Fueled by Optimism, Anton Moves Into Leadership Role : Education: New L.A. superintendent plans to build on programs already in place. He officially takes over today.

After several years of waiting, new Los Angeles schools chief William R. Anton is finally in the driver’s seat, albeit of a car designed largely by his predecessors.

But that’s a role Anton says he is comfortable with.

Although he has no new agenda to rescue the troubled Los Angeles Unified School District, Anton said in an interview Thursday that he plans to build on innovative programs already in place.

“I think we’ve taken giant steps in the past three years in . . . planning” programs to raise academic achievement, Anton said.

“The kind of progress we’ve made is like if you’re building a ship or a car and you have to put in all the components before it sails or before it runs.” Now, he said, the car is ready to roll.

Under Supt. Leonard Britton--whom Anton will officially replace at 5 p.m. today--the school board approved a master plan for bilingual education, a $69-million package of services for students at some of the district’s worst schools, and an ambitious restructuring program that allows schools flexibility to tailor their programs to better serve students.

Now, Anton said, his job is to convince teachers, parents and business and community leaders that those programs can work.

“For example, everybody talks about the dropout problem. Well it is serious, and what I have to tell people is, ‘Here’s what we’re doing about dropouts and here’s where you can join in and help us.’ That’s the first step toward solving the problem.”

A career educator with roots in the East Los Angeles barrio, Anton is the quintessential optimist, a man who believes that the school system’s biggest problem is its failure to believe in itself.

“It’s a poor bird that dirties its own nest,” he said. “If we convince ourselves this is a lousy place, it’s going to be a lousy place. I think my job as leader is to inspire . . . to let people know that this is a fine school district.”

Anton is a plain-talking man, prone to using analogies and anecdotes to make a point, and his words sometimes sound hokey. But his enthusiasm is infectious. He beams when he talks about the district and its children.

Anton started his career 38 years ago as a teacher on Los Angeles’ Eastside. Then, he aspired only to become a school principal. “I felt that was a key role, that I could affect more kids than being a teacher,” he said.

Instead, he climbed the district ladder and spent eight years as a deputy superintendent, twice failing to win the top spot.

Anton admits he was disappointed and angry when he was passed over for the post after Harry Handler retired in 1987. Instead, the school board plucked Britton from the helm of the Miami school system.

Now, in his new job, he will make decisions that affect more than 610,000 students--more than 60% of them Latino like him.

Anton downplays his role as the first minority member to head the district, but hopes his appointment sends a message to the district’s Latino students and parents.

“The fact that I grew up on the Eastside, I went to school in this district, I speak Spanish . . . I’ve lived the same kind of experience that many of them have,” he said. “I think there’s a comfort level attached to that that will help people feel a part of this district.”

Anton said unity among school board members, teachers, parents and administrators will go a long way toward helping the district resolve its many difficult issues, including:

- The proposed breakup of the school district: Once espoused only by San Fernando Valley politicians, the notion of dividing the sprawling district into several smaller ones is now being studied in Sacramento. Anton plans to fight the proposal, contending that it would create more, not less, bureaucracy and leave the district’s poorest children isolated, with less access to community resources.

- Year-round schools: Anton supports the district’s move to a year-round calendar next year because it will create enough space on overcrowded campuses to accommodate some of the 25,000 children now being bused from their neighborhood schools. He plans to ask the state to allow the district to keep money now used on busing. That could help pay for air conditioning or enrichment programs at year-round schools.

- The fiscal crisis: Having just cut more than $220 million from its $3.8-billion budget for next year, the district faces the prospect of cutting millions more once the state’s budget is approved. In addition to encouraging community support for a revamping of the state’s education funding system, Anton plans to try to persuade legislators to loosen restrictions on some of the money the district receives, to allow more flexibility. He also hopes to tap other government funds, such as money confiscated from drug dealers, to pay for specific programs, and to step up solicitation from private donors.

- Low student achievement: Anton supports allowing teachers and parents more say in how schools operate, believing that will give schools leeway to come up with creative, individualized programs to improve student performance. He also supports a plan proposed by Britton to set concrete, districtwide goals for student achievement.

- School restructuring: Anton said he will take an active role in bringing parents into the process of school-based management, a concept so far advanced largely by the teachers’ union.

- Labor relations: With negotiations set to begin in January on a new teachers’ contract, Anton has opened discussions with new union president Helen Bernstein in hopes of avoiding the kind of acrimony that led to last year’s divisive strike. In the four days since his appointment, Anton has also meet with principals, parents and black leaders.

Still, Anton knows that change at the top will not be the remedy to all of the district’s ills. “I’m not naive enough to believe that Bill Anton is going to make everyone happy,” he said.

“It’s just like a sports team. When things seem to go wrong, the first thing you do is fire the coach. And lots of times, it makes a difference, and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m going to work like heck to make sure it does.”