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Mayor Reaches Compromise on L.A. Schools

By AARON C. DAVIS
Associated Press Writer


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reached a compromise Wednesday with lawmakers and teachers unions that would give him some authority over his city's schools without handing him the outright control he had sought.

The deal, which follows two days of negotiations, gives the superintendent of the nation's second-largest school district more power over personnel, business operations, budgeting and other areas.

The district suffers from dismal test scores and a staggering 50 percent dropout rate among minorities in some schools.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised Villaraigosa for reaching a compromise. In a statement, Schwarzenegger said he would sign the bill if it comes to his desk.

Under the agreement, Villaraigosa will be allowed to lead a council of mayors from cities within the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District. The council will have veto power over selecting a new superintendent, and the mayor also will assume a direct role in managing the 36 worst-performing schools.

But the compromise gives the mayor only an advisory role in deciding the district's budget. The school board will retain final spending authority, and therefore ultimate control over its educational priorities.

Villaraigosa in April had called on the Legislature to largely strip power from the district and shift much of it to his office in a proposal loosely modeled on mayoral takeovers in Chicago, Boston and New York.

He said Wednesday that his plan was about accountability, not mayoral control.

"I didn't run to be king of Los Angeles," he said at a Capitol news conference. "I want to be mayor and a consensus builder."

Critics still called the mayor's proposal a power grab, and it has strained his relationships with district officials and the teachers union.

The compromise strikes a balance between the governing authority of the school board and the authority of the mayor, Nunez said.

"This is a great win for the mayor, but it's also a win for the teachers," Nunez said. "Most of all, it is a win for the students of L.A. Unified."