Seeking a spot in a different class

Andrew Edwards

Surf City’s Diane Lenning, who spends her days in a high school

classroom, hopes to find another place for herself in the community

college boardroom.

Lenning is running to represent Huntington Beach on the Coast

Community College District Board of Trustees. Much of Lenning’s life

has been a mixture of education and politics. She has been a teacher

since 1970, and chairs the Republican Educators Caucus of the

National Educational Assn. -- the national teachers’ union is

regarded by many conservatives as a liberal organization.

“It’s much like a salmon swimming upstream,” Lenning said.

Lenning had to fight to keep her post in the caucus in July during

the NEA’s national convention after she protested the NEA’s decision

to give a human rights award to a Massachusetts teacher, Kevin

Jennings, who wrote a book where he related how a gay student

confided in Jennings that he had had a romantic relationship with an

adult man. The story was posted on many conservative Internet sites.

Jennings is the executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and

Straight Education Network, and Lenning said she objected to the

award not because of his sexuality, but because she believes he acted

unethically by not reporting the student’s encounter to the police.

The convention wasn’t Lenning’s first time in a tough environment.

She has taught young prisoners at the California Youth Authority’s

facility in Whittier, an experience she describes as one of her most

challenging undertakings.

“It was the most difficult, but it was also the most rewarding,

because I saw lives turned around,” Lenning sound.

Lenning’s political experience also includes two attempted runs

for City Council and lobbying efforts with the Republican party, and

she was honored for her political work by the U.S. Senate when she

was awarded the Senatorial Medal of Freedom this year. Republican

Sen. George Allen of Virginia nominated her.

“That is probably the highest award I have ever received in my

life,” she said.

Lenning is a graduate from one of the district’s schools -- she

studied at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa before transferring to

the Cal State San Luis Obispo in 1966. Golden West College, in

Huntington Beach, is also part of the district.

Outside of teaching and politics, Lenning enjoys playing music and

has written a book, “Call of the American Dream,” that details her

family’s history in the United States since arriving at Jamestown,

Va. in 1619.

A self-proclaimed “compassionate conservative,” Lenning believes

that community colleges are a resource that can be used to educate a

self-sufficient citizenry that can achieve its own American dreams

without relying on government programs.

“It’s all based on earning it and working for it,” Lenning said.

“And with it comes a feeling of pride and accomplishment.”