Hahn Seeks Say in L.A. Schools

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn called Tuesday for the mayor’s office to have more control over city schools, including the power to appoint at least three members of the Los Angeles Unified School Board and to open five charter schools a year.

The mayor announced his proposal -- his most ambitious education initiative -- as he fought for his political future in a campaign against Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa.

The councilman’s campaign, which revealed Tuesday that he has hit the $1.8-million limit on fundraising, dismissed Hahn’s proposal as an 11th-hour, election-year gimmick.

The mayor has no direct authority over the school district, the nation’s second-largest after New York City’s. But throughout the campaign, voters have consistently said education was their top priority.

“Seems to me the mayor ought to have some say about what’s going on,” Hahn said, adding that “everywhere I go, people talk to me anyway as if I have control over the schools.”

In recent years, mayors in other cities, from Oakland to New York, have successfully won more control over their troubled urban school systems.

On Tuesday, speaking to children at the Animo South Los Angeles Charter School, Hahn said he has come to the conclusion that it’s time for a similar change in Los Angeles.

Hahn called for:

* Power to appoint “at least three” school board members, expanding the L.A. Unified board from seven to at least 10. All board members currently are elected by district.

* Formation of a privately funded pilot program to attract high-quality teachers to failing schools.

* Permission from the state to create five charter schools each year.

* Establishment of more early intervention programs for children as young as kindergarten age.

Hahn’s remarks came at a forum organized by Steve Barr and his Small Schools Alliance.

Barr, founder of the charter school group Green Dot Public Schools, launched a $1.5-million campaign in an effort to win support for smaller schools from the city’s mayoral candidates.

Villaraigosa and Hahn have pledged their support for Barr’s six tenets, which include limiting school enrollments to fewer than 500 students, keeping campuses open until 5 p.m. and requiring parents to volunteer at schools.

Barr called Hahn’s ideas “a great start,” but questioned whether they went far enough.

Hahn made his proposal on the day that a City Council committee unanimously approved a proposal from Council President Alex Padilla and School Board President Jose Huizar to create a commission to study the district’s governance, funding and structure.

Padilla, who has not endorsed anyone in the mayor’s race, said he thought it was “ironic that he’s finally speaking to governance issues” on the same day the council voted on the matter.

“It catches me by surprise,” Padilla said. “He hadn’t shared his positions with me.”

Villaraigosa’s campaign was more critical.

“My question to the mayor is: Where have you been for four years?” said campaign spokesman Nathan James. “Jim Hahn’s election-day promises aren’t going to fool voters.”

Villaraigosa, who is scheduled to address Barr’s group Thursday, repeatedly pledged Tuesday that education would be his top priority as mayor.

His campaign also reported that he has raised $1.8 million for the runoff campaign, the maximum he can spend unless the city’s campaign spending limit is lifted.

Hahn campaign strategist Kam Kuwata would not say how much the mayor has collected for the runoff campaign so far.

“We’re behind,” he said. “We expected to be outspent.”

Since capturing the top spot in the March 8 election, Villaraigosa has been raising money at a torrid pace. His schedule has been crowded with fundraisers in Los Angeles, and he also attended events in San Francisco, New York, Miami and Washington, D.C.

Villaraigosa campaign manager Ace Smith said, “It would be crazy for us to stop,” adding, “We’re running against a guy who announced he is going to bury us.”

On Tuesday, Villaraigosa also showcased support in two critical areas of the city, standing in Leimert Park with Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) and former Assembly speaker Bob Hertzberg of Sherman Oaks.

“We stand together from the San Fernando Valley to South Los Angeles in embracing a candidate we believe will lead this city to places yet unfulfilled,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Ridley-Thomas and Hertzberg, who finished third in the March 8 mayoral election, pledged to campaign actively for Villaraigosa. “We are going to be socks-down, unabashed in our efforts,” Ridley-Thomas said. “You’re going to see us on the ground.”

Villaraigosa also stressed education, pledging to increase after-school programs, push for “universal preschool” and “use the bully pulpit” in Sacramento to promote education initiatives to benefit L.A. schools.

“Jim Hahn has also promised those things, but four years later, he hasn’t delivered,” Villaraigosa said.

“That’s not a mean thing to say. That’s the truth,” he added.

*

Times staff writer Daniel Hernandez contributed to this report.