Part of the Solution
Editorial
LA Daily News
WITH Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's LAUSD reform plan all but certain to become law, the L.A. school board has two choices: Continue to be part of the problem, or become part of the solution.
Under Assembly Bill 1381, responsibility for appointing the superintendent — with expanded powers — will go to Villaraigosa and the council of mayors representing the 26 other cities in the Los Angeles Unified District.
And as it happens, the LAUSD needs a new superintendent, as Roy Romer plans to retire in the fall.
So it naturally follows that Villaraigosa and Co. will choose Romer's replacement — unless a bitter board sabotages the reform effort.
Even as AB 1381 works its way through the Legislature, the board is conducting a search for a superintendent. According to some insiders, it hopes to pick a new chief and sign him or her to a four-year contract before AB 1381 takes effect. That way, the superintendent will be the board's pick, not the mayor's.
But that would be shortsighted, destructive politics.
Villaraigosa has a mandate for reform. It was the centerpiece of his campaign, and it's won the support of both the Democratic Legislature and a Republican governor. The board might not like losing some power, but that's a reality it's going to need to learn to live with.
If the board installed a new superintendent Villaraigosa didn't approve of, he would be well within his rights to fire him or her. And then the public would get saddled with paying out a lot of money.
In a district that always complains about a lack of funds, wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars because of political sour grapes is inexcusable.
It's time for the board to give up its obstructionism and get with the program.
For the good of the children, it needs to work with the mayor to make this reform effort successful.
http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_4207341
LA Daily News
WITH Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's LAUSD reform plan all but certain to become law, the L.A. school board has two choices: Continue to be part of the problem, or become part of the solution.
Under Assembly Bill 1381, responsibility for appointing the superintendent — with expanded powers — will go to Villaraigosa and the council of mayors representing the 26 other cities in the Los Angeles Unified District.
And as it happens, the LAUSD needs a new superintendent, as Roy Romer plans to retire in the fall.
So it naturally follows that Villaraigosa and Co. will choose Romer's replacement — unless a bitter board sabotages the reform effort.
Even as AB 1381 works its way through the Legislature, the board is conducting a search for a superintendent. According to some insiders, it hopes to pick a new chief and sign him or her to a four-year contract before AB 1381 takes effect. That way, the superintendent will be the board's pick, not the mayor's.
But that would be shortsighted, destructive politics.
Villaraigosa has a mandate for reform. It was the centerpiece of his campaign, and it's won the support of both the Democratic Legislature and a Republican governor. The board might not like losing some power, but that's a reality it's going to need to learn to live with.
If the board installed a new superintendent Villaraigosa didn't approve of, he would be well within his rights to fire him or her. And then the public would get saddled with paying out a lot of money.
In a district that always complains about a lack of funds, wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars because of political sour grapes is inexcusable.
It's time for the board to give up its obstructionism and get with the program.
For the good of the children, it needs to work with the mayor to make this reform effort successful.
http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_4207341
