norma Potter said the union is actively encouraging its members to vote against Peterson.

Clearly, Peterson has taken a defensive posture in the campaign. During a televised forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Peterson used most of his opening statement to lash out at Dean.

Paddy Ryan, Peterson’s campaign adviser, said: “I think Dr. Peterson is in essence feeling that he needs to answer some of the charges or actually campaign, which is something that’s a little unusual for him. Dr. Peterson has never had to explain his platform before. I advised him not to stay so much on the defensive, but to rely on 24 years of accomplishments.”

RACE FOR SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

Robert Peterson

Home: Santa Ana

Age: 70

Occupation: Incumbent

Background: County superintendent since 1966. Founder of U.S. Academic Decathlon. Teacher in Santa Ana city schools, 1948-66. B-17 pilot in World War II; shot down over Austria; held in a German prisoner of war camp for 18 months.

Issues: Seeks to establish new reading program, “All-Star Readers Book Box,” to encourage more interest in after-school reading by students. Says education is suffering because children watch too much television.

John F. Dean

Home: Newport Beach

Age: 63

Occupation: Chairman of department of education at Whittier College. Background: Elementary school teacher and principal, district administrator in Newport area, 1950-69; dean of the Evening College, Orange Coast College, 1969-70; professor and department chair, Whittier College, 1970 to present.

Issues: Cites “malaise” in county Department of Education. Seeks to stem the department’s “skyrocketing” budget. Supports a Strategic Planning Task Force composed of the county superintendent and the 27 district superintendents.