Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • topics
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight With Vicki Gonzalez
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu

Insight With Vicki Gonzalez

 

Hosted By Vicki Gonzalez

Award-winning journalist Vicki Gonzalez hosts interviews with community leaders, advocates, experts, artists and more to provide background and understanding on breaking news, big events, politics and culture in the Sacramento region and beyond.

Schedule

Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.
on News Station

  • contact
  • Subscribe
    • Apple Podcasts
    • Google Podcasts
    • Spotify Podcasts
    • Podcast RSS
    • RSS
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
  • State Government
  •  

Villaraigosa: Give California Mayors Control Over Local Schools

  •  Ben Adler 
  •  Chris Remington 
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
download audio
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

Former Los Angeles Mayor and California gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa.

Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

California voters will elect a new governor in 2018. Capital Public Radio's Capitol Bureau Chief Ben Adler starts his six-part interview series with candidates for the 2018 race to become California's next  governor. You can find all the interviews here.

This week, Ben Adler sat down with former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. 


Antonio Villaraigosa wants to give big-city California mayors control over their local schools – a power he strived for as mayor of Los Angeles but could never fully attain.

“When one person is ultimately accountable, then they get elected or defeated at the polls based on that accountability,” Villaraigosa told Capital Public Radio in an interview Tuesday after appearing at a conference on early education in Sacramento. “What we have currently is a situation wherein too many of these cities, you’ve got seven people (on a school board) who aren’t accountable to success.”

Villaraigosa, who served two terms as mayor of Los Angeles and before that was speaker of the California Assembly, is one of four prominent Democrats running to replace termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018.

He says he’d support a change to state law that gives California mayors the control – and responsibility – for schools that mayors of big cities in other states have, such as New York City, Chicago and Washington, DC. Such a change has yet to be debated in the California Legislature and would likely require an amendment to the state’s constitution.

“I just think that the buck has to stop with the governor,” he went on. “It has to stop with individuals and not just the Legislature, as an example, or a school board, who can say, well, you don’t understand, Mr. Villaraigosa – these kids are poor, they’re English language learners, their parents didn’t go to college. It’s like, excuses!”

Asked for additional details, his campaign said it plans to roll out “specific policy proposals” in the coming months.

Villaraigosa angered some education groups – especially teachers unions – when he sought to take control of the Los Angeles Unified School District after being sworn in as mayor in 2005. He lost that effort but later took over the administration of several poorly-performing schools.

(PolitiFact California recently checked a claim by Villaraigosa about a rise in LAUSD graduation rates during his term in office. You can read it here.)

As part of his bid to take over Los Angeles schools, he sponsored a 2005 bill that passed the Legislature and was even signed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – but it was eventually struck down by the courts as unconstitutional.

Villaraigosa also supports increasing the time it takes for teachers to earn tenure, arguing the current two-year threshold “just isn’t enough” and that it’s too difficult to fire an ineffective teacher in California.

He praised a lower court ruling in the Vergara case, which challenged California’s teacher tenure and dismissal laws. The original judge struck those laws down as unconstitutional in 2014, but an appeals court overturned that ruling in 2016 and the California Supreme Court declined to intervene.

But he acknowledged being a teacher is a tough job and called for more training and support – as well as holding school administrators and superintendents equally accountable.

Editor's Note: The original story said Villaraigosa would "push for" a new state law that gives big-city mayors control of schools. His campaign says that while Villaraigosa supports such a change to state law, he has not yet committed to pushing for a new law and will roll out his education policy proposals later in the campaign. We've updated our story.

    Related Stories

  • Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

    Antonio Villaraigosa Says 'The Economy's Not Working For Too Many People'

    Monday, May 7, 2018
    Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa is campaigning as a pro-business progressive who will work to "restore the luster of the California Dream."

 Governor's Race 2018Governor's Race 2018 Interviews

Ben Adler

Director of Programming and Audience Development

Director of Programming and Audience Development Ben Adler first became a public radio listener in the car on his way to preschool — though not necessarily by choice.  Read Full Bio 

Chris Remington

Former Producer, Insight

Chris joined Capital Public Radio’s “Insight with Beth Ruyak” in September 2016, booking a wide variety of guests, developing questions and producing music elements for the program.  Read Full Bio 

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

More State Government Stories

Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock

The Great Culling: Which California bills did legislators kill?

May 20, 2022

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli and courtesy of Rafa Garcia

Three Democrats square off to represent Sacramento in the state Senate

May 23, 2022

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

Newsom, lawmakers vow to speed up gun control bills after Texas school shooting

May 25, 2022

Most Viewed

A Sacramento County nonprofit is offering to pay $3,000 worth of bills if you test positive for COVID-19 at their clinic

Downtown Sacramento shooting: What we know and latest updates

Some living in 209 area code will need to switch to 350

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla will appear on California’s June primary ballot twice. Here’s why.

Top California Democrats in a stalemate over gas rebates

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

A Sacramento County nonprofit is offering to pay $3,000 worth of bills if you test positive for COVID-19 at their clinic

Downtown Sacramento shooting: What we know and latest updates

Some living in 209 area code will need to switch to 350

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla will appear on California’s June primary ballot twice. Here’s why.

Top California Democrats in a stalemate over gas rebates

Support for Insight comes, in part, from

https://choosehealth.ucdavis.edu/
https://uniteus.com/

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Careers & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2022, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.