In today’s “L.A. Story” editorial (subscription barrier), the Wall Street Journal criticizes Democratic legislators and teachers’ union officials for blocking an educational power grab by Democratic L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Just a bit of harmless schadenfreude over Democratic infighting? Not really. In the process of painting Villaraigosa as victim and protagonist, the article perpetuates a dangerous myth: that mayoral or state takeovers of failing school districts are a worthwhile education reform.

The editorial points to districts like Boston and Chicago — widely regarded as successful takeovers — but ignores cases like Detroit and Paterson that were clear failures.

And how successful is Chicago, anyway? The “poster district” for takeovers, Chicago has not exactly become an educational Mecca over the past 11 years. A study of teacher quality released just last week found that “Chicago Public Schools fared particularly poorly…, with three-quarters of the campuses landing on the bottom of the pile.”

And how about the ultimate test? What share of entering Chicago high-school students are likely to go on to graduate from college by the time they’re 25? An April 2006 University of Chicago paper provides the answer: 6.5 percent. For African American boys, the figure is 2.5 percent.

What the children of Chicago, L.A., and every other American city and town need is not more central planning from the mayor’s office or the statehouse. What they need is the ability to easily kiss bad schools goodbye and transfer to better ones.