2 Candidates for L.A. Schools Chief Withdraw Names

In a last-minute setback in the search for a new superintendent, the former head of the Charlotte, N.C., school system and a serious contender to lead the troubled Los Angeles school district withdrew his name for consideration Saturday, while another candidate declined an initial interview, officials said.

The Los Angeles Board of Education interviewed three candidates for eight hours Saturday in hopes of naming the new superintendent of the 711,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District by Monday. Members will meet again today.

Board President Genethia Hayes expressed disappointment Saturday about the withdrawal of John Murphy, the former Charlotte superintendent and current vice president of educational services for Arvida Corp. in Boca Raton, Fla. His job entails improving schools in nine master-planned communities.

“You always want to have as many qualified candidates as possible,” said Hayes, adding that the board learned of Murphy’s decision Saturday from the headhunter firm running the search. Murphy, she said, “was a serious candidate.”

Murphy could not be reached for comment.

Hayes also said that Rudy Crew, who was ousted in January as New York City schools chancellor by Mayor Rudolph W. Guiliani, essentially withdrew by refusing to be interviewed by the board.

Still vying to head the nation’s second-largest school district is George Munoz, a former president of the Chicago Board of Education who now heads a federal agency that promotes international trade, and ex-Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, who has openly campaigned for the position.

School board members have interviewed Munoz and Romer twice.

Hayes said an unnamed third candidate, who will be interviewed for the second time today, is also a “strong candidate.”

“There’s a genuine interest,” Hayes said, declining to comment on the third candidate’s specific qualifications.

The board has set Monday as its deadline for selecting the superintendent, so that interim Supt. Ramon Cortines can consult the new leader in appointing the superintendents of the 11 mini-districts that will be created under a reorganization taking effect July 1.

But with a half-dozen candidates spurning the job in recent days, including favored candidate Henry Cisneros, a former mayor of San Antonio and ex-secretary of Housing and Urban Development, some board members have conceded that they may need more time. The board also has said it wants to reach a unanimous decision.

Despite the rocky process, Hayes said she remains optimistic about meeting Monday’s deadline.

“I still do not rule it out,” she said.

On Friday, several school board members criticized the quality of candidates and what they said was inadequate preparation by the firm conducting the search.

Board members complained that they lacked critical information about Murphy, who had a reputation for challenging administrators, developing standards and raising test scores while he was Charlotte superintendent from 1992 to 1995.

Yet at least one article, scheduled for publication this summer in an education journal, disputes claims that test scores and academic standards improved in that school system while he was superintendent.

Hayes declined to comment Saturday on whether this was a factor in Murphy’s withdrawal.