I got a big kick out of this LA Daily News opinion piece about the problem Mayor Villaraigosa will have with the LAUSD Board as he tries to reform LA public schools. According to the LA Daily News, the mayor is the new "yard lady" to the "spoiled brats" on the LAUSD board.

WHEN Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa first envisioned taking over the Los Angeles Unified School District, he no doubt imagined being L.A's education czar. Little did he know he would first have to take on a less glamorous roll - yard lady.

Somebody's got to do it. The kids in the school board sandbox won't play nice.

First, board members threw a tantrum over the very idea of LAUSD reform. Rather than being part of the process, they kicked, screamed, fussed and wailed.

When that didn't work - and the state Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved Villaraigosa's education bill - they ran crying to their lawyers, launching a costly legal battle over the future of the district.

Board members think they can fight off reform simply by saying "no" all the time. Rather than cooperate with the mayor and his education team, they've opted to pick up their proverbial ball and go home.

When the mayor asked for a list of the candidates the district is considering to replace outgoing Superintendent Roy Romer, the board brats flatly said no. This is a confidential process, they said, and they didn't want to reveal any secrets.

The really sad thing is that although LAUSD is probably the most dysfuncational in at least the state and perhaps the country, they're a lot more typical of school district boards than any of us would probably believe. I think this happens because board members get caught up in the grab for power and enjoying being important, rather than focusing on the needs of the students and parents in their district.

So now it's up to Villaraigosa to be the yard lady, and make the board brats cooperate. And that will mean threatening to fire the new superintendent if he or she doesn't meet his approval - which would be a waste of taxpayer dollars, and a public rebuke of the board.

Still, it's doubtful if that threat will be enough to make the board members behave, which is a shame. They should remember that their job is to serve L.A.'s kids, not act like them.

Right on LA Daily News, this piece says it like it is!