Election for School Boss

In the California primaries last week, Former Vice President Richard Nixon's victory drew all the national attention, but Californians showed almost as much interest in a technically nonpartisan primary contest for a post with no patronage, little power, and until now, practically no public notice: state superintendent of public instruction.

State school superintendents, still chosen by election in 22 states* are generally empowered to propose education bills to state legislatures and to enforce minimum standards for otherwise autonomous local boards. In California this year, the end of an unimaginative 17-year incumbency provided an opportunity for candidates and backers to debate that currently feverish topic, the shortcomings of public education, and also prompted them to offer remedies. Nine candidates entered the free-for-all.

For Teaching Machines. Liberal Democrat Ralph Richardson, 43, a U.C.L.A. English professor and president of the Los Angeles school board, flew his own plane all over the state to argue for a program of team teaching, smaller classes, summer schools, teaching machines. Opposing excesses of discipline that would turn the schools into "penal institutions," Richardson argued that California's teaching of the basics, especially English, could be systematically upgraded "without wasting energy in name calling or labels about 'progressive education' or the 'three R's.' " He got well-organized support from liberals and labor.

San Diego County School Superintendent Cecil Hardesty, 55, an able but colorless middle-of-the-roader who based his campaign on experience and a nonpartisan approach to the state's education problems, received the endorsement of the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco's Chronicle and Examiner.

But it was Maxwell Lewis Rafferty Jr., 45, who put most of the zip into the fight. The onetime superintendent of a couple of middle-sized school districts in Southern California, Rafferty ran against every lingering aspect of progressive education, often appearing on the platform with Joe

Shell, the right-wing gubernatorial candidate who lost to Nixon.

Rafferty's main campaign weapon was his prose style--a rococo Winchellese that might draw some stern blue-penciling from any sophomore composition teacher, but nonetheless put over his ideas with plenty of punch. Just in time for the campaign, he published a collection of his articles entitled Suffer, Little Children.

About the same time, California's billboard jungle began to bloom with Rafferty signs, and thousands of brochures announced "California schools need the fourth R--Rafferty.'' To Cure Slobbism. Candidate Rafferty's personal formula for curing "slobbism" and the loss of U.S. scientific leadership to "a race of lash-driven atheistic peasants" covered a wide spectrum. He would eliminate fuzzily named "social studies" or "language arts" courses and reinstate plain names, such as history, geography and English. He proposed courses on Communism and free enterprise, and reinstatement of the singing of Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean (which he charged was dropped by antimilitarists who objected to schoolchildren singing "The army and navy forever Three cheers for the red, white and blue").

In his book Rafferty wrote: "The quest for the Golden Fleece has been crowded out by the visit of Tom and Susan to the zoo. Jackie pursues his insipid goal of a ride in the district garbage truck with good old crotchety Mr. Jones while the deathless ride of Paul Revere goes unwept, unhonored and unsung. Modern education has debunked the hero to make room for the jerk." Richardson complimented Rafferty on having "the finest mind of the 12th century." Rafferty accused Richardson of "left-leaning liberalism" and being soft on life adjustment.

The tally told its own story of how passionately Americans take school affairs nowadays. After three days of neck-and-neck counting, the candidates ended in the closest expectable approximation of a three-way tie. Richardson got 705,330, Rafferty 641,808, and Hardesty 631,230.

The effect of producing no clear majority was to throw the contest into a November runoff between Richardson and Rafferty. Between now and then, California will hear a lot more sharp and generally wholesome debate on what its schools should be.

* Superintendents are appointed by the state board of education in 23 states, by the governor in five. The trend is away from elections.

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