Villaraigosa ends legal fight over LAUSD control

Declaring that “It's time to get out of the courtroom and into the classroom," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has ended his quest for a court decision that would give him partial control of the state’s largest school district.

Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education President Marlene Canter, other board members and district Superintendent David Brewer joined Villaraigosa at a May 18 press conference, where they urged the community to work together to deliver the best possible educational opportunities to the 708,000 students served by LAUSD.

The event signaled an end to a debate that began with the 2005 campaign for mayor and grew to encompass the state Legislature and the courts. Villaraigosa, a former state Assembly leader who won the mayoral contest, initially sought outright control of the district, which extends beyond the city line to take in some two dozen other municipalities. Villaraigosa turned to the Legislature last summer and eventually won passage of Assembly Bill 1381, a diminished version of his plan that was scaled back by intensive lobbying efforts led by Los Angeles parents, the school district, CSBA and other allies.

The law still would have given the mayor direct control over a cluster of K-12 schools, a role in selection of the district superintendent and other authority, so opponents sued to challenge the measure’s constitutionality. They prevailed in Los Angeles County Superior Court late last year and again in the state’s Second District Court of Appeal last month. Today’s announcement by Villaraigosa ends any concern that the case would be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

“CSBA congratulates Mayor Villaraigosa for his decision to drop any further appeal of the court’s decision that AB 1381 is unconstitutional. We also applaud the mayor’s decision to work with the LAUSD board, superintendent, teachers and parents to further the district’s success in closing the achievement gap and meeting the educational needs and desires of all LAUSD students,” said CSBA President Kathy Kinley.

“During the debate on AB 1381, CSBA continually stressed that mayors and school boards can work together in many different ways to meet the needs of school children. We thank the mayor for recognizing that the best way to accomplish our mutual goals is to work with, rather than against, the governance team of LAUSD,” said CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin.