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Mayor ends bid to take over schools
Maybe some good sense grabbed hold of the mayor?
Villaraigosa's decision to drop an appeal effectively ends a year-long power struggle over control of the LAUSD.
By Howard Blume
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today that he will not appeal a court decision that blocked his efforts to gain substantial authority over the Los Angeles Unified School District.
His announcement came three days after two school board candidates he endorsed won election to the Board of Education, giving him a 4 to 3 majority of allies on the school district's governing body. His announcement effectively ends a yearlong power struggle over control of the district.
"It's time to get out of the courtroom and into the classroom," the mayor said.
Villaraigosa has thus abandoned the outright control he once sought, but he expects to have influence. With the end of the lawsuit, he is also likely to gain more cooperation from district officials who opposed his legislative bid.
The mayor announced his decision at a press conference this morning at the new Miguel Contreras Learning Complex west of downtown. With him were the newly elected board members as well as two current ones who had opposed his efforts to gain direct authority. Both sides said they hoped to work cooperatively to improve the school system.
To underscore that point, school board President Marlene Canter stood to the mayor's right and to his left was board member Julie Korenstein, an outspoken critic of the mayor's legislation as well as a target of his ire when he called board members enemies of reform and defenders of the status quo.
Today, Villaraigosa spoke of common goals, such as small schools and safe schools as well as parent involvement and increased input from teachers.
"I don't seek control," the mayor said. "But I will be involved."
School Supt. David L. Brewer, six months into the job, also had an announcement, saying that he intended to set up a parent and community engagement division. The district's parent-involvement efforts have been a regular source of criticism in past audits of L.A. Unified. Brewer's goals also include participation from the broader community, tapping into civic and philanthropic wealth to benefit schools directly.
"It is a great day for the students of Los Angeles," Brewer said. "We need systemic change, but more important, we need partnerships.…No urban school district in this country has solved the education problems in this district."
Brewer also tried out his nascent Spanish (at least two-thirds of district students are Latino).
"Buenos dias," he began from the dais. "Soy superintendente David Brewer."
Canter said the dropping of the lawsuit opens the door to further collaboration; all parties, she said, share a desire for reform and broad agreement over specific goals. Of the mayor's policy agenda, she said, "There's nothing in there that I don't want. There's nothing in there that I don't think is possible."
When asked how it feels to now belong to a minority bloc on the board, Korenstein turned the question around, noting that the incoming board would have six women and one man, the newly elected Richard A. Vladovic. "We're in the majority," she said. "We're going to treat you good, Dick. Don't worry."
Villaraigosa also made a point to call up A. J. Duffy, the president of United Teachers Los Angeles. The teachers union had been Villaraigosa's primary foe in the recent board elections, unsuccessfully trying to reelect Jon Lauritzen, the union's closest board ally.
The mayor introduced the diminutive Duffy with friendly ribbing as a man "short in stature, tall in heart."
Duffy has known Villaraigosa since before the mayor ran for public office, when he was a UTLA organizer. He called the gathering "another new beginning."
Last month, a three-judge panel from the state's 2nd District Court of Appeal issued a unanimous decision against a state law designed to give Villaraigosa substantial authority over the district. The state's highest court was under no obligation to take the case.
The law would have given Villaraigosa direct control over three low-performing high schools and the elementary and middle schools that feed them. The appeals court sided with Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs, who ruled late last year that the bill was unconstitutional.
While the mayor was losing in the courts, he emerged victorious in the ballot box, with voters supporting three allies: Deputy City Atty. Tamar Galatzan, 37, and Vladovic, 62, who were elected Tuesday, along with Yolie Flores Aguilar, elected in March. They take office July 1. A fourth ally, Monica Garcia, joined the seven-member board last year.
— Howard Blume
Los Angeles Times
2007-05-18
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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