Roos Faces Big Task on School Reform : Education: How he fares in leading a new group could determine his political future, observers say.

Mike Roos, the state Assembly Speaker Pro Tem who is stepping down March 1 to head a nonprofit group aimed at improving Los Angeles schools, faces a daunting task that could boost or break his career, according to business leaders and school district insiders who tapped him for the job.

These officials said Tuesday that Roos was brought in to head the organization because of his longtime Sacramento connections, his high profile in the business community and his ability to unify diverse interests and push through school reforms that an insider might resist.

The new organization, which will go by the acronym LEARN, will be officially launched at a news conference today.

Helen Bernstein, a member of LEARN and president of United Teachers-Los Angeles, the powerful teachers union, said the group has the support of top school officials. “I have to run the union, (and Supt. Bill) Anton has to run the district the way it is right now,” she said. “We need someone who can be available 24 hours a day to coordinate and organize. It’s much like (Peter) Ueberroth organized this city for the Olympics.”

But Roos, who has expressed aspirations to be mayor of Los Angeles and is perceived by fellow legislators and political consultants as a canny strategist who could easily springboard back into elective politics, will be watched closely as he and his group try to restructure the mammoth and beleaguered school district.

Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school district, has 40% dropout rates in some high schools, faces a $150-million budget shortfall and has been reeling under explosive growth and increasing numbers of poor immigrant students, many of whom have special needs. Its student body of 635,000 is 86% minority.

While Roos has no specific educational background, members of LEARN say that he has the management skills and background to serve as a catalyst for change. One area in which Roos’ expertise might be useful, for instance, is in rallying support for educational legislation, said Virgil Roberts, chairman of the Los Angeles Educational Partnership and a member of the new group.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Roos, whose two daughters have been educated in Los Angeles public schools, expressed relish at tackling the district’s many problems.

“This is not going to be just another group making recommendations,” the assemblyman said. “The right people are in the room to lead a consensus for change.”

Roos said he was attracted by the challenge of improving education in Los Angeles. He views the job as a public policy post where he can use the skills honed over 13 years in Sacramento, many of them as a ranking member of the Assembly.

“If I succeed, a lot of opportunities will make themselves available to me,” he added. While he declined to speculate on his political future, Roos said he intends to devote himself to the schools for the next three years and purposely signed a contract that extends beyond the next Los Angeles mayoral primary, scheduled for April, 1993.

If Roos decides to re-enter politics, he may face renewed controversy over his association in the early and mid-1980s with Orange County fireworks magnate W. Patrick Moriarity, who was convicted of bribery and fraud.

Roos had invested $50,000 in a Moriarity-owned condominium project and received a 100% return on his investment just days after a fireworks bill he supported cleared the Legislature. He was investigated by the FBI but not indicted or charged with any crime. Voters reelected him easily in 1984 and 1986.

Some LEARN members wonder privately whether Roos can overcome the opposition he is likely to face from an entrenched school district bureaucracy. Any restructuring plan proposed by the nonprofit group would have to be approved by the school board before it could be launched. But with Anton on the committee and a consensus among board members that change is needed, the group’s recommendations are likely to carry weight.

Political observers in Sacramento say that Roos’ status as an outsider means he will approach issues with a clean slate and few loyalties to the existing structure.

“Mike has a very strong understanding of budget needs. He will bring to the table a very sophisticated level of knowledge, maybe not about what should happen inside a classroom but in terms of being able to build bridges,” said Richie Ross, a Democratic political consultant.

Roos’ salary--said by one member to be between $100,000 and $250,000 annually--and that of a two to five member staff will be paid by members of the private, nonprofit group. Its membership includes executives of such major corporations as Arco, Security Pacific Bank, the Whittaker Corp. and Times Mirror Co., which publishes the Los Angeles Times.

Other LEARN members include representatives of the UCLA Graduate School of Management; the grass-roots activist East Valley Organizations; Kids 1st, a school reform group, and the civic planning group L. A. 2000.

The push by local civic and business leaders to play a more active role in Los Angeles schools comes on the heels of several reports indicating that high schools are turning out graduates who cannot read, write, compute or function in today’s job market. The new Los Angeles organization is similar to groups that have sprung up in Louisville, Ky., and Pittsburgh.