Fresno mayor says he’ll take action if L.A. gets school power he sought.

By E.J. Schultz / The Fresno Bee

The mayor of Los Angeles is trying to do what the mayor of Fresno couldn’t: take greater control of schools. And if Antonio Villaraigosa succeeds where Alan Autry failed, Autry says he’ll take action.

“I will sue the Legislature unless Fresno, which was denied that power, isn’t included,” said the Fresno mayor. “Our kids are just as important as any other kids around the state.”

Autry still stings from his failed attempt four years ago to get the Legislature to approve his school takeover plan.

The legislation would have allowed him to handpick the Fresno Unified school board. It died in an Assembly committee. Lawmakers told him it needed the blessing of local voters, not Sacramento politicians.

Now Villaraigosa is turning to the Capitol for approval of his own mayoral control plan.

His proposal, among other things, would give Los Angeles-area mayors a leading role in selecting the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The plan, which stops short of total mayoral control, has the backing of Gov. Schwarzenegger, top Democrats and union leaders.

Though he’s upset Fresno is not included, Autry says he supports Villaraigosa’s plan. He said mayors are in a good position to make schools better. Mayors, he said, get a “yearly report card” on such things as crime, garbage pickup and other municipal necessities. “You put education under that same system, it automatically performs better,” says the Republican mayor.

Autry said negotiators considered adding Fresno to Villaraigosa’s bill -- along with school districts in other large cities -- until it became politically impractical.

Thwarted, Autry is focusing on an alternative proposal that he says is superior to the Los Angeles plan. He’s backing a bill by Assembly Member Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, that would give greater control to county schools superintendents.

Autry now believes county schools superintendents, not mayors, are in a better position to oversee failing schools.

A superintendent has a “singleness of purpose” when it comes to education, Autry said, “whereas a mayor has crime, the economy, a lot of other issues.”

Arambula pushed a similar bill earlier this year that never made it out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The legislation was opposed by the California Federation of Teachers and the Association of California School Administrators.

Arambula’s new legislation, Assembly Bill 232, applies to Fresno County only. With unions and administrators still opposed, Arambula concedes that the bill’s chances, at least for this session, are slim. It might not even get a hearing. But he vows to push forward.

“There are simply too many people that would like to keep things the way they are,” he said. But “we cannot afford to continue allowing school districts to fail so many kids.”

If the bill fails and Villaraigosa’s plan goes through, Autry said he’ll sue the state. Asked about the feasibility of such a move, he said, “It’s America, you can sue anybody,” and “if there’s any justice, we’ll prevail.”

Arambula’s legislation would give the county schools superintendent academic oversight of poor-performing school districts in the county. For instance, the superintendent would oversee academic improvement plans.

If the bill passes, that power would go to Larry Powell, whom voters recently chose to replace the retiring Pete Mehas as head of the Fresno County Office of Education. Powell is expected to take over this summer.

The office already can take fiscal control of financially failing school districts. Arambula’s plan would give the office more academic control over academically failing districts.

Powell was consulted on the plan. He says it’s not a power grab but a way for districts and the county office to work more closely together. “It has to be a collaborative thing,” he said.

Under the plan, Powell would monitor the academic performance of the county’s poorly performing school districts, including the largest, Fresno Unified. Fresno County contains 34 school districts.

If failing schools don’t improve, Powell could recommend that the state Board of Education enact sanctions. In extreme cases, he could ask the board to appoint a trustee to take over a school district. Today, such a recommendation must be made by the state superintendent of public instruction.

The problem, Arambula said, is that the state doesn’t use the power. “The state has stepped in for districts that are financially bankrupt, but the state has never stepped in for districts that are academically bankrupt.”

County superintendents are in a better position to watch districts, he said. “They are on the ground. They know the district and the community.”

Larry Moore, head of the Fresno Teachers Association union, disagrees. He said county superintendents lack the know-how and resources to oversee districts.

“They are politicians,” he said. “I’m not for turning over school districts to politicians.”

He’s troubled by the fact that a small city, with few voters, might not have that much of a say in the election of a county superintendent. Yet, under the plan, the superintendent would hold sway over that city’s school district, he said.

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson is still evaluating the legislation. “If it streamlines support for us, that’s great. If it’s cumbersome, that’s not as good,” he said.

He’s not focused on takeover proposals, he said, but on doing what he can to turn around the long-failing district.

Real change, he said, is driven at the district level. At the end of the day, “it’s not about who’s accountable so much as the work that’s being done.”

The reporter can be reached at eschultz@fresnobee.com or (916) 326-5541.