Mayor, next supt. pledge cooperation

By Duke Helfand and Howard Blume

Oct. 26, 2006 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writers

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and incoming Los Angeles schools Supt. David L. Brewer made their first public appearance Wednesday, downplaying any hint of acrimony and pledging to work together in a new partnership between the city and the school system.

“We’re going to put kids before politics,” Villaraigosa said at a City Hall news conference, adding that he and Brewer would begin meeting weekly. “We’re going to put focusing on reform before looking at the past.”

The Los Angeles Board of Education appointed Brewer last week without giving Villaraigosa a say as he had demanded, announcing the choice while the mayor was in Asia on a trade mission.

The mayor had referred to the board’s selection process as thwarting the “will of the people,” a reference to a new law, set to take effect Jan. 1, that will give him a measure of control over the Los Angeles Unified School District, including the hiring and firing of future superintendents.

But on Wednesday, Villaraigosa refused several opportunities, when questioned by reporters, to vent frustration. Instead, he emphasized what he liked about Brewer, including their common backgrounds -- both rose from humble beginnings -- and a willingness to collaborate.

“You see a smile on my face today because I like what I see,” Villaraigosa said. “I couldn’t be happier after sitting down with Supt. Brewer. I think he’s the right guy for the job.”

Brewer, a retired Navy admiral who takes over for outgoing Supt. Roy Romer next month, said he and Villaraigosa share the same passion and vision for the school system.

“The mayor and I are joined at the hip,” Brewer said, standing alongside Villaraigosa.

“He’s going to be a brother,” Brewer added. “Frankly speaking, this is going to be a great partnership.”

The budding relationship will face several tests in coming months, as Brewer straddles the contentious divide between Villaraigosa and the Board of Education.

Brewer’s soon-to-be bosses on the school board have filed suit to challenge the Villaraigosa-backed law that weakens their power while giving the mayor substantial authority over the school district. A ruling in the lawsuit could come before the end of the year, but appeals are likely to last months.

Villaraigosa, meanwhile, is casting about for candidates to run in next spring’s school board elections, when four of seven seats will be on the ballot. Those contests are expected to be hard-fought; the outcome of the elections, like the lawsuit, will have much to say about who controls a system with a budget that is larger than the city’s as well as a school-construction program that is spending billions of dollars.

“Right now the school board is Brewer’s only boss, but Brewer has to tread carefully,” said Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor at Cal State Fullerton. “No matter how this is settled, the mayor will end up with a voice in the schools -- either formally or informally.

“If you’re going to be successful as superintendent, you can’t answer to either one,” Sonenshein said. “You have to mark out an identity that slightly transcends the conflict.”

Others argue that Villaraigosa’s involvement in the school system, with a cooperative superintendent at his side, could spur new partnerships around such issues as school grounds staying open after hours for use as parks in urban neighborhoods starved for open space.

At the same time, worries persist about the partnership.

“We don’t know how either is going to work with each other or with the school district,” said Becki Robinson, a teachers union leader who is a specialist for the school district’s extended learning programs. “And a lot is going to depend upon what happens in court. That will partly determine what the relationship is going to be like -- the one the mayor wanted or a different one.”

Brewer came to City Hall on Wednesday at Villaraigosa’s invitation. The two met alone for about an hour in the mayor’s elegant private office, seated on plush furniture surrounded by tall bookshelves and colorful artwork on the walls. Villaraigosa urged Brewer to bring in a “cadre of change agents” to reform the district, and the two shared some details of their backgrounds.

Brewer, who is African American, was born in the segregated South and grew up enduring racial taunts and limited opportunities. But he also benefited from a family that made education a core value, a family with so many books in the house that it was a virtual neighborhood library.

Villaraigosa grew up on the city’s Eastside, the oldest of four children raised by a single mother who read classical literature to her kids at home. He dropped out of high school but eventually graduated after a teacher took an interest in him.

Villaraigosa was skeptical of Brewer when the meeting began, worried that the former military man would be rigid and guarded, said a source close to the mayor. The pair continued to talk until they were finally herded out for a late-starting news conference, where they appeared together while school board President Marlene Canter sat off to the side.

Villaraigosa sang the incoming superintendent’s praises.

“I’ve read a lot about Supt. Brewer’s life. It is indeed a life of a man determined to beat all the odds, to reach for the stars,” Villaraigosa said. “My life has been the life of climbing mountains as well. We’re both committed to ensuring that our children climb mountains.”

Brewer said he would focus on reducing the number of dropouts, helping homeless children and those in foster care, boosting low-performing schools and dealing with the psychological trauma suffered by children living in violent urban environments.

“We had to go mano o mano, so that we understood each other,” he said of his meeting with the mayor. “Let me tell you, it was a mind-meld. I am committed to supporting him in this effort.”

During their appearance, Brewer apologized to Villaraigosa for “murdering your name” in a prior news conference. “I got it now,” he said. “Villaraigosa.”

With that, the mayor smiled and threw an arm around Brewer.

“Very good,” Villaraigosa told him. “He’s bilingual already.”

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