MAYOR TO PRESS HAVING VOICE IN LAUSD SEARCH.

Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN Staff Writer

Upset at routinely being left out of the selection process for the next L.A. Unified schools superintendent, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected today to renew his threat to work toward removing any candidate selected by the school board who does not meet his approval.

The mayor's staff arranged today's news conference hours after school board President Marlene Canter rejected Villaraigosa's request to do face-to-face and one-on-one interviews with the final candidates.

``We ultimately arrived at the decision that that's just not acceptable,'' Deputy Mayor Ray Cortines said after meeting with Canter and Ed Hamiltion, the head of the search firm narrowing the candidate list.

Superintendent Roy Romer plans to retire when the district hires a replacement in coming months.

Cortines said Canter offered to let Villaraigosa interview the superintendent after he or she is selected or interview candidates in advance as long as the mayor promised in advance to support whomever the board selects.

Canter said the mayor has been asked many times for his input, including a list of attributes he's looking for and even possible candidates.

``What we're doing is what we're legally supposed to be doing, and what the mayor is asking for is what he wants to happen,'' Canter said.

``It would be wonderful to have the mayor as a partner, but at every juncture ... it seems to be rejected.''

While recent legislation giving Villaraigosa some power over the district does not take effect until January, the mayor believes the district should let him in on the decision-making process ``for the good of the school district and for the good of the city,'' Cortines said.

One aide to the mayor said Villaraigosa would reiterate his threat to help oust any candidate who did not share his vision to reform the district.

The school board rejected a formal request by the mayor weeks ago, claiming that the highly confidential process would be compromised if the names of candidates were released to people outside the search firm and the district's own search committee.

But his involvement continues to be denied, even after search committee members leaked the names of three finalists, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Three finalists reportedly are Tom Vander Ark, executive director for education initiatives at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Ted Mitchell, former Occidental College president who now heads a nonprofit firm that funds charter schools; and Carlos A. Garcia, a former superintendent of the Clark County, Nev. school district. The names of two other finalists could not be confirmed.

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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