State Takeover of Compton Schools Awaits Wilson’s OK

In the wake of state legislation passed this week, the Compton Unified School District is on the verge of an unprecedented state takeover on the grounds that the system has failed to properly educate its students.

Unless Gov. Pete Wilson vetoes a bill approved by the California Legislature on Monday, a state-appointed trustee could take over Compton Unified as early as Jan. 1, 1993.

The intervention would mark the first time that the state has assumed control of a school district for any reason other than financial insolvency.

Gov. Wilson, who has until Sept. 30 to act on the bill, has not yet taken a position on the measure. The state Department of Education and state schools Supt. Bill Honig support the legislation.

The bill specifically would give Honig the authority to appoint a trustee if Compton Unified cannot meet specified minimal performance standards that are defined within the bill. The trustee would remain at least three years and could overrule decisions by the school board and the district superintendent. The school district would have to pay the trustee’s salary.

Vowing an intense lobbying effort for a Wilson veto, Compton school officials insisted Wednesday that the district has begun to turn itself around. Compton officials said loss of local control would be costly, ineffective and demoralizing for employees and parents. The school board called an emergency meeting Wednesday night to alert parents and employees to the bill and urge them to lobby against it.

School board President John Steward called the bill disastrous. “I am saddened as well as upset,” he said. “I believe the district is making progress.”

The takeover plan is the brainchild of state Assemblyman Willard H. Murray Jr. (D-Paramount), who authored the measure. He said only drastic intervention could reverse Compton’s poor student achievement and high dropout rates.

The district has scored consistently in the lowest percentile among the state’s school districts on standardized tests.

“These children are suffering from an inadequate education and have been suffering,” said Murray, who represents parts of Compton. “I had the state Department of Education do some research as far back as they could go, and since 1984, Compton has scored at the absolute bottom” on statewide standardized tests.

Steward accused Murray of playing politics. “You can’t be surprised that he would look within his own district to find something to beat up on, to gain some measure of success,” Steward said.

Compton Unified got moral support Wednesday from Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who cited the Murray bill among examples of what he described as legislative meddling in civic affairs. “The people of Compton and everyone in this state ought to be outraged by this kind of irresponsible action,” Bradley said.

The Department of Education would like to have the authority to intervene in any school district that is failing in its academic mission, Deputy State Supt. Joe Holsinger said.

“We simply need to have the authority to do what needs to be done,” Holsinger said. “Our intention is to work with the people in the district, including the superintendent and the school board. It’s not a matter of coming in like storm troopers and that type of thing.”

To trigger the authority for the state-appointed trustee, Compton students must place in the bottom 1% on statewide standardized tests, the bottom 5% in dropout rates or the bottom 5% in the percentage of students who complete requirements for admission to the University of California.

Compton qualifies on all counts, according to the state. Murray’s bill applies only to Compton. State officials were not immediately aware if any other districts would qualify under the criteria.

District officials maintain that test scores are not the only valid measure of progress in the district of 32,600 students. Officials blame their low scores on demographics. Most of the district’s students come from poor families. A third speak limited or no English.

In the last two years, the district has raised its graduation requirements for math and science, adopted new curriculum to match new state guidelines, installed computer labs in every elementary school and provided expanded teacher training, Assistant Supt. Lilly Nelson said.

The district has also reorganized management by creating “area superintendents,” she added. Each area superintendent supervises one high school and the elementary and middle schools that feed into it.

Bad news has beleaguered the Compton school system this year. First, an internal audit concluded that district administrators squandered millions of dollars in recent years on construction projects and food-service contracts. Next, the district’s former business director sued his employer for discrimination and unlawful dismissal. That suit is pending.

Then, a state Department of Education report chided the district for not accomplishing more with its financial resources.

School district officials lobbied against an earlier version of Murray’s bill. To their surprise, Murray reintroduced the measure in the legislature’s closing days. The bill passed almost unnoticed in the fury over the state budget.

As a result, Compton Unified officials say they never got a fair hearing before the Legislature. Board President Steward said he is angry at Compton Supt. J. L. Handy for not mounting a better challenge to Murray’s efforts. Handy could not be reached for comment.

“The bill wrongly singles out a school district for special treatment,” said Reggie Fair, the district’s lobbyist. “It’s an issue of good policy or bad policy, and we think we have right on our side.”

Murray makes no apology for singling out Compton Unified for special treatment.

“It seems to me that the place to start is the worst district,” he said.