EDITORIAL CHANGE AGENT VILLARAIGOSA'S LAUSD REFORM DRIVE HAS SET THE STAGE FOR REAL PROGRESS.

DESPITE the Los Angeles school board's efforts to fight, dodge or ignore major reforms, there's every indication that change is coming and there's nothing the intransigent board can do to stop it.

The question of major change in the Los Angeles Unified School District is no longer one of ``if,'' but ``when'' and ``how.''

Maybe it will be through Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's quasi-takeover plan. The state Supreme Court could still reinstate the legislation that would give him partial control over the LAUSD. And barring that, he might just be able to get it by way of his sheer political strength and charm.

Already, the mayor is plotting a coup in the March school board election that would put sympathetic reformers in charge. And even if that fails, it's possible that a beleaguered board could still succumb to the political pressure and give him authority over a cluster of schools.

At the same time, charter-school magnate Steve Barr is angling for a bigger share of the LAUSD's students, either through partnering with the district, taking over some failing traditional public schools, or creating more new charters to lure disaffected families away.

Then, there's new Superintendent David Brewer III, who seems much more open to working with reformers than Roy Romer ever did. He's promising to unveil some major changes of his own within the next few months.

And should all else fail, another effort is under way in Sacramento to break the district up into smaller, more manageable pieces.

In the unlikely event that the board is able to fend off all the reform efforts it now faces, its victory could prove to be short-lived. Such a massive rejection of the public will would only fuel the breakup cause.

By putting his political capital and prestige behind the reform movement, Villaraigosa has been able to kick in the doors of power at the LAUSD. And everybody and anybody is now trying to follow him in.

What that means is that for the first time in decades, a real, healthy public debate is under way about how to change the district, and the public is too galvanized to settle for any more of the failing status quo.

It could be that reform ultimately will take on many shapes -- more charters, partial mayoral control, the district making long-overdue changes in its own internal policies. It's too early to say. But so far, the future seems to portend a district that's more flexible, more democratic, more accountable and simply better.

And that's something we all can applaud, even members of the school board.