EDITORIAL : THERE MUST BE HOPE SUPERINTENDENT SHOULD BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR IMPROVING L.A. SCHOOLS.

The Board of Education is on the verge of hiring a superintendent for the Los Angeles Unified School District, and more has to be done than simply picking the applicant who pleases the board politically and serves the special-interest constituencies.

The education of L.A.'s children and perhaps the health and wealth of Los Angeles are at stake. The choice of a superintendent must achieve one thing at the outset: It must give hope that our communities are on the road to regaining pride in our schools.

All three finalists are talented, but in very different ways: the charismatic New York educator Daniel Domenech, the brilliantly successful banker and manager William Siart and the beloved LAUSD insider Ruben Zacarias. Board members know the 68-year-old Zacarias well from his more than 30 years in the district. Domenech, 51, and Siart, 50, are largely unknown after private interviews of only three hours each.

Each appears to be an interesting, viable candidate.

The board should move slowly and deliberately to determine precisely how each would organize the district's leadership and how each plans to raise the efficiency and achievement of the district.

The board must create a framework for holding the superintendent responsible for that. The public needs to see signs that the LAUSD leadership is getting serious, with concrete plans to ensure accountability and positive results.

Unless that happens, the district is doomed to further deterioration and probably eventual breakup.

As a way of restoring public confidence, the board must select a superintendent strong enough to be an education czar, who can take the heat of doing what's right rather than what's expedient.

The school board needs to give him the power and support and a five-year contract to fulfill his plan. But it needs to hold him to the highest standards - defined in public now - that will measure his performance every year and determine whether he keeps the job through the full five years.

The superintendent must be judged on the basis of specific, objective measurements - such as managerial efficiencies, students' scores on standardized achievement tests and many other criteria.

Concrete, objective measurements - agreed upon up front - are not too much to ask. The district is, after all, facing extinction if it does not begin delivering what the public demands.

Parents in the San Fernando Valley and other areas are actively pushing a district breakup, additional charter schools and free exercise of the autonomy promised to LEARN schools (the reform plan of the Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now).

These demands for a quality education for L.A.'s children must be met now.

The board should pick the best man for the job, and the selection should not be based on gut instinct or politics, but rather careful and through review and research.

Board members should pick the man who can best deliver on his promises, and then hold him accountable every step of the way.