ANTONIO: FIGHT FOR SCHOOL REFORM WILL BE COSTLIEST CAMPAIGN IN CITY HISTORY.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - Calling the LAUSD a bloated bureaucracy that refuses to innovate, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called on San Fernando Valley business leaders Thursday to join him in trying to reform the district by empowering parents and teachers - a political battle he predicted would be the ``most expensive campaign'' in city history.

Ratcheting up his criticism of the Los Angeles Unified School District, Villaraigosa said progress is being made to improve the district's physical facilities and elementary-school students' test scores and after-school programs but that the 50 percent dropout rate was symptomatic of serious problems. He blamed the district's administrators and the teachers union for resisting critical reforms including charter schools, the smaller-schools movement and other efforts to make Los Angeles schools more creative and successful learning environments.

``I will not accept the status quo, and neither should you,'' he said, drawing repeated applause those attending the inaugural Mayors Luncheon sponsored by the United Chambers of Commerce at the Warner Center Marriott.

``In this great city, we have the ability to say to the next generation of kids, 'We're going to do a lot more for you than we've done in the past, to reach for the sky and follow your dreams.'

``The city isn't going to be a place where any of us will want to live'' unless the district can improve and generate a well-educated work force, said Villaraigosa, himself a former high-school dropout who went on to graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles, and then earn a law degree.

The mayor's impassioned and extemporaneous appeal was the latest in his stepped-up up calls for reforming the 727,000-student district - an issue he initially raised during his campaign for mayor.

Last week, Villaraigosa challenged more than 300 business leaders at a Town Hall Los Angeles meeting to join the effort. And on Tuesday, he outlined his plans at an education summit sponsored by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley.

His comments drew an angry response from longtime school board member Julie Korenstein, who was overheard by people near her repeatedly complaining that the mayor got his facts wrong and saying she wished she had the chance to debate him.

Korenstein angrily left the luncheon before the end of Villaraigosa's speech and later in a telephone interview sharply criticized him.

``He's sending the wrong message, and it's not a fair message,'' she said.

In particular, Korenstein challenged Villaraigosa's statement that the LAUSD has a 50 percent dropout rate - a figure included in a recent Harvard University study - and said the state of California lists the dropout rate at 33 percent.

The LAUSD is refining its student-tracking system to more accurately pin down the figure, which might be even lower, she said.

The district also is creating small learning communities within schools, she said, and test scores for elementary-school students have risen dramatically over the past five years, despite a 43 percent English- language-learner rate and more than 80 languages spoken in the district.

``If he wants to help with raising funds for school programs, making sure there is a computer in every classroom, I would welcome that,'' Korenstein said. ``Any type of positive contribution to our schools, we would welcome him with open arms.''

But the rest of the audience gave Villaraigosa an overwhelmingly positive response, including a standing ovation both before and after his speech.

``We have a mayor who has come to the Valley more often in his short term than his predecessor did in his four years,'' said J. Richard Leyner, who chaired the event for the UCC, which is composed of 22 area chambers of commerce.

Villaraigosa also stressed the need to improve the metropolitan area by building a regional system of airports and reducing air pollution at the Port of Los Angeles.

Currently, the city moves 43 percent of all goods that enter the United States, but it could be moving 70 percent, making it the ``Venice of the 21st century,'' he said, by developing a logistics industry and building on the success of the Alameda Corridor to improve the region's ability to move goods out of the area.

Boosting the city's tourism, entertainment and biotechnology industries is also vital, to create more jobs that will allow for middle-class lifestyles, he said.

But he focused most of his comments on education, and the need to work with students, teachers and district administrators to improve the quality of education in Los Angeles.

``It's not about mayoral control, it's about public accountability,'' Villaraigosa said.

But he predicted that district administrators and teachers would fight hard against efforts by his office to intervene, predicting that it would result in ``the most expensive campaign'' Angelenos have ever seen.

Villaraigosa has made education reform one of the top priorities of his administration, saying he supports change that could ultimately lead to mayoral control.

Earlier this week, Villaraigosa's advisory panel on LAUSD governance released its recommendations, which focused on improving quality of life for students, not on seizing political control of the district.

The mayor said he wants to work on improving school safety, safe passage to and from school, launching more after-school programs and joint-use programs to make schools into community centers.

He predicted that the district would try to make him look like a ``power- hungry'' bad guy, but said he wouldn't give up.

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, center right, speaks with other area mayors, from left, Cameron Smyth of Santa Clarita, Barry Groveman of Calabasas and Ed Corridor of Agoura Hills at the Mayors Luncheon in Warner Center.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer