Though the state legislature and governor have approved an
increase in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s authority over the
Los Angeles Unified School District in recent weeks, the LAUSD is
suing the state to overturn the decision.
According to AB 1381, legislation that goes into effect in
January, Villaraigosa will soon have direct control over three
low-performing high schools and the junior high schools that feed
into them. He will also play a leading role in a mayoral council on
district policies and priorities.
The school board, which lost power under AB 1381, will see its
budget responsibilities transferred to the superintendent and will
have no direct management of its staff.
“We continue to oppose this legislation and have serious
concerns about the constitutionality of some of its
provisions,” said Lucy Okumu, director of external affairs
for the LAUSD superintendent.
The bill, which was approved by the state Senate in August and
signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September, was subsequently
rejected in a 6-1 vote by the LAUSD school board. In a recent press
release, Board President Marlene Carter said while the board
intends to fight the law in court, the district collectively hopes
for a speedy resolution.
School officials lost a preliminary battle against Villaraigosa
two weeks ago, when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge allowed the
mayor to use the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, which the
board had argued presented a conflict of interest because of its
past work with the school district, to represent his parental
advocates.
Villaraigosa’s plans to reform Los Angeles’
struggling school system are based on the argument that the first
step toward change is making elected officials accountable for
school performance. Along with the mayoral council, he will share
authority with the school board and the superintendent.
Community action organizations such as the Los Angeles
Parent’s Union have protested the mayor’s attempts to
gain power in the school district, but Villaraigosa said his
advancements are intended to give parents and communities a voice
in their children’s education.
Jeannie Oakes, a researcher at UCLA’s Graduate School of
Education and Information Studies, said the mayor’s efforts
are positive because they demonstrate that everybody, not just
educators, are responsible for Los Angeles schoolchildren.
“The most (beneficial) aspect of the mayor’s efforts
to take over the L.A. schools is the loud message that providing
L.A. children a good education matters a lot ““ both for them
and for the rest of us,” Oakes said.
“(Villaraigosa) faces the same challenge that school
district officials do: bringing high quality schooling to
neighborhoods where policies related to jobs and wages “¦
might make high quality schooling nearly impossible,” Oakes
said.
Oakes also said that she is not sure how far-reaching the
mayor’s influence will be since he has not talked about
“comprehensive changes in state or local policy.” If he
were to use his political clout to pursue such changes, then Oakes
said his mayoral takeover would prove more significant.