RIORDAN FOMENTS LAUSD REVOLT : SUPERINTENDENT ON BOARD.

Byline: Terri Hardy and Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writers

In his most aggressive attack on the LAUSD, Mayor Richard Riordan called Monday for ``a revolution'' in how Los Angeles schools are governed so that administrators can be held accountable for student performance.

Riordan said he and his staff are investigating ways for the Mayor's Office to gain more authority over the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest.

``You could have the toughest, most competent superintendent in the world, and they would fail in this system,'' Riordan said during a meeting with Daily News editors and reporters.

``The problem with the school district is governance. Governance is not a person, it's the system,'' he said.

Riordan has no formal control over the school district's operation, but he has been using his office as a bully pulpit in recent months to highlight what he sees as problems in education.

``There is no question you need a revolution,'' Riordan said. ``Time has run out. It ran out a long time ago.''

Among the other changes Riordan proposed:

Create a series of charter school clusters - small groups of schools within the district that would be largely autonomous and operate with input from parents, teachers and students.

A state initiative that would require all California school districts to spend only 5 percent of their annual budgets on administrative costs. Exact LAUSD figures were not available Monday, but officials say administrative costs are ``close'' to that amount.

Create a process to fire incompetent principals and teachers.

Riordan declined to offer more specifics of his plans because ``revolutionaries don't talk about what they are plotting,'' he said. However, Riordan noted the success of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in turning around his city's troubled schools after he was granted control of that system.

Riordan said he does not believe the California Legislature would support such a drastic reform, but he didn't rule out the possibility in the future.

As two separate committees study the best ways to reshape Los Angeles' government, Riordan said his staff is examining whether the resulting new City Charter could expand the mayor's authority over the school district.

``My thing, and I've been saying this, we have to have a will to go ahead, whether in two months, six months or eight months, but we don't have the luxury to go beyond that,'' Riordan said.

Responding to Riordan's remarks, LAUSD Superintendent Ruben Zacarias said that granting the mayor more power in running schools must ``be studied,'' but he wasn't opposed to the notion.

``Conceptionally, whatever helps student achievement is what I'm for,'' Zacarias said in an interview. ``This doesn't bother me. I know the mayor is deeply concerned about the children of the city, and if he can improve their educational opportunities, then so much the better.''

Other educators agreed that such intervention may be needed to achieve a turnaround in the ailing district.

``Charter reform needs to reach into the schools, no question,'' said Board of Education member David Tokofsky, whose district includes parts of the San Fernando Valley.

``People don't want to live in the city if schools aren't productive. The city can't improve if schools aren't doing well,'' Tokofsky said.

Regardless of how the district is run, Tokofsky stressed that instruction has to become the focus.

``The revolution isn't about who's in control; it's about teaching,'' he said; adding that Zacarias' greatest failing in his seven months as superintendent is that he has left the head of instruction post vacant.

Mike Roos, president of the LEARN school reform movement, said he's excited by Riordan ``pushing the envelope.''

``What the mayor is really advocating is for us to abandon what has gotten us to this point and come up with a new vehicle to deliver what we want our kids to be at the end of their K-12 experience,'' Roos said.

No union support expected

Leaders of the teachers and administrators unions said they are opposed adamantly to including the mayor in governance of the school system.

``When Mayor Riordan has a problem with the city, he branches out to other locales to cloud the issue,'' said Eli Brent, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles. ``Why isn't the mayor taking care of his own household?''

John Perez, a vice president with United Teachers Los Angeles, said teachers agree with Riordan on the need to weed out poor principals but would balk at giving control over all educational matters to a mayor.

``We've suggested in the past that the district and UTLA would have teams go into school and look at the principals,'' Perez said.

``But, when you talk about the mayor taking over, I'm not sure we would support that. The American tradition of public schools has historically been that a locally elected school board runs the shop. If, as a community, we are unhappy with the way it's run, then we can change it at the next election.''

Mayor: new focus

Riordan's interest in improving the Los Angeles schools clearly is escalating, as he attacks the problem locally and on a state level.

So important is education to the mayor that it was a focal point in his inaugural address. And on Monday, Riordan said education would be ``the main project in my life over the next 50 years.''

The mayor said his major concern with the school district is its inability and unwillingness to hold principals and teachers accountable and fire those not doing their job.

Riordan cited the case of a school where he had found a principal who was ``a disaster,'' so he asked district administrators what they planned to do about the problem.

``They told me they knew that but wanted to give the person another chance in the inner city. That's ridiculous. The inner city is where you need the best principals. Until you can remove people who harm children, the system is never going to work,'' he said.

Riordan also said he is interested in a proposal that would create a cluster of charter schools within the LAUSD, in effect creating a series of districts within the district.

``The only way this would work, though, is if you give 90 percent of the authority to the schools,'' Riordan said.

The mayor is chairing a statewide ballot initiative that would limit school district administrative spending to 5 percent of its total budget. Supporters of the ``95/5'' initiative hope it will appear on the June ballot.

The mayor also supported a bill by Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, that would have allowed the mayor, with City Council approval, to name eight new school board members. The bill was amended to allow the election of eight new members.

RIORDAN VS. LAUSD

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan launched his most strident attack on the Los Angeles school system, provoking reaction from the superintendent and union leaders. Here are some of their remarks:

Riordan:``There is no question you need a revolution. Time has run out. It ran out a long time ago.

``You have a school system where nobody's ever fired. They never fire a principal unless they are actually abusing children.

``The school district makes the city look efficient.''

Superintendent Ruben Zacarias:

``Conceptionally, whatever helps student achievement is what I'm for.

``This doesn't bother me. I know the mayor is deeply concerned about the children of the city, and if he can improve their educational opportunities, then so much the better.''

Eli Brent, president of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles:

``When Mayor Riordan has a problem with the city, he branches out to other locales to cloud the issue. Why isn't the mayor taking care of his own household?''

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Box: RIORDAN VS. LAUSD (See Text)