L.A. Mayor Seen as Poised to Get His Way on Schools

After months of political wrangling and a pitched battle with school officials, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s bid to assume partial control over the nation’s second-largest school district was on the verge of final approval by California lawmakers last week.

Mr. Villaraigosa’s plan—packaged as state legislation that bypasses local voters—had passed two key committees in the state Senate, despite an expensive and passionate lobbying effort by district officials to defeat it. Late last week, the measure was waiting for a vote by the full Senate, before it would move on for a vote in the Assembly.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has said for months that he...