EDITORIAL WAR GAMES FOR SCHOOL REFORM, WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER.

AFTER months of mustering their forces, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the City Council and City Controller Laura Chick this week drew the battle lines in their bid to exert some oversight on governance of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The challenge issued to LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer and the school board was to accept a city audit of the district - or expect city leaders to go over school officials' heads to state lawmakers. The ``or else'' proved a real threat on Wednesday, when state Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Granada Hills, said he would sponsor LAUSD-reorganization legislation next year that would give the mayor more authority over schools.

Not surprisingly, LAUSD's Romer reacted with a challenge of his own: Go ahead and try.

This first skirmish in what is sure to be a political war over control of Los Angeles' failing schools has been long in coming. During his mayoral campaign early in the year, Villaraigosa made it clear that school reform would be at the top of his agenda, despite the fact that the city has no authority over how the school district is run. Villaraigosa's position was good news to parents unhappy with years of the bloated bureaucracy that has a stranglehold on teacher energy and parental involvement.

Romer's pugilistic reaction - and his feigned surprise at action by Villaraigosa and Chick - will serve only to inflame the fight.

Romer is right to tout his accomplishments so far - a massive school building project and improvements in student test scores. But the district still has a dreary list of persistent problems: a 50 percent dropout rate, test scores still below state and national standards, a joke of an oversight committee that can't be trusted to make sure the $18 billion for the school-construction plan is spent wisely, and serious questions about management and contracting.

Nor does it help the LAUSD's credibility that district officials forced their only publicly credible person, Inspector General Don Mullinax, out of his muckraking position. Nobody has faith in the district anymore.

Romer's defensiveness, while understandable, is a mistake.

First of all, fighting city leaders to prevent an audit by Chick appears to be a losing battle that creates an impression that district officials have something to hide. More importantly, a full-blown political war between school and city governments won't serve anyone. Besides, considering the relationship Romer has had with the LAUSD board in recent years, one would think he might secretly favor an arrangement that gives the city oversight in how the district operates.

It would behoove Romer and the school board members to put their egos aside and consider what's best for the future of education in the LAUSD. Villaraigosa has the will of the people on his side, while school district governance has a tarnished image in the public's eye. Romer and LAUSD officials can either help and guide the reformation of the district, or they can force a fight. But, in the end, war is not the answer to school reform.