The mayor of L.A. moves to take over school district; state law poses challenge.
SHANNON URTNOWSKI
Living Editor
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made a controversial proposal, which was brought to the state’s attention one year ago, to take control of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
His initial proposal to gain full power over district operations was quickly shot down by the school board, so he compromised.
Assembly Bill 1381, an agreed bill between Villaraigosa and the labor union United Teachers of Los Angeles, was formed to better bond parents, teachers and students and improve the school environment to promote better learning.
The bill, which was passed by the state legislature Aug. 30, will shift power from the school board to the superintendent and create a Council of Mayors representing the 27 cities within the boundaries of Los Angeles Unified School District and the five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, according to the Web site for KFWB News 980.
“This is a substantial change to that school system as it were originally set up,” said Richard Peterson, a professor at the School of Law and an expert on education law. “They are simply trying to circumvent the state constitution.”
AB1381 is scheduled to take effect starting Jan. 1st.
Although the bill was passed by the legislature, voices of complaint continue to ring from the Los Angeles school board about AD1381’s approaching implementation.
“You would be hard-pressed to find any teacher who agrees that the LAUSD should be completely and solely under the mayor’s control,” Kristen Rush said in an e-mail. “Trading one bureaucracy for another is not the answer.”
Yet, Rush, a 2006 Pepperdine alumna teaching eighth grade in South Central Los Angeles, said a change is needed. Though she does not completely agree with the proposal, she said she hopes well for the future of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“I hope the mayor will be able to make improvements,” Rush said. “Clearly the district isn’t working well enough to provide for all the students coming to school everyday.”
Dr. June Schmieder-Ramirez, interim associate dean of the Humanities Division of the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, said what the proposal is lacking is proper incorporation of the people with their government. She said she believes that this cooperation will also help ease the pressure on any given individual involved with education reform, including Villaraigosa himself.
“It is really going to be a challenge for the mayor because the mayor is going to be working in the cities as well as addressing the under-privileged schools,” Schmieder-Ramirez said. “The mayor has his work cut out for him.”
Though the school district is in the process of creating a lawsuit against the proposal, some graduate students said they admire the effort the mayor is putting forth toward education.
“It is his duty to make sure his people, his constituents, have the best possible prospects for life, and one of the keys to that is education,” said Jay Parmelee, a student at the School of Law, in an e-mail. “He’s doing what he was elected to do. You have to admire his valor for that.”
Vincent Beerman, a student at the School of Public Policy, said he is particularly in favor of the mayor’s proposal.
“Initially, my gut reaction is that it seems that the schools have had a lot of years to implement change and they have failed to do that,” Beerman said. “For a local leader to sit down and address the different local needs seems like a good idea.”
Whether or not locals agree with AB1381 proposed by Villaraigosa, the general consensus is that education in Los Angeles has been long in need of attention.
“Hopefully it will bring positive changes, but will incorporate the people in LAUSD who know the students and the issues best, the teacher and the school board,” Rush said of AB1381.
09-14-2006