CEO DRAWS BARBS, RESPECT FROM PEERS.

Byline: David R. Baker Staff Writer

For those who threw him off the school board 20 years ago, Howard Miller's lightning ascent to the top of the Los Angeles school district this week seems almost unbelievable.

Almost, but not quite.

``This is classic Howard,'' said Bobbi Fiedler, who opposed Miller during the bitter public fight over school busing in the late 1970s and supported the successful effort to recall him from office.

Miller's sudden appointment Tuesday as the school district's new chief executive officer demonstrated once again his sharp political skills, said Fiedler, who served with him on the school board for two years.

``While I strongly disagreed with Howard, I have a great deal of respect for his intellectual ability,'' she said. ``He is as crafty as they come.''

Miller became the first Los Angeles Board of Education member recalled in 40 years for supporting court orders to integrate the city's schools by bus. While some still haven't forgiven him, school board member Valerie Fields said his willingness to follow those court orders in the face of voter outrage showed the character needed to help the district out of its current morass.

``I think he's a man of unimpeachable integrity,'' she said. ``He's the right man for this time.''