Too Tough for Mere Mortals? : New Schools Superintendent Will Need a Better-Behaved Board

There is a paradox in the announcement that the talented William Anton is to become superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District. The paradox is that this might just be a job at which no good man or woman can succeed.

Anton has risen from classroom teacher to become superintendent at a time when parents and other observers question if any educator can turn the beleaguered district around.

The Los Angeles public schools--under-financed and overcrowded--are micromanaged by an overly political school board that had lost confidence in Supt. Leonard Britton, who has resigned.

If the job was tough when Britton took the helm three years ago, it is even tougher now. Anton inherits a budget pockmarked by massive cuts, a contentious board, a wary union and low staff morale.

He has worked in the past with legislators and hopes to reassure Sacramento that every dollar sent to the district will be money well-spent. Part of that task will include addressing the widely held perception that the district is top-heavy with expensive administrators.

Parents are losing confidence in the public schools. Many send their children elsewhere. That exodus is expected to increase as the district puts all schools on a year-round calendar--despite the lack of promised air conditioning--to make room for newcomers. Anton’s instincts are pragmatic; he says delivering on that long overdue air conditioning is a top priority. But he also must think bigger. More than ever, this district needs a leader--someone not afraid to step on some toes if he needs to. Anton already has demonstrated his ability to work with others. But sometimes he’ll have to cajole, twist arms and anger some board members and other big shots in order to be a champion for the children of the nation’s second largest school district.

More than 610,000 students attend the district’s schools. Nearly 61% are Latino; as many as one-third speak little or no English, but there is a shortage of bilingual teachers. Anton, a Latino, is expected to be sensitive to those challenges and to address ethnic rivalries among students.

Because he has spent 38 years in the district, Anton has credibility with teachers, administrators and the board. He has reached out to the union chief, who is also new to that job. So Anton says the right things. He wants to make every school work. He wants every child to learn. That will require bold action.

How much maneuvering room will the seven-member board leave him? Right now the board is full of praise, all but canonizing him. But what happens when the political honeymoon with Saint Anton ends, as all honeymoons do? Will it be back to micromanagement as usual? And therefore back to the paradox of the prescription for superintendent failure?