Villaraigosa sought to gain control of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) as one of his top priorities as mayor, but instead was able to create the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a subset of LAUSD comprising the district's lowest-performing schools.

In his first State of the City address, he announced his intention to assume full control of the LAUSD, through a bill passed by the State Legislature.
The school board and teachers' union immediately protested though there was support in the community from different areas in Los Angeles.
He raised the issue of education as a critical part of solving economic disparity, providing the workforce for the future and articulated that "education is the civil rights issue of our time."
Because LAUSD includes many other municipalities outside the city of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa wanted to engage all of the elected officials in those cities.
He brought together union leaders and state legislators to create a Council of Mayors of the 28 cities served by LAUSD.
The votes of each Mayor would be proportionate to the city's population.

The biggest issue during the Mayoral election of 2005 was public education.
Because he campaigned and won on the issue of education, Villaraigosa sought the legal authority to do so through AB 1381.
AB 1381 was passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
However, the plan received significant opposition among the Los Angeles Board of Education, Board President Marlene Canter and then-superintendent of LAUSD, Roy Romer, among others.
On December 21, 2006, AB 1381 was ruled unconstitutional.

In response, Villaraigosa founded a non-profit entity called the Mayor's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools to take control of the district's lowest-performing schools and transform them into high-performing schools.
The Partnership eventually managed 21 LAUSD campuses, which operate under the same labor contract as LAUSD.
Though schools in the Partnership were among the lowest performing in the district, they eventually made the largest gains in the state based on California's Annual Performance Index measure, and are now considered among the best performing urban schools in the state.
The Partnership has generated some controversy since its founding.
In June 2009, teachers at eight of the ten campuses cast a vote of "no confidence" in the Partnership.
Villaraigosa continues to serve the Partnership by raising money in support of its success.
The Partnership includes a program for parents called the "Partnership's Parent College."
To date, over 10,000 of the Partnership's 16,000 parents have graduated from the Parent College.

In his final state of the City speech as Mayor of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa reiterated his commitment to education reform and expressed concern that the other Mayoral candidates did not share the same commitment to education in Los Angeles. "
Education can't be a footnote on a campaign mailer or fodder for an attack ad," Villaraigosa said in his speech at UCLA's Royce Hall. "
It's time for our candidates to demonstrate the 'fierce urgency of now' when it comes to ensuring that all of our children have access to great schools."
Villaraigosa sought to gain control of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) as one of his top priorities as mayor, but instead was able to create the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a subset of LAUSD comprising the district's lowest-performing schools.
In his first State of the City address, he announced his intention to assume full control of the LAUSD, through a bill passed by the State Legislature. The school board and teachers' union immediately protested though there was support in the community from different areas in Los Angeles. He raised the issue of education as a critical part of solving economic disparity, providing the workforce for the future and articulated that "education is the civil rights issue of our time." Because LAUSD includes many other municipalities outside the city of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa wanted to engage all of the elected officials in those cities. He brought together union leaders and state legislators to create a Council of Mayors of the 28 cities served by LAUSD. The votes of each Mayor would be proportionate to the city's population.
The biggest issue during the Mayoral election of 2005 was public education. Because he campaigned and won on the issue of education, Villaraigosa sought the legal authority to do so through AB 1381. AB 1381 was passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, the plan received significant opposition among the Los Angeles Board of Education, Board President Marlene Canter and then-superintendent of LAUSD, Roy Romer, among others. On December 21, 2006, AB 1381 was ruled unconstitutional.
In response, Villaraigosa founded a non-profit entity called the Mayor's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools to take control of the district's lowest-performing schools and transform them into high-performing schools. The Partnership eventually managed 21 LAUSD campuses, which operate under the same labor contract as LAUSD. Though schools in the Partnership were among the lowest performing in the district, they eventually made the largest gains in the state based on California's Annual Performance Index measure, and are now considered among the best performing urban schools in the state. The Partnership has generated some controversy since its founding. In June 2009, teachers at eight of the ten campuses cast a vote of "no confidence" in the Partnership. Villaraigosa continues to serve the Partnership by raising money in support of its success. The Partnership includes a program for parents called the "Partnership's Parent College." To date, over 10,000 of the Partnership's 16,000 parents have graduated from the Parent College.
In his final state of the City speech as Mayor of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa reiterated his commitment to education reform and expressed concern that the other Mayoral candidates did not share the same commitment to education in Los Angeles. "Education can't be a footnote on a campaign mailer or fodder for an attack ad," Villaraigosa said in his speech at UCLA's Royce Hall. "It's time for our candidates to demonstrate the 'fierce urgency of now' when it comes to ensuring that all of our children have access to great schools."
Antonio Villaraigosa