Criticism of Process Gives Romer a Taste of Job

Roy Romer quickly stepped into the business of running the Los Angeles schools Wednesday and just as quickly encountered the acid politics that have worn down a succession of superintendents.

While many political and civic leaders rallied around Romer, others complained about the process that selected him. In particular, critics objected to the secrecy of the deliberations, the lack of top-flight educators in the candidate pool and a short list of finalists that included only one person who wanted the job.

Given the deficiencies, some said, the board should have extended its self-imposed deadline for finding a successor to interim Supt. Ramon C. Cortines.

State Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), one of the district’s harshest detractors in Sacramento, said he thought they could have found a better candidate than Romer, who was named Tuesday.

“We could have and should have gone for someone with more actual experience with the issues that affect the Los Angeles Unified School District,” Polanco said in a talk to the Anti-Defamation League. “Not being disrespectful to the governor, the hands-on experience is just not there.”

Indeed, several people involved in the effort to find a superintendent said the district’s search committee was indifferent to seeking out experienced superintendents.

One high-level school official who declined to be identified accused the board of approaching the search as if great superintendents would be knocking down the door for the job.

The board “should have known early on how hard would be the job of recruitment,” the official said.

The official believes that miscalculation cost the board the possibility of getting highly sought talent such as Houston Supt. Rod Paige, who withdrew his name, or Fresno Supt. Carlos A. Garcia, who recently took a job in Las Vegas.

Garcia said in an interview that he found the job enticing but was surprised that the district did little to woo him. “In this day and age, I think places who want to hire superintendents need to sell themselves to the superintendents, not the other way around,” he said. “Yeah, I got a call asking if I was interested, but no one was really trying to sell me on reasons why I ought to be applying.”

Dennis Smith, superintendent in Orange County, Fla., said he pulled his name from the list for family reasons but could have been influenced by more aggressive recruiting.

“I think L.A. Unified is the ultimate challenge for a superintendent,” said Smith, who took the top job at the school district that serves Placentia and Yorba Linda. “The rewards could be enormous.”

Discussing his withdrawal from the race for the first time Wednesday, Paige told The Times that he would have relished the job in Los Angeles but felt compelled to finish the work he had begun in Houston.

“My personal ego and goals had to take a back seat to a commitment I have to the public in Houston,” Paige said. He did not fault the search committee.

The Los Angeles school district has proved tough on its leaders, running through four superintendents in the last decade. The superintendent is vulnerable to second-guessing from the board, state legislators, City Council members and powerful business interests. He also is buffeted by competing demands from ethnic groups.

On Wednesday, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund lashed out at the board for evaluating the final candidates without soliciting community comment.

“This is a pattern on the part of the board: a combination of secrecy and arrogance that doesn’t care what the community thinks,” said Thomas Saenz, MALDEF’S regional counsel. “The tragedy is that it’s not Gov. Romer’s fault, but it has saddled him with barriers, which is particularly troubling for Romer because the community doesn’t know him.

Some board members let their frustration show Wednesday but said they had to temper their hopes with realism.

“I personally would have liked to have five people who were just jumping up and down to come to the district,” said board member Mike Lansing.

But, given the constant criticism of the district from Sacramento and the likelihood of increased state scrutiny, Lansing said he thought a postponement would only make matters worse.

“We’re supposed to get a [state] monitor in a year,” Lansing said. “If anybody thinks that is going to attract better people to this job, they have to be delirious.”

Speaking Wednesday after months of silence, several members of the 11-member committee that drafted the short list defended their nominations and lavishly praised Romer.

“He made a sophisticated presentation that wowed all of us,” said committee member Louis Moret, chief operating officer of a regional government association.

“I did not expect to like Roy Romer,” said Kathleen Dixon, a representative of the district’s Parent Collaborative. “I went into the interview expecting to find fault with him and came out of it completely won over. I was very surprised by his depth of knowledge about the field of education and what needs to be done. I felt I found a kindred soul in him.”

Committee members said that they had some qualms about sending forward names of people who were reluctant candidates, but that the head of the search firm assured them that was standard practice.

“Most of them were not a no,” Moret said. “The five we sent them were all qualified. We were told it’s not abnormal to send people to them that have reservations. That’s what the wooing process was all about.”

Ed Hamilton, head of the search firm, was traveling Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

The board’s top choice, former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, was the only one intensely recruited. But he couldn’t be swayed. Surprisingly, a fourth candidate said he never sought the L.A. job and did not consider himself qualified.

Adam Urbanski, head of the Rochester, N.Y., teachers union, said he volunteered to advise the committee on the selection and was surprised to end up a finalist.

Committee members said they considered him qualified. “He is just so exciting that we felt the board needed to look at him,” Dixon said.

She said several committee members lamented the scarcity of highly qualified women in the top pool and believe work needs to be done nationwide to break down a glass ceiling in education. But members said they were not troubled by Romer’s lack of experience in education.

“I think political skills are a necessity,” Moret said. “I think somebody that has a wide range of networks is a plus. I think someone that has political savvy is a plus. I think someone who has been involved in all levels of government is a plus.”