Compton Civic Officials Still Fighting State’s School Control

Talk about your town and gown rivalries. For the better part of two years, Compton city officials have waged war against the city’s state-run school district, duking it out in courtrooms, elections, public meeting halls and, now, in a dispute over high school graduation.

While most city governments avoid open conflict with their local school districts, Compton officials operate in a different manner. Chafing under state control of the city’s beleaguered 29,000-student school system, Compton City Hall has aggressively sought a hand in the district’s operation and a return to local control.

In the most recent skirmish, Compton City Atty. Legrand Clegg took the school district to court last week on behalf of five high school students who were were not allowed to take part in graduation ceremonies. Clegg argued unsuccessfully that the students were never properly warned of their graduation status.

City officials say they felt compelled to intervene because, they contend, the district has effectively disenfranchised Compton residents. Since the Compton School Board lacks any decision-making power under state administration, they say, it’s up to the city to act as a check and balance.

But school administrators characterize the graduation spat as just the latest episode in a campaign of harassment. District officials say critics are simply trying to wear administrators down as a way of hastening the return of local control.

“I’ve been told that they’re trying to run me out of town,” said state Administrator Randolph Ward. “They’ve been very successful in doing that with other state administrators, but I have a lot of patience.”

City officials deny they are trying to harass the district, yet it appears unlikely that last week’s stand will be their last.

“They say we’re harassing them, but that’s not true,” Clegg said. “The state of California has taken over and the people are without representation. . . . My obligation, then, is to act in their best interest.”

Indeed, when the city’s outspoken mayor refers to state control as an illegal occupation of city schools, there appears to be little chance for peace.

“As long as parents and students come to us and say, ‘Help us,’ I’m going to be there, like the Lone Ranger,” said Mayor Omar Bradley. “I still see this as an illegal occupation of the schools. I don’t know if I’m going to be the one to liberate them, but I’d like to be.”

Now, as both sides continue their struggle, a new television documentary on the district has been released, chronicling the conflict. Most of all, the hourlong video portrays the district’s students and their parents as the ultimate casualties in this war.

“Classes, a Documentary on Compton Schools,” features stark footage of crumbling campuses, demoralized teachers and bewildered students--footage that was taken over the course of a year by filmmakers Scott Rivera and Heather Finnegan. The documentary, produced by Eyebrow Films of Hollywood, will get an airing on public television this fall.

The local preview of the documentary was held late Sunday in two special screenings at the Midnight Special bookstore in Santa Monica.

Ultimately, city officials want the district returned to local control, but state administrators are loath to give it up just yet.

In 1993, when it found itself almost $20 million in the red, the district became the first ever to be taken over by the state . The shortfall, state and county officials said, was the result of squandered funds and possibly worse. County education investigators charged that political cronyism and nepotism were at the root of the problem.

It was pointed out too that Compton schools had the lowest standardized test scores in Los Angeles County and high dropout rates, but it was the district’s financial bind that triggered state control.

As a result of the takeover, the local school board functions only as an advisory group. All decision-making power rests with the state administrator.

Local officials have grown increasingly opposed to the state’s control of the schools, and in the last two years city officials have taken the district to court four times. In addition to the recent graduation battle, the city has sued in federal court for the district’s return to local control, has opposed Ward’s filling of a vacancy on the advisory school board, and argued that the district violated election laws by lobbying for the passage of a $107-million school repair bond.

In that same school bond battle, the Compton city clerk was accused of trying to confuse voters by labeling two separate ballot items, including the bond item, as “Measure C.” The bond measure, which council members opposed, was favored by only 29% of voters. The April vote was the third attempt at passing the bond; on a previous occasion, it had failed by only 88 votes.

In yet another battle, City Council members backed a failed legislative bill that would have returned the schools to local control immediately.

Such conflicts are rare in other school systems, said Frank Kwan, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

“Usually the cities and district try to avoid open conflict, or at least try to resolve differences before they get to the point of going to court,” Kwan said.

Los Angeles was a notable exception this year when a dissatisfied Mayor Richard Riordan put his political muscle and personal money behind a slate of reform candidates who eventually won a majority on the school board.

Compton officials charge that the state has failed miserably in operating the schools over the last six years, and that student test scores and dropout rates have improved little under state oversight. Bradley says it’s time once again for local control.

“Compton has learned its lesson about being derelict of its duties and the consequences of that dereliction,” he said.

School administrators claim the district has made headway but say opponents have impeded that process by harassing officials. In the period of one year, four different administrators held the position of state administrator.

In February, a study of the school district gave the state an overall grade of 40%, saying the district should attain an overall grade of 75% before it is returned to local control. Although critics say the 40% grade is an indictment of the state’s stewardship of the district, the state administrator disagrees.

“If the district had been graded in 1993, it would have gotten 1%,” Ward said. “We brought it up to 40%. We are making progress.”