LOS ANGELES -- A state appeals court said Tuesday that a law designed to give Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa partial control of the nation's second-largest school district is unconstitutional.
The ruling by the California 2nd District Court of Appeal marked a second legal blow to the California law known as the Romero Act that was pushed through the state Legislature to support Villaraigosa's plan.
The law sought to shift some powers from the Los Angeles Unified School District's elected seven-member board to the mayor and a new council of more than two dozen other mayors of cities within district boundaries.
Villaraigosa's office had no immediate comment but said a statement would be issued later.
After hearing arguments on April 2, a three-judge panel of the appellate court upheld a December ruling that said state lawmakers had no right to interfere.
"The citizens of Los Angeles have the constitutional right to decide whether their school board is to be appointed or elected," Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in the 44-page opinion.
Croskey said it was impermissible for the Legislature "to bypass the will of the citizens of Los Angeles and effectively transfer many powers of the board to the mayor, based on its belief, hope, or assumption that he could do a better job."
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