Meeting with LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy

by Kathy Kantner

On March 29 a meeting with LAUSD Superintendent Dr. John Deasy was attended by members of SSWT Social Justice, LA Voice, and PICO of San Diego, Orange County, Inland Empire, Stockton, Sacramento, Placer County, San Jose, and Oakland to learn about the historic LAUSD Local School Stabilization and Empowerment Agreement finalized last December. Rabbi Ron Stern began the meeting with a Faith Reflection on the meaning of Passover and facilitated the discussion.

Dr. Deasy’s goal during his first year has been for every student to graduate on time and college-ready. He promotes three key points:
1) Human Capital - who has the right to teach and lead our schools?
2) Performance Management - setting benchmarks to track student achievement from year to year
3) Choice - families should not be limited to an under-performing school as their only option; all students have the right to a quality education.

The Agreement will allow schools, over the next three years, with a majority teacher vote, to apply to become Local Initiative Schools. In order to apply as an LIS, school communities will develop a unique plan for each school. The agreement will allow schools to waive rules that previously existed in earlier UTLA/LAUSD contracts. Schools will have more autonomy to: select a particular focus and re-design the curriculum accordingly (for example, to focus on humanities, or science, etc.); to hire and assign staff without considering seniority; to determine how often and which kinds of assessments will be used, etc. As long as schools follow state and federal laws, and implement a rigorous curriculum, the district will stay out of their way. Hiring Committees at schools will need complete consensus to select staff. Any teachers who are not hired will remain in the long-term substitute pool.

An astonishing 77% of UTLA members voted to approve this Agreement -- according to Dr. Deasy it was the highest percentage ever on a UTLA vote. And in fact, more schools want to apply for LIS than the district currently has the capacity to assist through the process. The district is creating videotapes to train staff in developing well-rounded school plans. The lowest performing schools will be the first to apply for LIS. Dr. Deasy is committed to sending 95% of the LAUSD budget directly to schools. Recently the LAUSD Board of Education resolved to introduce a parcel tax election this coming November to ask voters to increase funding for our local public schools -- funding that is urgently needed if schools are to provide a well-rounded, enriched curriculum that includes the arts and A.P. classes.

School districts throughout California and the U.S. will be watching closely to see if real, demonstrable improvements result as changes at schools are phased in. As Dr. Deasy says, “the pressure is on to get it right.” For more information about the Agreement, visit http://publicschoolchoice.lausd.net/LIS_agreement.

Don't Hold Us Back!

A CALL TO ACTION
A coalition of civil rights, parent and community organizations will demand that UTLA and LAUSD negotiate a new contract within 30 days at the School Board meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 18th

SIGN THE PLEDGE TODAY FOR QUALITY EDUCATION AT LAUSD! Click here www.dontholdusback.org

For too long, the community has waited for LAUSD and UTLA to negotiate a new contract that puts the needs of students first. Our children cannot wait any longer. The district and union must embrace policy changes that empower principals and teachers to improve education for students in their schools; ensure teachers are evaluated fairly; and allow teachers to be paid based on their actual performance. Parents’ right to choose the best school for their children must be protected. Failed policies like the “must-hire” list should be replaced. Every child deserves a quality public school education! Teachers want it, students deserve it, and parents expect it.

FOR MORE INFO: www.dontholdusback.org

You're Invited! Stephen S. Wise Temple Education Reform: Listening Sessions

We are taking this opportunity to reach out and let you know where we are at in our Education Reform efforts. Since our event in October, our group has been busy with additional research meetings and monitoring the changes occurring within LAUSD, as well as learning about education reform efforts state and nationwide. As we are all aware, Education Reform is a critical issue in our city, inspiring attention from a variety of advocacy groups. Our group is currently reaching out to various organizations to learn more about their efforts, to be heard, and potentially join forces.

At our October event, we focused on the two main themes of Local Budget Control (also referred to as Transparent Budgeting) and Teacher Effectiveness. Now we want to hear from YOU… hear your personal story!

Since having the chance to hear from experts and listen to research findings, we now want the opportunity to hear why you are passionate about Education Reform in our city. We will be holding Listening Sessions with those of you who attended our October event - or those of you who couldn't make it but are interested - to hear your individual stories, build relationships between individuals who care about this issue, and link local stories to larger issues. We are offering two different Listening Session times:

February 15th at 9:30 am OR February 23rd at 7:00 pm with the request that you will attend one session. You may RSVP to JSmith@WiseLA.org with your name, email, and selected Listening Session to attend.

As we learn more from you about your passions and dreams to improve our schools as well as enhance opportunities for our youth, we will strive to unite this energy with the work being done by others in our community. Our voices, and ultimately our impact, may be greater if we can integrate our efforts. So, thank you for your interest in improving our city’s schools. Whether you currently have children in our public schools, you’d like to in the future, or you’re just an interested, civic-minded person concerned about the future of our great city, we welcome your input and encourage your involvement.

Sincerely,
Sharon Almany
Laurie Bahar
Jennifer Smith

LAUSD Board moves to reform collective bargaining process to bring teacher workforce stability to local campuses

From the Office of Communications and Media Relations of LAUSD (June 15, 2010):
LAUSD BOARD MOVES TO REFORM COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROCESS TO BRING TEACHER WORKFORCE STABILITY TO LOCAL CAMPUSES
Resolution seeks flexibility in allowing reduction- in-force based on criteria other than seniority

(Los Angeles, CA) The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education today approved a resolution to ensure school site workforce stability and equal access to effective teachers for all students. The resolution was passed on a 4-1 vote with one abstention. The resolution, Protecting Equal Access and Opportunity for All Our Students, was introduced by LAUSD Board Vice President Yolie Flores and Board Member Tamar Galatzan.

The resolution calls for Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines to engage the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Public Counsel, the State Board of Education, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), and other advocates to join the District in urging California lawmakers to immediately support legislative changes that would give school districts flexibility to protect equal access and educational opportunities for all students by allowing reductions-in-force based on criteria other than seniority.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that every student – in every one of our classrooms – is taught by an outstanding teacher,” said Board Vice President Flores. “To ensure school site stability and equal access to effective teachers, the District needs to be able to staff schools in a manner that minimizes the impact of seniority-based layoffs and simultaneously acknowledges the contributions of high quality teachers, regardless of their years of experience. Indeed, parents and students alike are asking that we find a way to make decisions based on whose teaching is the strongest, not on who’s been teaching the longest.”

The resolution also directs the superintendent to immediately develop a negotiations strategy to reform and improve all aspects of the collective bargaining agreement that may impede the ability to protect the stability of teaching staffs at all District schools. It further seeks to work and engage reform partners to revise and improve procedures affecting staffing at school sites.

"Providing a quality education to our students is not possible without the ability to keep our strongest teachers in the classroom," said LAUSD Boardmember Galatzan. "This resolution brings us a step closer to meeting that goal across the District."

During the last round of layoffs, a number of schools in the District had 50 percent or more of their teachers receiving reduction-in-force notices in 2009. These schools were often low performing with high percentages of low-income students. A large number of those teachers laid off were new, enthusiastic and effective teachers who are typically the drivers of high achievement and providers of a quality education for all students.

The recent preliminary injunction issued in the Reed v. LAUSD et al. lawsuit (it suspends budgetbased teacher layoffs at three District middle schools for the 2010-2011 school year only) is a lower court ruling. It is not binding authority that would allow the District to skip other schools this year or any District schools in the future.

Also, there is no settled legal authority under which the District may “skip” entire school sites under Education Code Section 44955. The statute permits deviation from a seniority-based layoff in only two circumstances: 1) where less senior teachers have special training or experience that more senior teachers do not have, and 2) when a constitutional violation has been identified and skipping is needed in order to maintain or achieve compliance.

The resolution also calls for the District to do everything it can to provide equal educational opportunities to students attending LAUSD schools, encourage local staffing control that focus on quality recruitment and retention of classified and certificated personnel, and pursue opportunities to amend the current collective bargaining agreement with United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). This will allow schools the ability to staff and maintain optimum stability in the best interest of the students’ instructional program.

Commenting on the Board’s action today, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said, "The current, broken system fails to recognize the invaluable contributions talented teachers make in the lives of our students. We cannot stand by while our children suffer from teacher layoffs that prevent schools from providing a stable workforce of quality teachers.

“Our primary concern must be that every student has access to a high quality education--one that enables them to get into and graduate from college--and I congratulate the school board for passing this resolution and continuing to protect the rights of our students,” he continued.

www.lausd.net