Roberta Weintraub, a philanthropist, civic leader and a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District board for 14 years, died Jan. 1. She was 83.
The third-generation Angeleno, who first gained prominence as a firebrand leader of the antibusing movement in the late 1970s, became a coalition builder, and was elected president of the school board four times. After stepping down in 1995 for an unsuccessful run for the Los Angeles City Council, she became a powerful voice for education and law enforcement.
In 1995, Weintraub founded the Police Academy Magnet School Program, a partnership between the LAUSD and the Los Angeles Police Department. The program, which teaches high school students the principles of law enforcement, constitutional law and the criminal justice system, has grown to nine campuses. In 2007, Weintraub started the Police Orientation Preparation Program, which spanned the gap between a young person’s high school graduation and the minimum age of 20 years and 6 months required to become an L.A. police officer. An advocate of magnet schools, she created “Students Run LA,” a physical fitness and nutrition initiative, and she was the host of the Emmy-winning “School Beat” TV show.
After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Weintraub moved from Sherman Oaks to the Westside, where she was an active member of Beverly Hills’ Temple of the Arts.
She is survived by her husband, Ira Krinsky, son Richard Weintraub (Liane), stepson Brian Krinsky (Estelle), and three grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a son, Michael Weintraub.
