Governor signs L.A. schools bill
By Laura Mecoy
Sacramento Bee
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called it "a great day for children" as he signed a bill into law Monday that seeks to reform the troubled Los Angeles school system by giving the city's mayor more authority over its operations.
It was also a great day for the Republican governor and Los Angeles' Democratic mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa.
Even though they're from different political parties, each praised the other in the sort of mutual admiration society that emerges whenever they take a stage together.
For the two, it's also a mutually beneficial relationship that -- on occasion -- leaves Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides "out in the cold," according to one political expert.
"The person not really invited to the dance is Phil Angelides," said Raphael Sonenshein, California State University, Fullerton, political science professor.
Villaraigosa supports Angelides but didn't endorse the Democratic hopeful until Sept. 5, several months after most other Democratic officeholders had.
The mayor has also appeared more often alongside the governor than Angelides in recent months.
With each appearance, political experts said the governor and the mayor help each other appear more politically moderate.
Plus, they said Villaraigosa's friendship helps Schwarzenegger appeal to the fast-growing ranks of Latino voters.
At Monday's ceremony, Villaraigosa praised the governor in English and Spanish to a bank of television cameras and reporters at the downtown library.
Schwarzenegger then scrawled his name onto Assembly Bill 1381, a measure giving the mayor a voice in operating the city's ailing school system and helping Villaraigosa begin to fulfill a central promise of his mayoral campaign.
"It's like a perfect storm," said Republican analyst Allan Hoffenblum. "They need each other, and they like each other. In politics, that means a lot."
The bill the governor signed Monday will take effect in January and will give the Los Angeles mayor a role -- for the first time -- in governing the nation's second-largest school district.
Villaraigosa and a newly created council of mayors will have the power to veto the hiring and firing of Los Angeles schools' superintendents.
Villaraigosa will also gain control over three of the lowest-performing high schools and the middle and elementary schools whose students would go to those high schools.
In addition, he'll have a say on budgeting, while the school board will lose much of its power over the budget and its own staff.
The school board opposed the law and is planning to sue to stop it, claiming it is unconstitutional.
It blocked plans to hold Monday's ceremony at a local school.
Only one of the board's members, Monica Garcia, supported the legislation and was the only member at Monday's event.
The mayor called for the board to abandon its lawsuit, but school board President Marlene Canter indicated the board was going ahead.
Villaraigosa noted the opposition he faced in the Legislature and gave the governor credit for helping him overcome that opposition. The governor took the unusual step of promising to sign the bill before it was even written.
"When the governor got on board early, that sent a message ... and a push that was very, very meaningful," Villaraigosa said.
John J. Pitney, Claremont McKenna College government professor, said Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the measure and his signature on the bill also showed "the governor is a bipartisan problem solver."
He said Villaraigosa may be secretly hoping for a Schwarzenegger win in November because that would mean there would be no incumbent seeking the governor's job in 2010, leaving it open for a Villaraigosa bid.
Villaraigosa has insisted he is focusing on the mayor's job now, but he hasn't discouraged speculation about his gubernatorial aspirations.
When he endorsed Angelides, reporters also noted Angelides had failed to endorse Villaraigosa in his mayoral bid. Angelides campaign manager Bill Carrick, meanwhile, ran the hard-hitting campaigns of Villaraigosa's opponent, former Mayor James Hahn, in the past two mayoral contests.
"That is in the past," Villaraigosa told reporters at the time.
On Monday, spokeswomen for Angelides' and Schwarzenegger's campaigns declined to speculate on the political benefits of the mayor's and the governor's relationship.
Julie Soderlund, with the governor's staff, would say only that Schwarzenegger and Villaraigosa are "good friends, and the governor is looking forward to continuing to work with Mayor Villaraigosa on important issues, like education."
Angelides spokeswoman Amanda Crumley said she expects Villaraigosa to "campaign with us vigorously throughout the fall."
Angelides and Villaraigosa appeared together on Saturday at a Mexican Independence Day parade and at the endorsement news conferences on Sept. 5. But the mayor has also said he'll be campaigning with the governor for the bond measures on the Nov. 7 ballot.
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/25408.html
Sacramento Bee
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called it "a great day for children" as he signed a bill into law Monday that seeks to reform the troubled Los Angeles school system by giving the city's mayor more authority over its operations.
It was also a great day for the Republican governor and Los Angeles' Democratic mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa.
Even though they're from different political parties, each praised the other in the sort of mutual admiration society that emerges whenever they take a stage together.
For the two, it's also a mutually beneficial relationship that -- on occasion -- leaves Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides "out in the cold," according to one political expert.
"The person not really invited to the dance is Phil Angelides," said Raphael Sonenshein, California State University, Fullerton, political science professor.
Villaraigosa supports Angelides but didn't endorse the Democratic hopeful until Sept. 5, several months after most other Democratic officeholders had.
The mayor has also appeared more often alongside the governor than Angelides in recent months.
With each appearance, political experts said the governor and the mayor help each other appear more politically moderate.
Plus, they said Villaraigosa's friendship helps Schwarzenegger appeal to the fast-growing ranks of Latino voters.
At Monday's ceremony, Villaraigosa praised the governor in English and Spanish to a bank of television cameras and reporters at the downtown library.
Schwarzenegger then scrawled his name onto Assembly Bill 1381, a measure giving the mayor a voice in operating the city's ailing school system and helping Villaraigosa begin to fulfill a central promise of his mayoral campaign.
"It's like a perfect storm," said Republican analyst Allan Hoffenblum. "They need each other, and they like each other. In politics, that means a lot."
The bill the governor signed Monday will take effect in January and will give the Los Angeles mayor a role -- for the first time -- in governing the nation's second-largest school district.
Villaraigosa and a newly created council of mayors will have the power to veto the hiring and firing of Los Angeles schools' superintendents.
Villaraigosa will also gain control over three of the lowest-performing high schools and the middle and elementary schools whose students would go to those high schools.
In addition, he'll have a say on budgeting, while the school board will lose much of its power over the budget and its own staff.
The school board opposed the law and is planning to sue to stop it, claiming it is unconstitutional.
It blocked plans to hold Monday's ceremony at a local school.
Only one of the board's members, Monica Garcia, supported the legislation and was the only member at Monday's event.
The mayor called for the board to abandon its lawsuit, but school board President Marlene Canter indicated the board was going ahead.
Villaraigosa noted the opposition he faced in the Legislature and gave the governor credit for helping him overcome that opposition. The governor took the unusual step of promising to sign the bill before it was even written.
"When the governor got on board early, that sent a message ... and a push that was very, very meaningful," Villaraigosa said.
John J. Pitney, Claremont McKenna College government professor, said Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the measure and his signature on the bill also showed "the governor is a bipartisan problem solver."
He said Villaraigosa may be secretly hoping for a Schwarzenegger win in November because that would mean there would be no incumbent seeking the governor's job in 2010, leaving it open for a Villaraigosa bid.
Villaraigosa has insisted he is focusing on the mayor's job now, but he hasn't discouraged speculation about his gubernatorial aspirations.
When he endorsed Angelides, reporters also noted Angelides had failed to endorse Villaraigosa in his mayoral bid. Angelides campaign manager Bill Carrick, meanwhile, ran the hard-hitting campaigns of Villaraigosa's opponent, former Mayor James Hahn, in the past two mayoral contests.
"That is in the past," Villaraigosa told reporters at the time.
On Monday, spokeswomen for Angelides' and Schwarzenegger's campaigns declined to speculate on the political benefits of the mayor's and the governor's relationship.
Julie Soderlund, with the governor's staff, would say only that Schwarzenegger and Villaraigosa are "good friends, and the governor is looking forward to continuing to work with Mayor Villaraigosa on important issues, like education."
Angelides spokeswoman Amanda Crumley said she expects Villaraigosa to "campaign with us vigorously throughout the fall."
Angelides and Villaraigosa appeared together on Saturday at a Mexican Independence Day parade and at the endorsement news conferences on Sept. 5. But the mayor has also said he'll be campaigning with the governor for the bond measures on the Nov. 7 ballot.
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/25408.html
