EDITORIAL : TAKING THE LEAD; ZACARIAS IS PULLING L.A. SCHOOLS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

LOS Angeles School Superintendent Ruben Zacarias unveiled an ambitious reform plan last week to improve students' scores on standardized tests and give each campus more flexibility.

His plan and another one he announced earlier, to improve the 100 lowest-performing schools, are a one-two punch in what is certain to be a long struggle for better schools.

It's been a long time since any Los Angeles superintendent of schools showed initiative, so it's good to see Zacarias step to the forefront.

We are skeptical about the ability of anyone to carry out long-overdue changes in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Standing in his way are the entrenched bureaucrats union, the entrenched teachers union and the seven entrenched school board members who represent the unions.

But Zacarias deserves a chance, and his plan should be taken at face value. It includes measurable improvement in test scores that would cut in half the gap between the LAUSD and the national average; accountability and incentives for principals and teachers; and more autonomy for schools over their budgets and operations.

It's too early to know whether those efforts will succeed, and details are sketchy.

But it's clear that everyone who cares about the children should give Zacarias the opportunity to spell out his plan and support its implementation as he tries to get a grip on the problems in a 680,000-student district - a system we believe is too big and unmanageable to avoid a breakup.

There is no hope in the short term for real reform unless the Valley's movement to break up the school district, Finally Restoring Excellence in Education, keeps up the pressure and moves forward in its petition drive.

At the same time, the Board of Education should leave no doubt, no ambiguity about its support of Zacarias. Despite widespread concern about whether he was up to the challenge, he was the board's choice. Now, he has started to offer a plan.

We call on the board to commit itself publicly and unanimously to support Zacarias' ideas and resist the tendency to micromanage.

He needs to know that the board will back him up. The unions need to know their pals on the board will back Zacarias, not them.

The LAUSD faces the prospect of being dismantled if Zacarias' plan fails. It is time for teachers, administrators and others who stand for quality in education to let their union leaders know their views. If they won't fight to save the LAUSD now, then they will likely face a more difficult battle later when breakup is the issue.

And it's time for every parent, every taxpayer, every concerned person to speak up. A good education is not a luxury but a basic necessity. This might be the last chance for the LAUSD to show if it can provide that.