After months of deliberations and promises of dramatic change for Los Angeles鈥� embattled schools, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last week called for California lawmakers to put his office in charge of running the day-to-day operations of the nation鈥檚 second-largest school district.
In his first State of the City Address, Mr. Villaraigosa rolled out the details of his controversial bid to run the public education system. He proposed that he and a 鈥渃ouncil of mayors,鈥� representing the 27 cities that constitute the district of 727,000 students, would have the authority to hire and fire the superintendent, control the budget, handle collective bargaining, and adopt curricula.
The Los Angeles mayor would essentially control the mayors鈥� council, since votes would be in proportion to the member cities鈥� populations鈥攁 feature that will likely make the plan a tough sell to leaders of the smaller municipalities that make up the Los Angeles Unified School District.
鈥淭he buck needs to stop at the top,鈥� Mr. Villaraigosa, a Democrat who took office last July, said in his speech on April 18. 鈥淔ragmentation is failing our kids. Voters need to be able to hire and fire one person accountable to parents, teachers, and taxpayers, a leader who is ultimately responsible for systemwide performance.鈥�
Though Mr. Villaraigosa鈥檚 plan would keep intact the district鈥檚 elected board of education, it would strip the panel of nearly all of its authority. Instead, the seven-member board would function more as an advisory panel, which the mayor said would oversee disciplinary policy, prepare annual reports on school performance, and 鈥渁ct as advocates for the parents and communities that they serve.鈥�
In 2002, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York won a similar legislative campaign for control of his city鈥檚 schools. Boston鈥檚 schools have been run by that city鈥檚 mayor since 1991, and Chicago鈥檚 since 1995.
Mr. Villaraigosa also said he would dramatically shrink the district鈥檚 central office and give school principals more power to manage their budgets and make hiring and firing decisions. He would lengthen the school day, add six weeks to the school year calendar, and raise teachers鈥� salaries to compensate them for the extra time. He would require students to wear uniforms.
Called 鈥楿ndemocratic鈥�
The mayor, who delivered his speech from the Accelerated School, a 12-year-old charter school in a poor section of South Los Angeles, also called for smaller 鈥渓earning communities鈥� and an expansion of charter schools in the district.
A.J. Duffy, the president of the Los Angeles teachers鈥� union, and Marlene Canter, the president of the board of education, called his move to win control of the school system and remove all policymaking powers from the school board 鈥渦ndemocratic.鈥�
鈥淗is plan is about power and politics,鈥� said Ms. Canter, who has served on the board for five years. 鈥淗e is taking away the voice of the people who elect the school board 100 percent.鈥�
In detailing the much-anticipated takeover proposal that he has been touting since his campaign for mayor last spring, Mr. Villaraigosa has provoked what will no doubt be a heated, protracted battle involving local and state politicians, community members, school district officials, and the powerful teachers鈥� union.
Under Superintendent Roy Romer, the former Colorado governor who became Los Angeles鈥� schools chief in 2000, the district has taken steps to relieve overcrowding by launching a massive initiative to build 180 new schools. Test scores for elementary students have improved during Mr. Romer鈥檚 tenure, although district officials acknowledge that much more needs to be done to boost achievement, especially for middle and high school students.
And while Mayor Villaraigosa pursues enactment of his takeover strategy, the school board must conduct a national search to replace Mr. Romer, who plans to leave the district鈥檚 top job as early as September.
鈥淲e are keeping our eyes on the ball to find the very best person,鈥� said Ms. Canter. 鈥淚t certainly complicates things,鈥� she said of the mayor鈥檚 plan, 鈥渂ut we can鈥檛 lose sight of our responsibilities during all of this.鈥�
The mayor, meanwhile, will take the plan鈥攚hich requires a change in state law that would not be put before local voters鈥攖o Sacramento, where politicians in the state Capitol began taking sides less than 24 hours after the mayor unveiled his strategy.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, pledged to back Mr. Villaraigosa, a former speaker of the state Assembly. Such Democratic stalwarts as Los Angeles Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg鈥攁 former Los Angeles school board member, close ally of the teachers鈥� union, and the chairwoman of the Assembly鈥檚 education committee鈥攐ppose the measure.
Some Republican lawmakers, concerned about disenfranchising the small cities in the school district, also expressed opposition.
The legislature鈥檚 top Democrat, Assembly Speaker Fabian N煤帽ez, a longtime ally of Mr. Villaraigosa鈥檚, promised to give the plan fair consideration. At one time, Mr. N煤帽ez served as the chief lobbyist for the Los Angeles Unified district.
The 48,000-member United Teachers Los Angeles, along with several community-based organizations, will lobby to stop the mayor鈥檚 bid, said Mr. Duffy, the union鈥檚 president. The powerful California Teachers Association, also said it would fight against mayoral control.
Mr. Duffy said lawyers for the teachers鈥� union were studying whether Mr. Villaraigosa鈥檚 plan to circumvent Los Angeles voters violates the Los Angeles city charter and, perhaps, the state constitution.
The mayor said he would ask lawmakers to approve his plan on a 鈥渢rial basis鈥� for six years.
Winning Message?
Maria Casillas, a former Los Angeles Unified administrator and the president of Families in Schools, a nonprofit group in Los Angeles that works to increase parental involvement, predicted that the mayor would be able to build support for his plan in many parts of the city.
His charisma, Spanish fluency, and compelling personal experience as a high school dropout who went on to college and law school will resonate in the city鈥檚 poor and working-class neighborhoods, she said.
鈥淥nce he goes out to the low-income communities and makes his pitch, I think he will win them over,鈥� said Ms. Casillas, who is the co-chairwoman of a commission that has been holding public hearings on how to improve the governance of the district.
Ms. Casillas, who works closely with black and Latino families, said most parents she talks to don鈥檛 trust that the school district is representing their interests or those of their children.
鈥淭hese are the parents who have never been invited to the table, and if the mayor campaigns among them, to Latino and African-American parents, they will get behind this,鈥� she said. 鈥淩ight now, they may not know if [the mayor鈥檚 plan] is going to be a better deal for them, but they certainly don鈥檛 like the status quo.鈥�
Even if Mr. Villaraigosa鈥檚 proposal succeeds, one education expert cautioned, no one should expect that his leadership will solve the most fundamental challenge in most urban districts: raising students鈥� academic performance.
鈥淔or a mayor to take over a school district is a legitimate function of his office if he can do it,鈥� said Larry Cuban, a professor emeritus of education at Stanford University. 鈥淏ut to promise that mayoral takeover will improve academic achievement is misleading at best, and at worst a lie, because the mayor does not have control of what teachers do once they close their classroom door.鈥�
