Randy Ward is a brave man. The soon-to-be state administrator of the Oakland schools is voluntarily coming to a district facing an $82 million budget deficit, plunging morale and lagging student achievement, against a backdrop of the state's nightmarish fiscal crisis.

But Ward comes here with his eyes wide open. For seven grueling years, he was the state-appointed administrator and trustee for the Compton schools, which Sacramento also rescued from bankruptcy in 1993. There he had to root out corruption and nepotism on a scale he is unlikely to find in Oakland, and a district even further behind academically than is Oakland.

Ward told us Monday that he planned to work closely with Oakland's elected school board, which under state law will soon lose its legal powers. Some board members have political ambitions that could complicate their relationship with Ward.

But this is a time to put ambition, ego and bickering aside. Ward must succeed. And he must succeed quickly. It will be unacceptable if Oakland remains under state supervision for as long as Compton has -- a full decade. Ward says he plans to organize an "Oakland Compact for Success" to bring together all segments of the community to work together on common goals.

Everyone who cares about children in Oakland must put aside whatever doubts or grievances they have and rush to his side to help Oakland out of its mess.

It will be easy to sit on the sidelines and take potshots at Sacramento's emissary, sent to correct a fiscal fiasco he had no hand in creating. Success won't be achieved by one person alone. The entire community will have to work together to accomplish that.