EDUCATION `REFORM' HAZARDOUS TO KIDS.

Byline: DOUG LASKEN Local View

THE war of words between the Los Angeles school board and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that has just erupted over the board's selection of a superintendent must be indecipherable to anyone just tuning in.

The weary reader's response might well be that this is just another ``turf battle.'' There does seem to be a healthy dose of ego-driven factionalism fueling the conflict, with a resultant lack of clear issues at stake. But is this lack of clarity a bad thing?

Here's a quick review of last week's events: Without input from the mayor, the board chose retired Navy Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III as the new superintendent. The newly passed state law enabling a mayoral hand in superintendent selection does not take effect until Jan. 1, so the board's action was legal. The mayor does not dispute this.

In his inaugural press conference, Brewer said he is qualified to run the nation's second-largest school district because his parents were teachers. The mayor's qualification is that his wife is a teacher. The mayor is appalled at the lack of public input in the selection process. But here again there's no basis for disagreement, since the mayor pushed through his takeover legislation 400 miles away in Sacramento, with nominal community input.

Regarding policy, Brewer said he is a ``transformer,'' unlike the mayor, who calls himself a ``reformer.'' Yet there is no apparent basis for conflict regarding policy, since both men have thus far refrained from saying how they will either transform or reform the district.

So turf battle it is, but is that cause for alarm? For many longtime followers of L.A. Unified, a turf battle is the best one can hope for. Consider what happened in the district over the last decade when politicians enacted ``reforms'' with substance:

The implementation of ``whole language'' entailed banning all instruction in grammar, spelling and phonics. The theory was that children teach themselves to read when they have good stories with fine illustrations.

Remember when you taught yourself to read?

All instruction in the English language was forbidden for non-English speakers under the theory that they first needed to study only their native languages until they reached very high proficiency in them.

Remember when you learned French by studying English?

``Constructivist'' science instruction held that complex concepts should not be taught; rather, the students should discover them on their own. Word is that the elusive unified field theory remains elusive.

New approaches to math instruction decreed that mere mechanics, like the multiplication tables, should no longer be taught, freeing students to use higher thinking skills to discover the grand concepts themselves.

Remember the thrill when you first discovered the Pythagorean theorem without ever hearing of it?

These ``reforms'' were trashed by community outrage at plummeting test scores and the resulting state standards movement. But the ``reformers'' are waiting in the wings. I say the longer they wait, the better.

The mayor and the admiral are following diplomatic protocol in expressing the desire to work together, and there will surely be many photo ops to come of the two shaking hands. But let's hope that if the two men ever get around to specifics, they won't make us wish for the vague old days.