Villaraigosa, new schools chief say they’re on the same page

Despite an ongoing feud between city and school district leaders, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and new Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. David L. Brewer pledged jointly Wednesday to demand more funding for schools and more accountability from the district.

They also announced a common agenda of adding Saturday classes and lengthening the school day. Cooperation already is underway, they added, on improving the safe passage of children who walk to school.

The two held a City Hall news conference together after what they characterized as their first regular weekly meeting.

“Already this was probably as fruitful a meeting as two people could have,” the mayor said, referring to Brewer as “my good friend, the superintendent.”

Three times, Villaraigosa noted that their thinking is so in sync that they “finished each other’s sentences” during their private meeting.

The apparently warm relationship stands in contrast to months of heated rhetoric between the mayor and the school board over Villaraigosa-backed legislation that gives L.A.’s mayor substantial authority within the school system. L.A. Unified and allied groups have sued to overturn the law, which takes effect Jan 1.

And in the political battlefield, the mayor’s team has been quietly reviewing candidates for four of seven school board seats; the March election could determine whether Villaraigosa will get a compliant board majority going forward.

There’s no contention, however, over funding. “These schools, without question, do not have the resources they need,” Villaraigosa said, adding that he and Brewer will seek more money from Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

Brewer continued to soft-pedal earlier remarks about his willingness to fire bad teachers. On Wednesday, he talked of “embracing” teachers by giving them necessary training, due process and even rewards and community sponsored incentives, such as coupons and free classroom supplies. When pressed several times on how long ineffective teachers would be given to improve, he declined to say.

In a similar vein, Villaraigosa joined in: “I believe teachers as professionals are underpaid. One place to look for more money is the bureaucracy” -- a nod to contract demands by United Teachers Los Angeles to increase teacher pay by laying off non-school personnel and administrators.

Both men called for assessing the “bureaucracy.” Villaraigosa wants an independent state audit; Brewer talked of a “performance audit,” possibly an internal one, to inform his own decisions.

“We’re probably saying the same thing,” Brewer said. “We’ll have to work out how it is done.”

A state audit earlier this year concluded that non-school staff has grown despite efforts to shrink it. A separate review made similar findings, but both are silent on whether the district spent its dollars wisely. The latter analysis, by Massachusetts-based Education Resource Strategies, is ongoing under an agreement with the teachers union.

The mayor said he and his staff were developing their plan for schools that would be under his control through the new law, but he declined to divulge details. He also acknowledged that Brewer’s ability to take part would be limited until the legal challenge is settled.

A joint effort on school safety is underway. Brewer recently called the mayor’s office about the Santee Education Complex, a high school in South L.A. Students there have been robbed and challenged by competing gangs -- preventing students from attending after-dark tutoring and campus events. The problem has been getting regular attention from police and area Councilwoman Jan Perry, but the mayor’s office and senior district leadership have ramped up their efforts at developing new bus routes and targeted policing -- at Santee and other high schools.

“After that phone call I’ve noticed an amplification with the mayor’s office,” said Santee Co-Principal Vince Carbino. “We want to work collaboratively with everyone.”

howard.blume@latimes.com