After months of deliberations and promises of dramatic change for Los Angeles' embattled schools, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa the week of April 17, 2006 called for California lawmakers to put his office in charge of running the day-to-day operations of the nation's second largest school district. In his first State of the City address, Mr. Villaraigosa rolled out the details of his controversial bid to run the public education system. He proposed that he and a "council of mayors," representing the 27 cities that constitute the district of 727,00 students, would have the authority to hire and fire the superintendent, control the budget, handle collective bargaining, and adopt curricula. "The buck needs to stop at the top," Mr. Villaraigosa, a Democrat who took office in July of 2005, said in his speech on April 18, 2006. "Fragmentation is failing our kids. Voters need to be able to hire and fire one person accountable to parents, teachers, and taxpayers, a leader who is ultimately responsible for systemwide performance."