Schools Chief Hails Hiring of Riordan

Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer said Mayor Richard Riordan made his pitch over dinner a few weeks ago.

“He said, ‘I’d like to come to work with you. I’d like to concentrate on helping kids learn computers,’ ” Romer said. “I said, ‘Great.’ ”

Confirming the gentlemen’s agreement, Romer said Monday that Riordan will work for the district when he leaves office next summer. The specific responsibilities have yet to be worked out.

Riordan will work on getting computers into classrooms and develop programs to make them effective learning tools, Romer said. Details such as salary and whether Riordan would oversee staff have not been considered yet, he said.

Although he was aware that Riordan played a key role in unseating three board members in 1998 and that he might also back challengers in board races next spring, Romer said he saw no conflict with the mayor’s working for the district.

“I’m not into that election business,” Romer said. “That’s not my concern. When the mayor of the second-largest city in America comes to you and says, ‘I want to help you learn how to use computers better,’ a man would be a fool to turn that down.”

Members of the Board of Education said they knew nothing of the plan until Riordan mentioned it during a political speech Friday.

“I’m just surprised,” said board member Julie Korenstein. “It’s leaving me with a tremendous amount of curiosity. If this is something [Romer] is thinking of doing, he needs to share it with the board.”

Based on Riordan’s description of the job, several board members jumped to the conclusion that he was to be named chief information officer, supervising district information systems including student records and business accounts.

The district has had a hard time filling the new position at its advertised salary, $190,000. Some board members thought they’d be getting a deal if Riordan, a multimillionaire, accepts the same salary he gets as mayor--$1 per year.

“If he came to us for the same salary, we could afford that,” said board member Valerie Fields, who called it a “nifty idea.”

However, Romer quashed that notion Monday, saying he is interviewing for that position and expects to have it filled soon.

Board member Caprice Young, who worked in the Riordan administration, said she sees the mayor as a great catch for the district.

“Honestly, there are very few people in the country who understand instructional technology as well as the mayor does,” Young said.

The key, she said, is not just putting computers into classrooms, but “integrating what is on those computers into the curriculum and making sure the teachers are well trained so they use it effectively with the kids.”

Young said Riordan’s foundation has put computers in dozens of Los Angeles classrooms, among hundreds around the country, and that he has a relationship with the district’s instructional technology staff.

Riordan promises to be a controversial figure at the Los Angeles Unified School District because of his role in district politics. The mayor, who made education a central theme of his second term, helped raise $2 million in campaign contributions for four school board candidates. All four won.

A few months after the election, the newly constituted board stripped then-Supt. Ruben Zacarias of much of his powers and eventually bought out his contract.

Riordan said he has endorsed board member Valerie Fields for reelection next spring and is seeking candidates to oppose Korenstein and board member Victoria Castro.

Castro said she is concerned that Riordan is using his influence to create a board that will make him superintendent. Riordan dismissed such speculation.

“That would be ridiculous,” Riordan said. “Anybody that knows me knows I don’t think that way.”