Los Angeles judge to issue ruling soon on mayoral takeover
After hearing three hours of testimony in the lawsuit brought by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and others challenging a state law that gives Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa partial control over the schools, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs has indicated that she expects to issue a ruling shortly. Mayor Villaraigosa insists the court will uphold the law and will "allow us all to move past the lawsuit and begin implementing the reforms." The new law shifts some powers of the seven-member school board to the mayor, the district superintendent, and a new council that includes more than two dozen local mayors. It also grants Mayor Villaraigosa direct control over more than three dozen underperforming schools serving as many as 80,000 students. Attorney Fredric Woocher, who is representing the school district and the other plaintiffs, argued to the court that the law takes too much power away from the elected school board. "At what point has the Legislature taken so much authority from the school board that it's no longer effectively governing?" he asked. Assistant Los Angeles City Attorney Valerie L. Flores argued that the law creates only a "minor intrusion" into the education system. Deputy California Attorney General Susan K. Leach, also arguing in support of the law, contended it is "not a takeover of the LAUSD, but is a statute aimed specifically at education reform in the LAUSD."
CNN.com
By Associated Press
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[Editor’s Note: Background is available starting below.]
[NSBA School Law pages on LA mayoral takeover]