EDITORIAL AIMING LOW LAUSD SETS A GOAL, THEN ABANDONS IT.

JUST two months ago, Los Angeles school board President Jose Huizar announced an ambitious goal for the LAUSD's vision statement: Putting the district ``in the top 10 percent of urban school districts in the nation.''

Now, under pressure from his fellow board members, Huizar is backing off. It's a Los Angeles Unified School District tradition. The district has a long history of abandoning its goals, but seldom so quickly. Why?

It's not as if the goal, although lofty, is unattainable. Huizar affixed no firm deadline as to when the LAUSD would crack the top 10 percent. Are we to believe that it can never be done?

That's the sort of loser, can't-do attitude that's weighed down the district for the last three decades.

Board members insist the problem isn't the goal, but measuring it. There's just no good, clear measuring stick by which to compare the district to its counterparts.

But that should only make their goal all the easier. Pick a standard, any standard, even the one that's easiest to obtain. The people of L.A. would be thrilled to see their kids ranked among the best on dropout rates, SAT scores, standardized-test ratings, you name it.

No, test scores aren't a perfect measure of an education, but they're better than anything else. They tell us a lot about which schools, which teachers - and yes, which districts - are excelling, or not.

But district officials tend to shy away from objective measures because the failure to meet standards would mean administrators and teachers would have to be held accountable. Failure could even mean someone could be fired for incompetence - something unimaginable at the LAUSD.

That's the real reason why the board is dropping its goal of reaching the top 10 percent. Having to meet standards and quantify success is a lot harder than simply talking about it in some abstract way, in a vague, airy-fairy vision statement.

It's no secret how success is achieved elsewhere in the world: By setting real, concrete objectives with hard and fast deadlines. In business, those who achieve their objectives are promoted, those who fall short are cashiered.

Yet in the LAUSD's culture of mediocrity, the teachers who shine are paid the same as those who do little more than show up. Failing bureaucrats enjoy a steady stream of pay raises regardless of their performance. Top leaders offer excuses in the place of results.

For the LAUSD, shedding the culture of mediocrity means embracing accountability. It means setting high goals and striving for them - not giving up without even trying.