L.A.’S RACE FOR MAYOR
Candidates for mayor take different tacks on education
Eric Garcetti has the backing of the teachers union and wants to unite the union and reformers. Wendy Greuel wants local decision-making. Jan Perry wants a non-voting seat on the board.
From left, L.A. mayoral candidates Wendy Greuel, Kevin James, Eric Garcetti, Emanuel Pleitez and Jan Perry attend a United Way panel discussion on improving schools. (Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images /February 27, 2013)
Los Angeles city government faces a litany of problems, from yawning pension liabilities to poorly paved roads. But few threaten long-term prosperity as much as education, and the ability of the city's public schools to produce an educated, taxpaying workforce.
Though the mayor plays no official role in running the schools, voters frequently name education as their top priority in picking the city's chief executive. And Los Angeles' top elected official in recent years has increasingly tried to exert influence, with mixed results. Education advocates say the future of the Los Angeles Unified School District, where more than one in five students drop out, is dependent on the mayor playing a significant and singular role.
But some say the candidates vying to become Los Angeles' next mayor are just now beginning to do more than pay lip service to the matter.
"I don't think there's been a broad enough or deep enough