Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo says it's not her responsibility, or her business, to meddle in how the city's school districts educate students.

"Youth is one of my top three priorities, but I don't put schools at the top of my list because it's not the city's responsibility," Fargo said.

Kevin Johnson says that attitude is a mistake. The former basketball star challenging Fargo's bid to win a third term has spent his post-NBA career opening charter schools. And he promises a much more hands-on approach if he's elected.

"I don't think our current mayor has been involved in education in a significant way," Johnson said. "I don't think she's envisioned that as her role, and I think that's a mistake."

Two of Johnson's political mentors, Mayors Michael Bloomberg of New York and Adrian Fenty of Washington, D.C., have taken over their cities' schools.

Last week, a group called Democrats for Education Reform held a fundraiser for Johnson in New York City. On its Web site, the organization says it supports "empowering mayors to lead urban school districts."

Johnson said he doesn't plan to attempt a takeover of Sacramento's schools from the elected boards that govern them. He has not said specifically how he would interact differently than Fargo does with the city's six school districts, other than to say he wants "more involvement and a partnership."

"I hear him say he wants to be more involved, but I haven't heard any specifics, so I don't know what he wants to do," Fargo said.

"I think I've been very supportive," she added, citing her work on expanding after-school programs, building libraries and sponsoring a summer reading camp. "I just think elected school board members and their very well-paid administrators need to be in charge of running the schools themselves."

Serna's 1996 move cited

Johnson said he views as his model the late Mayor Joe Serna Jr., who in 1996 backed a slate of candidates to take over the board of the Sacramento City Unified School District, which at the time was experiencing infighting, high-level staff turnover and low test scores.

"What mayors are doing around the country all started in 1996 with Joe Serna," Johnson said.

Serna's move ushered in uniform math and reading curriculums and passage of a $195 million bond to repair decrepit schools. Sacramento won attention as a national model for improvement.

The newly constituted board set in motion the opening of six small high schools. It also made a decision that remains controversial to this day: turning over troubled Sacramento High School to Johnson's St. HOPE organization, which in 2003 reopened it as a charter high school with nonunion teachers.

The Sacramento City Teachers Association unsuccessfully sued to stop St. HOPE's takeover. The union now backs Fargo in the mayor's race.

Today, St. HOPE operates Sacramento Charter High School; P.S. 7, a public charter K-8 school; and Triumph preschool, which is privately funded. All the schools are in Oak Park, and serve a largely African American population.

While he cites Serna as an inspiration, Johnson said he has no plans to back a slate of candidates for any of the city's six school boards. The Sacramento City Unified board – which oversees the bulk of the city's schools – is poised for substantial change this fall, anyway. For the first time, candidates will be elected by geographic district.

Since Serna made his move 12 years ago, Sacramento schools have seen test scores rise. But a stubborn achievement gap persists between affluent white students and those from poor neighborhoods, many of whom are African American and Latino.

The comprehensive high school with the highest dropout rate in Sac City Unified is Hiram Johnson, where 35.4 percent of students in ninth grade don't graduate. Sixty-one percent of Hiram Johnson's families are considered disadvantaged.

"Poor and underserved communities are not getting high-quality options for their education, and that determines the rest of their lives," Johnson said.

Call The Bee's Mary Lynne Vellinga, (916) 321-1094.