Flint Mayor Woodrow Stanley said at a meeting of the Michigan Urban Core Mayors that the governor's takeover proposal seemed to be aimed primarily at city districts.
"The complexion of the districts being targeted sends a very insidious message to those of us around this table," he said.
Stanley said mayors want to see school achievement rise, too.
"We don't believe that can be achieved by importing people who don't know our communities," he said.
The mayoral group, representing 12 Michigan cities, met with lawmakers representing urban areas in what was billed as the first formal meeting between the two groups.
Grand Rapids Mayor John Logie said mayors wanted to lay the groundwork for cooperating with lawmakers to see that cities' needs are addressed.
"I think that the importance of this meeting is really in that it is even taking place," he said.
He said the mayors want action on a variety of issues, including an increase in the gas tax, crime, court funding and economic development incentives.
But Engler's plan to put receivers in charge of school districts in which fewer than 20 percent of students pass the High School Proficiency Test sparked considerable discussion. As originally outlined, the plan could affect more than 130 school districts large and small, but Engler zeroed in on districts such as Detroit and Benton Harbor.
Pontiac Mayor Walter Moore said the proposal reminded him of complaints that governors and state legislators make about the "Big Brother" in Washington taking over local programs and imposing federal mandates.
"Well, we feel we have some big brothers and sisters in Lansing," he said.
Government should be locally controlled to the fullest extent possible and higher levels of government should only take over after offering all the assistance possible, he said.
In this case, Moore said he was not certain the state had offered all the assistance it could or even knows what the real problems are.
"There's no guarantee by taking over that you're going to make the situation any better," he said.
Engler's office did not return a telephone call yesterday evening seeking comment.
Lansing Mayor David Hollister said many of the problems causing low test scores are beyond a school's control. Among Lansing schools, for example, some have virtually 100 percent turnover of students and many have 50 percent turnover or more, resulting in lower test scores.
"The last thing we need is a heavy-handed approach," he said.
Rep. Hubert Price Jr., D-Pontiac, said a better approach would be sharing ideas among schools districts about strategies that have raised test scores.
"There is not a hell of a lot of support to use hostile takeovers. I haven't detected that yet," he said.
But Republicans defended the governor's proposal as a way to force discussion of how to raise test scores.
"The best thing I can say is it has begun a dialogue," said Rep. Jon Jellema, R-Grand Haven.