School Bill Wins Wary Democrats

Democratic legislators appear to be resigned to pass Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s bid for greater control of Los Angeles public schools based largely on his political star power and pressure from legislative leaders, in spite of misgivings about the plan’s worthiness and legality.

More opposition to the mayor’s proposal fell away Monday when Villaraigosa accepted bill amendments to give the 26 smaller cities in Los Angeles Unified School District more influence over the choice of superintendent.

He also promised to amend the bill to give six southeastern Los Angeles County cities, including Bell and South Gate, veto power over the selection of a regional superintendent.

Privately, many legislators expressed concerns about the Villaraigosa-sponsored bill, which would give the mayor direct control over several clusters of low-performing schools in the 727,000-student district. Still, lawmakers are expected to pass the plan to avoid crossing Assembly and Senate leaders, who have made passage a priority, and in deference to Villaraigosa, a former Assembly speaker and potential governor .

“A number of the representatives I’ve spoken to and to whom I’ve tried to make an argument have said, ‘Well, you know, it’s going to be difficult. He’s a good friend of mine,’ ” said Bill Ring, a parent of two L.A. Unified students and head of the Parent Collaborative, the district’s umbrella parent group and an opponent of the bill.

Villaraigosa’s cozy relations with the Legislature became clear near the end of an hour-and-a-half hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday.

Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City) joked with Villaraigosa about how the two had lived together for a couple weeks after they came to Sacramento as newly elected assemblymen a dozen years ago.

“Kiss and tell, senator,” Villaraigosa laughed from the audience.

And Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) made it clear how much political pressure legislators are facing to vote for the bill, AB 1381.

Ortiz criticized the legislation for not doing enough to change the school district’s status quo. Nonetheless, she said she would vote for it in committee because “it is the direction of our leadership.”

She then asked the author, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), not to seek revenge should she decide to vote against the Villaraigosa plan on the Senate floor. As speaker, Nunez can use his control of committee assignments, budgets and other perks to influence legislators’ votes.

Ortiz asked Nunez to “keep an open mind” on her bills as they face Assembly votes in the last, frenzied days before the Legislature adjourns Aug. 31.

Villaraigosa had hoped to achieve a total takeover of the district, which has been plagued for years by a variety of performance problems. But the mayor was forced to back down when it became clear he would face opposition from teachers. In June, he struck a compromise with United Teachers Los Angeles and the California Teachers Assn. that would give him control over the district’s $19-billion school construction budget, a say in who becomes the next superintendent and direct control over three troubled high schools in Los Angeles and the dozens of elementary and middle schools that feed them.

L.A. Unified Supt. Roy Romer and district board President Marlene Canter appeared at Monday’s hearing to make their case against the bill. They acknowledged that the district has much work to do to raise student achievement. But they argued that the legislation would muddle, not clarify, who’s in charge, shift responsibility to the mayor while leaving liability with other cities and disenfranchise voters who elect seven school board members.

As the hearing closed, the Senate Appropriations Committee took perfunctory action, putting AB 1381 into a category of bills that get further consideration because they are estimated to cost the state more than $150,000. On Thursday, the committee faces the more critical decision of whether to move the bill to the Senate floor.

But the chances for passage became much more certain Monday when Villaraigosa accepted amendments from Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier) to give six southeast Los Angeles County cities -- Bell, South Gate, Cudahy, Maywood, Huntington Park and Vernon -- the ability to veto the district’s choice of a regional superintendent who would oversee the L.A. Unified schools in their cities.

She also insisted on an amendment that would require Villaraigosa to get at least some support from other, smaller cities in the district to ratify the superintendent.

Earlier versions of the bill would have given Villaraigosa veto power over the Board of Education’s choice of district superintendent. Ratification would have been done by a “council of mayors” consisting of Villaraigosa, representatives of the county Board of Supervisors and 26 other cities served by L.A. Unified.

But each “mayor’s” influence would have been weighted proportionally based on population, giving Villaraigosa 80% of the vote and thus control.

The Escutia amendment requires a vote of 90% to reject the school board’s choice of superintendent.

“In essence, we’re giving all the cities, frankly, minority shareholder rights,” Escutia said.

“With Mayor Villaraigosa having 80%, that means he’s got to get 10% somewhere else. I think that amendment ensures a collaboration as well as consensus in the outcome.”

With those changes, Escutia said she would support the bill. Her vote is significant, because as a popular legislator, she has the ability to influence how several other Democrats with districts outside the Los Angeles area would vote.

Still, not all opposition has disappeared. The San Fernando City Council voted Monday evening to oppose the bill.

No Republicans are expected to vote for the bill, so to pass it needs the support of 21 of 25 Democrats in the Senate and 41 of 48 Democrats in the Assembly. Democrats hold majorities in both houses.

Romer complained that he had not heard of the new amendments until the Monday hearing, and he warned lawmakers that they risk throwing the district off a track of steady improvements in student achievement and rapid construction of schools.

He accused the mayor of excluding the district from negotiations and amending the bill piecemeal to remove opposition.

“It has been like a hostile takeover,” Romer said. “You’re the enemy and we’re not going to include you.”