CA: Mayor (Villaraigosa) Raises More Than $1 Million for School Takeover Bid

Los Angeles Times ^ | July 29, 2006 | Jeffrey L. Rabin and Duke Helfand

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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had raised nearly $1.1 million by the end of June to fund his campaign to wrest control of the Los Angeles Unified School District, according to finance reports filed Friday.

The largest contribution by far came from A. Jerrold Perenchio, chairman of Los Angeles-based Univision Communications, who gave $500,000.

Altogether, Villaraigosa's campaign to promote restructuring of the nation's second-largest school district received $1,075,000 from 10 donors by the end of last month.

Three donors gave $100,000 apiece: shopping center operator Westfield Group; Chicago-based AP Properties Ltd.; and David I. Fisher, chief investment officer of Capital Group Investment Management.

Villaraigosa is trying to gain some measure of control over the Los Angeles Unified School District through state legislation that would divide power between himself, the elected school board and the appointed superintendent.

The mayor has come under fire for taking his cause to the Legislature rather than to voters, a fight he said would have been too costly to wage.

After the mayor's fundraising report was filed, Supt. Roy Romer issued a statement saying Villaraigosa chose to "circumvent the parents and voters of Los Angeles by introducing legislation in Sacramento and letting politicians outside of Los Angeles make decisions about the future of Los Angeles kids."

School board member David Tokofsky was also sharply critical. "I just can't imagine that the concentration of power and money is good for ... California, this city and its schools, let alone the students."

Beny Alagem, chairman and CEO of Alagem Capital Group, gave $75,000, while Occidental Petroleum Corp., Los Angeles-based Hispanic Express Inc. and retired investment banker Frank E. Baxter each gave $50,000.

[Amerigomag]

The LAUSD does not need to be "taken over" by any elected official or any government body.

The LAUSD needs to be divided into, smaller, manageable school districts which are more responsive to local control. With urban densities nearly as high as east Asia, resulting districts as small as one square mile might be ideal. Because the LAUSD is so large, economies of scale are readily available if the district is splintered.

So why hasn't the obvious are ready been accomplished? Why are local governments and local elected officials vying to "take over" the behemoth in the face of local, citizen pressure to break it up?

Simple answer. Political power and money. California's education budget is the single largest expenditure in the state's arsenal of waste and corruption and the LAUSD has the largest slice of the pie. Approaching 50%. The LAUSD is a black hole into which tax dollars from all over the state are directed.

The LAUSD produces no significant work product. The LAUSD is simply a PROCESS which employs, directly or indirectly, thousands of Angelenos, both US citizens and Mexican nationals. The LAUSD is simply a PROCESS that consumes good and materials. That PROCESS is non productive, it creates no wealth, it simply consumes wealth. It's limited successes, in the plurality, return to the public sector for employment and perpetuate the process of consuming, rather than creating, wealth.

The LAUSD is an example of the weakness of a democracy. A democratic republic can't cure the problem because elected republicans are enriching both themselves and their constituents. The losers are the "clients" who aren't getting educated and the taxpayer who gets absolutely no return on their investment.