by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 21, 2006
All Rights Reserved.

iding a high after beating former Los Angeles Mayor Jimmy Hahn May 18, 2005, the sky was the limit for 53-year-old Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. He put the fizz back into City Hall, having gone flat during Hahn's four years. Injecting charisma into the mayor's office was welcomed relief, for a glitzy city losing its shine with too many homeless and too much trash in the streets. Promising to clean up the mess, Antonio wasn't kidding when he vowed sweeping changes in the City of Angels. Sharing his big plans in his first State-of-the-City address April 18 at the Accelerated School in South Central LA, Villaraigosa announced his takeover of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Antonio bashed the LAUSD, promising to overhaul the nation's second largest district, creating a new “council of mayors” to run the much-maligned public school system.

      Capitalizing on public discontent with the LAUSD, Villaraigosa hoped for a welcomed response to his plan to breakup the district. Going against largely entrenched Democratic interests, Antonio exposed himself to potentially career-ending consequences trying to take on the powerful LA teachers' union and a well-established school district, faced with exploding numbers of newcomers and non-English speakers. “I believe we need to wake up and shake up the bureaucracy at LAUSD,” said Antonio, to a mixed response, skeptical that the mayor's office is capable of delivering better results. Antonio's plan calls for the mayor to jump into the school business, replacing mundane duties of fixing potholes and synchronizing traffic lights. “The buck needs to stop at the top,” said the mayor, tying his performance to the public schools, putting his office—and career—on the line.

      Faced with a $300 million budget shortfall, creating and managing a new school district flirts with disaster. After meeting with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg March 20, Villaraigosa heard firsthand of New York's apparent success running the school district. Things run differently in the city of Los Angeles, where a modest $5.9 billion budget is eclipsed by New York City's whopping $50 billion-plus piggy bank. Most of the Southland's tax dollars flow into LA County's $19.4 million coffers, still far less than NYC. While much of the cash to run the LA school district comes from the state, running the LAUSD could cost the city millions in hidden administrative expenses. With all the waste, fraud and mismanagement at the LAUSD, there's no guarantee that the city would do a better job delivering results. Critics of Villaraigosa's takeover plan see grandiose expectations ignoring the real pitfalls of educating nearly 750,000 public school students.

      Staking his political future on taking over the LAUSD seems risky for LA's first Latino mayor in 130 years. Villaraigosa must pick his battles wisely to groom himself for future office, perhaps Sacramento or the U.S. senate should Sen. Diane Feinstein decide to retire. Dismantling the LAUSD and fighting the teachers' union promises to make enemies of the constituency Villaraigosa needs for his future. Everyone wants a more accountable schools but Antonio's plan to decentralize the LAUSD into multiple autonomous districts all under the mayor's control won't solve LA's socioeconomic-cultural problems which interfere with running a successful school system. “The last time I checked, this country was still a democracy,” said Los Angeles School Board President Marlene Cantor, concerned that the mayor's plan weakens the School Board and bypasses LA voters.

      Villaraisgosa scapegoats Superintendent Roy Romer and upper management at the LAUSD. He's asking people to believe the mayor's office can instantly do a better job of managing the over 100-year-old school district. “I believe we need to replace a culture of low expectations with a culture of accountability and respect,” said Antonio, spewing platitudes but offering no logical explanation how his office will do a better job running the district than its current management. Before the mayor's office jumps into the school business, it should sit down with LAUSD's leadership and communicate its concerns and suggestions. With immigration reform looming in the background, it's not LAUSD's or the School Board's fault that LA has the highest percentage of immigrants and non-English speakers in the nation. Trashing the LAUSD and School Board misses the point.

      All the charisma in the world won't save LA's public schools. Blaming LAUSD and the School Board doesn't address the socioeconomic-cultural challenges that face the nation's second largest school district. Instead of putting his political career on the line, the mayor should be working with LAUSD's and the School Board's leadership to find real solutions to real problems, not trashing the entire system. Shifting LAUSD's bureaucracy to City Hall would be a disaster for a city incapable of filling potholes and cleaning trash off the streets. No one's happy with the state of LA's public schools, including, students, teachers and administrators. Imposing uniforms and lengthening the school day and year won't reverse current demographics that hurt tests scores and school performance. Before the mayor's office points the finger, it should take a closer look at itself.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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