MAYOR LOSES IN COURT JUDGE RULES SCHOOL-REFORM BILL UNCONSTITUTIONAL, BUT APPEAL IS PLANNED.

Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN Staff Writer

In a major political blow to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a judge on Thursday declared unconstitutional the state Assembly bill that would give the mayor substantial control over the Los Angeles Unified School District and blocked its Jan. 1 implementation.

But while district officials called the ruling just, Villaraigosa remained defiant, calling it a ``bump in the road'' and vowing to immediately appeal.

``This ruling may seem like a disappointing setback for our kids, but I want to be absolutely clear today -- we will not be set back,'' he said. `` ... We refuse to be defeated by the forces of the status quo. I believe we have the law on our side, I believe we have the constitution on our side, and more than that, I believe we have the people on our side.''

And despite the ruling, he said his staff would continue to plan for a mayoral takeover of the 708,000-student district and vowed to get involved in the March school board election, when four of the seven seats are up for grabs.

Putting on a conciliatory face, district officials said they were gratified with the ruling and stressed that they want to create a partnership with the mayor and the city of Los Angeles.

School board President Marlene Canter said she and Superintendent David Brewer III already had spoken with the mayor and that they all ``agreed to work together on behalf of our students.''

Thursday's ruling ``confirms our long-standing belief that this legislation was unconstitutional and not in the best interest of our students,'' she said.

In a strong rebuke of the mayor's plan -- Assembly Bill 1381 -- Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs sided with all four of the district's arguments on the legality of the bill, including that it violates the state constitution, the City Charter and voter rights.

The judge said the unconstitutional portions of the bill cannot be separated from the rest, meaning the whole thing had to be thrown out.

``There is substantial evidence that passage of AB 1381 was the result of political compromise and that its provisions are so interconnected and so critically dependent upon one another that no single provision would have been enacted or should be given effect without the whole,'' Janavs wrote in the 20-page ruling.

Bill challenged

The district challenged the bill, contending that it violated provisions of the state constitution, which creates a separation between the operation of the municipal government and the education system; the L.A. City Charter, which sets forth the duties of the mayor but does not grant him authority over public schools; and voting rights, disenfranchising voters who don't live in Los Angeles and those who voted for LAUSD board members.

The ruling came after a yearlong battle between the Mayor's Office and the district, with Villaraigosa wanting to shake up the LAUSD with reforms aimed at raising student achievement faster and reducing the dropout rate, which has been pegged anywhere between 24 percent and 50 percent.

He proposed stripping away the school board's authority and shifting it to the superintendent; creating a 28-member council of mayors to review the budget and ratify hiring of new superintendents; giving the mayor direct oversight of three clusters of the district's lowest-performing schools; and giving schools greater control over budget and curriculum.

Critics called Villaraigosa's efforts a power grab. Besides a few community meetings, he didn't put it to a public vote and used his significant political clout to have the Legislature pass the bill in August. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law in September, and a coalition led by the district filed suit in October.

For the popular mayor, who used substantial political capital to push for the school reform, the judge's decision is a major blow, said Jaime Regalado, director of the Edmund G. ``Pat'' Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.

``It's a major blow, there's no question about it,'' Regalado said. ``It's a major initial blow.''

But the mayor could come out victorious, depending on the state Court of Appeal decision. And this defeat won't have long-term impacts for a mayor who many believe has gubernatorial aspirations, he said.

`` ... The fight is not over yet and he has a lot of political capital to burn,'' Regalado said. ``He didn't invest 100 percent of what he had in the vault.''

Different conclusion

In fact, an appellate court could reach a completely different conclusion from Janavs', and it is that decision that would set a legal precedent, while Thursday's doesn't.

For his part, Schwarzenegger said he still backs the mayor's plan and supports an appeal of the court's decision.

``I strongly support Mayor Villaraigosa's efforts to put our children first,'' he said in a written statement. ``The status quo simply isn't working -- the current system is failing too many of our students.''

Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, a co-author of the bill, said she still believes it's legal and should be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

``I look forward to that,'' she said.

Change in plan

The state legislative counsel earlier this year issued an opinion questioning the measure's constitutionality. Concerned that a lawsuit might result in some parts of the bill being overturned while others remained, Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, had successfully pushed for the removal of a ``severability clause,'' a phrase that says if one part is overturned, the rest remains law. After that clause was added, Runner decided to put aside his misgivings about the bill and vote in favor of it.

But some legal experts said judges are free to use their own discretion on severability, regardless of the presence of an enabling phrase.

Meanwhile Thursday, Villaraigosa said he received an additional $1 million for the cluster of schools he was poised to oversee. Deputy Mayor Ray Cortines would only say it came from a foundation that he'd like to keep anonymous. He collected $1 million from Verizon last week.

Villaraigosa also said he had spoken to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, and that they would move to audit the LAUSD to begin the process of determining how much money is being spent on bureaucracy.

Monica Garcia, the sole Villaraigosa supporter on the school board, said she hopes the ruling doesn't send the district the signal that what it has done so far is enough.

In fact, she said, she believes the district should move forward to implement demonstration schools, or clusters of lowest-performing schools, the mayor had proposed to oversee.

``I think this whole effort has encouraged a civic conversation that would not have happened otherwise,'' said Garcia, who added that she hasn't decided whether to support an appeal of the judge's ruling. ``The judge ruled in one way, but the work continues to need aggressive, bold, optimistic reform and leadership.''

Too ambitious?

While the mayor's detractors will certainly say he was much too ambitious with his plan and was bound to fail, there are plenty in the city who want change and back his plan, Regalado said.

``Most people feel something needs to change at LAUSD, and I think he'll be given plaudits by some, if not the majority of voters, for making the try, for expending capital and putting himself out there on the issues,'' he said. ``It does take a bit of his political capital away, but long-term injuries? Not yet.''

Staff Writer Harrison Sheppard in Sacramento contributed to this report.

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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