Yesterday's LA Times editorial shows the flaws of the bill:

Once the legislation goes into effect, after all, the new superintendent will have numerous masters under the muddled power-sharing agreement the mayor negotiated with teachers unions. Under the legislation, Villaraigosa — assuming he has the backing of most of the other L.A. Unified mayors — has the power to veto the board's choice of superintendent.

But no, alas, the mayor can't fire the person outright — not under the flawed plan he himself put forth.

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The Superintendent Tug-of-War

L.A.'s mayor and school board should put aside vitriol and compromise on a candidate.

August 30, 2006, LA Times editorial

www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-mayor30aug30,0,934759.story

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA was feeling so confident Monday that he threatened to fire someone who hasn't even been hired. Worse, he couldn't fire that person even if he wanted to. The person is the next superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Villaraigosa's threat, later recanted, offers an early lesson about the weaknesses of his plan to assume some responsibility for the city's schools.

The bill giving Villaraigosa a say in how the school district is run is sailing through the Legislature, and the governor is expected to sign it. But even if the bill survives the inevitable legal challenges, it doesn't give Villaraigosa the power to fire anybody.