ACCOUNTABILITY POWER GRANTED TO ZACARIAS.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles school board Tuesday handed Superintendent Ruben Zacarias a potentially powerful tool to fix failing schools, but only after an angry debate.

Board members approved a plan granting Zacarias the power to strip administrators at poorly performing schools of their right to make key administrative decisions.

Only schools on academic probation whose student test scores fall or remain flat will be affected.

The district's powerful teachers union opposed the plan, and several board members wanted to postpone a decision pending further talks with the union.

But Zacarias pleaded with board members not to allow what he called a clear and simple plan to be talked to death or negotiated away. The proposed steps, he said, were needed to save deeply troubled schools and make the district more accountable for student performance.

``This is about accountability - mine,'' he said. ``How can I be held accountable if I can't hold schools accountable?''

Day Higuchi, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, complained before the meeting that the plan would gut the decision-making councils that give parents and teachers a say in how schools are run.

Those councils are included in the teachers contract, prompting Higuchi to say the plan would have to be negotiated with the union. He threatened to file an unfair labor practice grievance against the district otherwise.

Supporting the need for further talks with the union before the final vote, Valerie Fields, who represents part of the San Fernando Valley, said, ``We shouldn't get into a confrontational mode if we can do it collaboratively.''

But Zacarias and the district's legal staff insisted no negotiations were needed. And some board members grew visibly angry over a delay they said would needlessly tie Zacarias' hands.

``This deliberate stalling of this process will throw this district into turmoil,'' said Barbara Boudreaux. All board members except Julie Korenstein eventually voted for the plan. Korenstein, who represents part of the San Fernando Valley, abstained.

In contrast, the board unanimously embraced another key accountability measure Tuesday.

Without dissent, it accepted 13 recommendations from the district's Accountability Task Force, all intended to make students, teachers and administrators more responsible for their performances.

Some on the panel complained that the steps lacked detail. Many of the recommendations were broad policy statements, saying, for example, that the district should create clear performance standards and establish specific rewards for those who do well and punishments for those who don't.

``Like a lot of policies, these could all be implemented in an innocuous, meaningless way, or they could be implemented in a way that makes serious changes in the district,'' said board member Jeff Horton.

Many of those details of implementation will need to be negotiated with the teachers and administrators unions, particularly items about granting principals more authority and paying employees based on special skills.