Deal Puts Mayor on Verge of Major School Control

Under a compromise expected to be drafted by Friday and considered by the Legislature next week, Villaraigosa would effectively gain veto power over the selection of the superintendent, and that official would assume most budget and contracting authority now handled by the elected Board of Education, the mayor's aides said.

Teachers and principals, meanwhile, would have new authority to shape classroom instruction, loosening the district's reins on how best to teach -- a change the union has vociferously sought for years.

The current seven-member Los Angeles Unified School District board, which the mayor has accused of micro-management, would lose virtually all of its authority to oversee billions of dollars in contracts and make line-by-line changes in the district's $7.4-billion operating budget.

District officials attacked the agreement as a late-night, back-room deal that would harm the district, and they discussed the possibility of litigation.

Through one provision, Villaraigosa would oversee three low-performing Los Angeles high schools and the middle and elementary schools that feed them. All authority the superintendent and board now wield over those schools would be transferred to the mayor, according to one of the mayor's aides.

Such changes, Villaraigosa and others argue, are long overdue in a district plagued by lower-than-average achievement levels and high dropout rates. A report this week by a nonpartisan education group estimated that less than half of L.A. Unified students graduate on time, an assertion that district leaders disputed.

"This could be a historic chance if we do the right thing," said A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. "It's a framework for hard work that needs to happen to make real, lasting change."

At Villaraigosa's request, the proposed legislation includes a six-year "sunset" provision and assessment -- meaning the Legislature would have the ability to make other changes if student performance did not improve.

"I didn't run to be king of Los Angeles," Villaraigosa said. "I want to be mayor and a consensus builder. And we're going to use these broad powers to innovate, to create the kind of environment that really can be an incubator for great ideas and success."