Local Leaders Want Clout in L.A. Unified

Amid increasing concerns about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan to take control of the Los Angeles Unified School District, leaders from other cities within the district are considering alternatives that would give them increased authority over schools.

Elected officials from five cities in the southeast part of the sprawling 710-square mile district -- Bell, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Maywood and South Gate -- are pursuing plans to form a joint-powers authority. And others are considering joining with districts outside of L.A. Unified or converting campuses into charter schools.

Under the terms of the southeast cities’ agreement, the proposed coalition would govern the L.A. Unified schools there, hire a local superintendent and take control of a portion of the district’s $6.8-billion budget.

Villaraigosa is seeking sweeping control over the school district. He has proposed a “council of mayors” to oversee L.A. Unified but said he wants greater decision-making power than other cities’ mayors because most district students live in Los Angeles.

An aide to Villaraigosa said he was supportive of the idea of a joint-powers agreement.

So far, three city councils have formally approved the idea, and the Cudahy and Maywood councils are expected to vote on the matter in coming weeks, said Binti Harvey, a Huntington Park city official.

She said that managers for the cities met Tuesday to discuss hiring attorneys to advise officials on whether they would need a change in state law to empower the authority.

About 50,000 L.A. Unified students, roughly 7% of the district total, live in the five cities.

Also this week, West Hollywood officials, concerned that a Villaraigosa-led takeover of the school system would disenfranchise their city, decided to study the possibility of seceding from the district.

The City Council directed its staff on Monday to investigate what it would take for West Hollywood to form its own school system or join the neighboring Beverly Hills Unified School District.

Officials are concerned that Villaraigosa’s proposal would strip voters, parents and students of adequate representation. About 800 West Hollywood children attend L.A. Unified schools.

And in Lomita, Mayor Don Suminaga, meanwhile, said Tuesday that city officials were doubtful they could persuade nearby Torrance Unified School District to absorb the three L.A. Unified schools in his small city.

Instead, the City Council is looking into the possibility of converting the campuses into independently run charter schools.