COUNCIL VOTE TO PRESS SCHOOL BOARD FAILS.Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer With the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. board nearing a self-imposed June 5 deadline to select a new superintendent, city officials voiced frustration Wednesday about the secretive se·cre·tive adj. Having or marked by an inclination to secrecy; not open, forthright, or frank. See Synonyms at silent. se nature of the proceedings. School board members have been holding their interviews and discussions behind closed doors. They said there isn't time to hold public hearings, as has been the practice in previous superintendent searches, and questioned the effectiveness of those hearings. Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. members tried Wednesday to formally call
on the school board to open the process to public participation. But
they fell one vote short of passing Councilwoman Laura Chick's
proposal for the council to go on record asking the school board to
increase public participation.
``In the theme that has been put forward in our new charter of trying to open government up to the public . . . we should ask the board to share relevant information on the choice of a new superintendent,'' Chick said. School board members have said they want the search to be as thorough as possible and were concerned about the selection process that involved former Superintendent Ruben Zacarias. Councilwoman Rita Walters Rita Walters (1930-) is currently the commissioner of the Los Angeles Public Library. Prior to this position, she served on the Los Angeles City Council representing the 9th district. During that time, she chaired the Arts, Health & Humanities Committee. pointed to that experience - which involved sometimes-hostile public hearings and organized efforts to bring out candidates' supporters and opponents - as a reason for the council to stay out of the process. ``I don't frankly know where we get off telling the school board to do anything,'' Walters said. ``They are elected in their own right in their own districts. And I would not like to see a dog-and-pony show dog-and-po·ny show n. Slang An elaborate presentation orchestrated to gain approval, as for a policy or product. [From the razzle-dazzle of trained animal acts at circuses.] develop like we had the last time.'' Walters also argued that some of the candidates for superintendent might not want it known they are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a new job. Chick said she was not demanding the district hold public hearings, but to find a way to get information out to the public on who the nominees are and their plans for the school district. Walters was joined by council members Cindy Miscikowski Cindy Miscikowski represented the 11th District on the Los Angeles City Council for two full terms from 1997 through 2005. Previously, she was an aide to Councilman Marvin Braude and the Executive Director of the Skitball Cultural Center in its beginning stages. and Nate Holden Nathaniel "Nate" R. Holden (1929-) served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1987 to 2002. He previously served a term on the California State Senate and was Assistant Chief Deputy to then Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. in being able to block adoption of the Chick resolution. ``If some other legislative body came in here and tried to tell us what to do, we'd tell them to take a long walk off a short pier,'' Holden said. ``They have the responsibility and we shouldn't tell them what to do.'' |
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