Goldberg, Cortines Open to L.A. Schools Chief Post

As aides to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state lawmakers continued to sculpt legislation that would dramatically reshuffle control of Los Angeles public schools, two prominent education figures said Friday they were open to becoming the next superintendent.

State Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), a former member of the Los Angeles Unified School District board, said she had received numerous calls urging her to seek the position.

And Ramon C. Cortines, who was the district’s interim superintendent in 1999 and 2000 after leading school systems in New York, San Francisco and Pasadena, said he would take the job if the mayor and school board called on him.

Their emergence highlights the jockeying and confusion swirling around the school board’s search to replace retiring Supt. Roy Romer during a time of possible upheaval for the district.

Villaraigosa struck a deal with the state’s powerful teachers union this week, clearing the way for legislation that would give the mayor considerable sway over the troubled school district -- including the right to veto the board’s choice for superintendent. He has made district reform a centerpiece of his year-old administration.

Goldberg, 61, laughed when asked Friday if she was interested in being schools chief. When the laughter subsided, however, she said slowly, “Well, I don’t know. A lot of people are calling me and saying I should think about it.”

A former Compton high school teacher who was elected to the Board of Education in 1983, Goldberg must leave the Assembly this year due to term limits. Initially, she had been a vehement critic of the mayor’s takeover push, vowing to torpedo his bid for state legislation that would gut the board’s power and give him control. At the time, she publicly denied any interest in succeeding Romer.

But this week’s compromise deal, which preserves some power for the board, makes the superintendent’s role more appealing, she said.

“If this were a complete mayoral takeover, I would definitely not want to be involved in it. But this is a sharing of power. That’s different ... and that could have some interesting possibilities.”

Goldberg said her change of heart on the takeover wasn’t an attempt to receive favorable consideration by Villaraigosa, nor had she talked to the mayor or his close ally, state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) about the job.

Goldberg would not identify those urging her to seek the position. “It’s not the school board, I assure you. I’m not sure they would even want me.”

Asked to comment, L.A. Unified board President Marlene Canter would only say that she spoke to Goldberg on Friday and urged her to formally apply if she was interested.

Cortines, 73, expressed concern that the mayor, teacher union officials and lawmakers had cut a deal to revamp the district without involving the school board. That would complicate the search for Romer’s replacement, he said.

“It’s fraught with problems from the beginning and is going to be very difficult to get the best individuals to come forward,” Cortines said. “I would tell the mayor he will be remiss if he doesn’t find a way to involve the board.”

Pointing out his experience as chief of the New York City school system, interim head of L.A. Unified and his close ties to the mayor and school board, Cortines said he could navigate the complicated power-sharing model called for in the mayor’s plan.

“I don’t mean to be arrogant,” he said, “but I could make it work.”

Cortines was adamant that he would not apply for the job but would serve if the board and Villaraigosa approached him. Neither has contacted him, although L.A. Unified officials and the mayor’s staff have sought his guidance amid the debate over district control.

Goldberg echoed Cortines, saying she too could handle the balancing act. “Some people say because I have a unique relationship with the mayor and school board and various employee unions ... I should think about [that],” she said. Goldberg also once served on the Los Angeles City Council. “It’s going to be a lot more complicated to be a superintendent, and it’s already complicated.”

Goldberg said she had not formally nominated herself for the job but had nominated Maria Casillas, a former administrator in the district and president of a respected education nonprofit. Casillas said Friday she was not interested.

Some education leaders have speculated that another candidate was Thomas Saenz, Villaraigosa’s attorney at City Hall, who helped shape the reform plan and is president of the Los Angeles County Board of Education. Saenz, however, said he had no interest in the superintendent’s job and had not been approached by anyone, including the mayor. “I’m not an educator,” Saenz said.

Whoever applies, Canter said, the board is pushing ahead with plans to select a new superintendent by late September or early October.

But it remains uncertain whether that process will be altered by the mayor’s bill, which is expected to be submitted to the Legislature next week and, if passed, would quickly be signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The legislation will call for creation of a “council of mayors” to include Villaraigosa, the mayors of 26 other cities served by L.A. Unified and some county supervisors. The panel would be empowered to help select the superintendent and veto candidates chosen by the school board.

But if the bill is to take effect immediately, lawmakers would need to add an “urgency clause.” Otherwise, it would take effect Jan. 1. An urgency clause would require passage by two-thirds of the Legislature instead of a simple majority. Although Democrats hold majorities in both houses, they would need some Republican support.

“There is absolutely no way we are postponing our search,” said Canter, who met in closed session with the board Friday to discuss possible legal challenges to the mayor’s plan. “This has to be about kids, not politics.”

*

Times staff writer Duke Helfand contributed to this report. Rubin reported from Los Angeles and Vogel from Sacramento.