Local Mayors Call for State Audit of Student Performance in LAUSD

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and leaders of several neighboring cities will call today for a state audit of student achievement in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Villaraigosa and mayors from other cities served by the school system want a joint committee of the Assembly and state Senate to investigate why the district’s dropout rate is so high and its test scores so low, according to a letter outlining their request.

The move for a state audit comes as Villaraigosa seeks legislation that would effectively put him in charge of the nation’s second-largest school district and turn its elected board into a quasi-advisory body.

“We are deeply concerned about the failure of LAUSD’s schools to meet the basic educational needs of our children,” the mayors wrote in their letter to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. “Why are these kids not learning and achieving at the levels they should be?”

District officials assailed the mayors’ action, saying the school system already undergoes scores of audits and reviews each year. The district also has rejected Los Angeles Controller Laura Chick’s requests to audit its spending and use of resources. Chick is among those seeking the state audit.

In a letter to Villaraigosa Tuesday, Supt. Roy Romer urged the mayor “to not waste the taxpayers’ money to orchestrate this event.”

Romer said in an interview that the district was preparing for a comprehensive performance audit called for in an agreement with the teachers union.

“It is frustrating, because if you really want to help us educate students better, you would not pile another audit on us,” Romer said.

“I’d rather spend our money on students.”

Villaraigosa and the other mayors scheduled a news conference for today at a charter school in South Los Angeles, where they plan to discuss details of the proposed state audit. They have recommended that the Bureau of State Audits conduct the review, and that it examine areas that affect the district’s “core mission of increasing student achievement,” including curriculum, testing and staffing.

Villaraigosa and school officials have sparred in recent months over the dropout rate, which the district pegs at 33%. The mayor, citing other statistics, has put the rate at about 50%.

L.A. Unified serves students from 27 cities, including Carson, Huntington Park, South Gate and Maywood.

Villaraigosa has proposed the creation of a “council of mayors” to run the district, with the division of power determined proportionately by population.

Because of Los Angeles’ size, Villaraigosa would effectively run the school system through the proposed council.

Legislation to create the council and other changes is expected to be introduced this week or next.