Content area
Full Text
In a surprise move, one of three finalists for superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District pulled out of the running Tuesday, clearing the way for the likely appointment of Deputy Supt. Ruben Zacarias.
Daniel A. Domenech, a regional superintendent on Long Island, attributed his withdrawal to the school board's delay in making a decision and pressure from school officials in New York who want him to remain there. But he acknowledged that the increasing likelihood that Zacarias would be offered the position played a role in his decision.
Domenech's withdrawal means that Zacarias, an insider with 31 years of experience in the district, is the overwhelming favorite for the job, with banker William E.B. Siart also in the running. The school board has been meeting in closed session to discuss filling the position that Supt. Sid Thompson plans to leave by the end of June. The board has said it expects to make a selection by the first week in May.
Zacarias has said he would combat efforts to break apart the sprawling 661-school system by focusing on improving student achievement, targeting the 100 worst schools first.
The promotion of Zacarias, 68, has long been championed by Latino activists, but critics have questioned whether someone who helped build the current centralized system is the best person to guide it through changes that would shift control to the schools. Even observers who view a breakup as unlikely say the transfer of authority to individual schools under LEARN--the district's main reform and decentralization program--will change the school chief's job, rendering the district's central office a service provider and its superintendent the chief steward.
Domenech, interviewed Tuesday in his district offices, insisted that his withdrawal was not simply an effort to save face, but said that as the days wore on, he realized he risked losing credibility in his current duties in what was clearly a longshot bid for the Los Angeles schools' top job.
"A lot of people told me before I went out there that it was obvious the job was going to the internal candidate, and I still came," Domenech said. "I was insolent enough to think I could change their minds."
In a...