Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A LEADERSHIP CHANGE AT THE LAUSD

 

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC Public Radio


December 31, 2008
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These last days of the year are also the last days on the job for L.A. Unified Superintendent David Brewer. He leaves his position almost two years before his contract is up. Earlier this month, most of the school board voted to buy out the remaining time on his contract. KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez examines Brewer's record.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Retired vice admiral David Brewer made his first public appearance as L.A. Unified's new superintendent just over two years ago.

David Brewer: Well good morning. I am glad to be in L.A. I think Los Angeles is a fabulous city. My wife and I spent many, many, many days, weeks in this great city. And I'm looking forward to joining you in educating the children of Los Angeles Unified School District.

Guzman-Lopez: Brewer's predecessor, former Colorado governor Roy Romer, had retired a victorious general. Romer had helped to improve elementary school reading scores and to lead a major school construction program. At Brewer's first official meeting, then-board member David Tokofsky projected even higher expectations.

David Tokofsky: There's so much in our children that can be unleashed into great, imaginative, high levels of success. I know you're the exact person we've been looking for to take that energy from our children and transform this entire district and this entire county into a global moment.

Guzman-Lopez: Brewer, in response, expressed his eagerness to fulfill those hopes.

Brewer: I spent 36 years fighting that foreign enemy. I'm now here to fight that domestic enemy. As crime, ignorance, and poverty, and that's what I'm here for.

Guzman-Lopez: But Brewer remained an outsider to Southland educators and civic leaders. In one of his first acts, Brewer met privately at a Huntington Park Mexican restaurant with the mayors of southeast L.A. County cities served by L.A. Unified. He promised to listen and act on their concerns. Many district students and their parents are Spanish-speakers. Brewer pledged to become one, too.

Brewer: My wife has already told me, "You will learn Spanish, Brewer." I will.

Guzman-Lopez: His most critical meeting followed, with L.A.'s mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. For more than a year Villaraigosa had lobbied for an official role in school district administration.

L.A. Unified's board appointed Brewer without the mayor's consultation. Despite that, Brewer predicted both men would join forces for the sake of the schools.

Brewer: What the first thing the mayor's going to find out is that I'm his man in terms of partnering. He's going to find out we have a lot in common. And that means that I am interested in educating these children.

Guzman-Lopez: The two met and praised one another after some very public initial meetings. Then, their talks tapered off. At the time, Villaraigosa was busy moving to unseat board members who'd appointed Brewer.

That worked – three school board candidates buoyed by the mayor's endorsements and fundraising power won seats to create a Villaraigosa-endorsed majority at L.A. Unified. Pomona College politics professor David Menefee Libey said the new board clouded Brewer's future prospects.

David Menefee Libey: He was in an impossible situation where he was brought in to be superintendent during, by a board that was in conflict with the mayor and not given a clear set of expectations and standards he could measure his performance by.

Guzman-Lopez: Menefee Libey said Brewer was capable. He continued a push for high school reform and higher graduation rates. L.A. Unified test scores did climb higher than the state average. School district administration has been in a state of crisis for years, Menefee Libey said, and that's led to low public confidence.

Problems with the district's new payroll system sunk that confidence even lower. It took more than six months for the flood of paycheck mistakes to slow to a trickle.

African-American leaders who'd supported Brewer began to express concerns about his effectiveness. This year, a week after Thanksgiving, school board president Monica Garcia moved to oust Brewer. He suggested at first that he'd fight the move – but then he turned an about-face.

Brewer: I am asking the Los Angeles school board to shield our students from this contentious debate and honor the buyout provisions of my contract.

Guzman-Lopez: The board bought out Brewer's contract for about half-a-million dollars – and in his place appointed veteran schools leader and Villaraigosa ally Ramon Cortines to a three-year term.

Board president Garcia suggested that she and her colleagues need to establish clearer expectations for Brewer's replacement.

Monica Garcia: Looking forward, there's absolutely, accountability is with all leadership of the district. And being clear on goals and roles is something that we all have work through. Change is necessary throughout our organization and that includes the board of education.

Guzman-Lopez: That strikes some education observers as the same flowery language of high expectations the board would roll out like a red carpet for any new superintendent. Ramon Cortines will walk that path starting New Year's Day, in the hope that he can transform L.A. Unified.

The news that didn’t fit from 12/31

CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS WOULD TOP LIST OF IOUS

Controller John Chiang sends a letter to government agencies advising them who will not be paid if the state's cash runs out. Also on the list? Californians expecting tax refunds.

MAGNET SCHOOLS HAVE POWERFUL DRAW: Popularity of the alternative programs leads parents to make plans for their children at early ages.

Parents have analyzed test scores, toured campuses and narrowed down their options, and with the deadline just days away, all that's left is to file that application.

All this for kids who aren't even done with high school.

KPCC: LAUSD Cuts Arts Funding + UCLA education think tank sides with activists, draws criticism

Repression?

A political cartoon Ted Rall

CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS WOULD TOP LIST OF IOUS

Controller John Chiang sends a letter to government agencies advising them who will not be paid if the state's cash runs out. Also on the list? Californians expecting tax refunds.

By Evan Halper | From the Los Angeles Times

December 31, 2008 -- The failure of lawmakers and the governor thus far to wipe out any of the state's projected nearly $42-billion deficit leaves California only weeks from running out of the cash needed to pay all of its bills. On Tuesday, State Controller John Chiang sent a letter to government agencies advising them of whom the state won't pay if coffers run dry.

Californians may not be so troubled by who is on the top of the list to get IOUs: state lawmakers, who haven't been able to come up with a budget solution that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would sign.

Legislators aren't the only ones who would be stiffed. Any Californians expecting a tax refund from the state would be out of luck until the cash crisis is resolved. Some payments to doctors would also be put on hold, as would some grants to students.

Chiang's office said the state may start issuing the IOUs as soon as Feb. 1.

An $18-billion package of tax hikes and program cuts that Democrats pushed through the Legislature earlier this month would have kept accounts from running dry. But Schwarzenegger said he would not sign that package until it was modified to include more cuts in services, the privatization of government infrastructure projects, and other measures.

Monday, December 29, 2008

MAGNET SCHOOLS HAVE POWERFUL DRAW: Popularity of the alternative programs leads parents to make plans for their children at early ages.

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | Daily Breeze/Daily News

 

28 Dec 2008 - Parents have analyzed test scores, toured campuses and narrowed down their options, and with the deadline just days away, all that's left is to file that application.

All this for kids who aren't even done with high school.

While December is the heart of college application season, some parents of students from preschool to high school are frantically searching for the perfect Los Angeles magnet school. Even those who are years away from grade school are caught up in the frenzy.

"I just want to do everything I can as a parent to give my son the best education," said Eagle Rock resident Rosawan Rusmeepongskul, whose son is 3.

Over the past 30 years, magnet schools have emerged as the "jewels" of the Los Angeles Unified School District, but getting a slot at the coveted sites includes a complicated point system and slim odds - only one in four kids who apply gets in.

Still, themed programs and a reputation for excellence in a district that continues to lag in state test scores makes LAUSD's magnet schools the only attractive public school option for some Southern California parents. This year, the district will open 11 magnet schools to keep up with demand.

Despite being called "insane" by some of her friends, Rusmeepongskul - like a growing number of parents - is starting to prepare for the magnet application process as early as pre-birth.

"I have had to tell pregnant mothers to breathe and remember that their children are not even born yet," said Angel Zobel-Rodriguez, a mother of two and blogger at the "Ask a Magnet Yenta" Web site (askamagnetyenta.wordpress.com).

"Unfortunately, magnet school applications attract the same kind of nervousness as college applications."

The stress usually comes after parents find out about the point system used by LAUSD to determine which students get the roughly 16,000 slots in the district's magnet program. Every year the district receives about 65,000 applications.

Points are doled out for specific criteria. Students who would be attending a PHBAO home school - a school that is predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian or Other Non-Anglo - or an overcrowded school get four points.

"In the end it's about doing your homework and collecting points," Zobel-Rodriguez said.

Via e-mail and in public meetings, Zobel-Rodriguez, who got her oldest son into coveted magnet programs through high school, teaches parents how to trick the system.

She tells anxious parents about applying to schools they don't want to go to just to collect wait list points - up to 12 after three years.

"If you want to get your kid into a magnet middle school, you cannot wait until they are in the fifth grade or you'll be behind," she said.

Author, journalist and mother of two Sandra Tsing Loh, who launched the Ask a Magnet Yenta site, also started a program coined "Martinis and Magnets" a couple of years ago.

"I got sick of hearing people at cocktail parties talk about how horrible public schools were," Tsing Loh said.

"I wanted to yell out `Hey, there are some phenomenal public schools out there.' So I started these parties to tell parents about magnet schools and how to get in them."

While many parents see magnet schools as more rigorous and elite schools, the schools were actually launched in 1977 as a way to desegregate L.A. schools.

In 1976 the California Supreme Court decided that L.A.'s segregated landscape left many children with a public school experience prone to the "five harms of racial isolation": low academic achievement; interracial hostility and intolerance; lack of access to post-

secondary options; low self- esteem; and overcrowding.

LAUSD's magnet schools - the country's largest integration effort of its kind - became a voluntary option for children to be in a mixed environment where at least 60 percent of the students would be minority kids and 40 percent white. A court decision this month reaffirmed the district's right to use race in its magnet school process.

Some parents though, see magnets as a way to ensure their children will go to school with more children like them.

Tsing Loh said her decision to put her daughter in a magnet school came after learning that 95 percent of the kids at her home school did not know how to speak English and 85percent were on the free and reduced lunch program.

"I don't mind my daughter going to a mixed school but I didn't think it was fair for my daughter to have to learn Spanish to have kids play with her on the playground," she said.

Zobel-Rodriguez, who has opted out of magnet schooling for her second-grade daughter, reminded parents to not discard their home schools, or look at charter schools and open enrollment as alternatives.

"Plenty of people live in great neighborhoods and send their kids to great public schools," she said.

"And, hey, we all survived public school."

LAUSD SUSPENDS KEY ARTS PROGRAMS IN SCHOOLS

Covered here and here (and  here) previously, this story becomes real as it’s covered in The Times.

Jason Song and Alicia Lozano, Los Angeles Times

December 29, 2009 --LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles school district has suspended a key arts program because of a spending freeze, a sign of what may be ahead for the state's largest district, which is facing a serious budget shortfall.

When the school board was forced to slash almost $400 million from this year's budget because the district received less than expected in state funds, it kept most of the cuts away from classrooms. But now the district may have to cut another $400 million, which could mean increasing class sizes, laying off teachers or providing fewer meals at schools.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials have even offered a $300 bonus to employees who take a survey to gauge interest in an early retirement program, which could save the district money in future years by reducing payroll and spreading out retirement payments.

L.A. Unified officials also instituted a spending freeze, which resulted in the abrupt postponement of the arts program. In a Dec. 12 e-mail, district administrators told arts instructors with the Arts Community Partnership Network to cancel all work immediately and that payments might be delayed, though work could begin again next month if the state resolves its budget crisis.

"We are all waiting for the state budget in January . . . and hoping for the best," said Richard Burrows, L.A. Unified's director of arts education.

Districts throughout the state are also making drastic cuts, said state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who warned that eliminating arts and after-school-program funding could have dire consequences.

"We have to keep these students involved and engaged," he said. "Schools need to be more of the hub of the community, not less."

The Los Angeles arts partnership has been in place for six years and had a budget of about $8 million this year. The 80 participating groups include the Music Center and the Center Theatre Group.

None of the district's music teachers will be fired because of the freeze, but some of their programs might be affected, district officials said. The arts partnership spends $2.2 million on an instrument repair shop that services about 35,000 instruments a year.

"This doesn't just affect arts education, it affects the entire district," said Danielle Brazell, executive director of Arts for L.A., an arts education organization that oversees the arts network.

For smaller arts providers, the delay could be disastrous. The 24th Street Theatre, which has served 111 schools by taking students to shows and providing teacher training, was counting on receiving about $300,000 from the district, about half of its operating budget.

The group received only a fifth of that before the freeze was instituted, said Jay McAdams, the theater's executive director.

"It's a body blow," McAdams said, adding that he might have to lay off his three employees or even close the theater if the spending freeze continues.

Making the situation worse, McAdams said, he can't turn to charitable foundations for funding because of the economic downturn.

"It's like you call the fire department and all the engines are on fire," McAdams said.

Teachers and supporters have decried the loss of the programs. Some have started an on-line petition to pressure the district to restore the funds. Before Christmas, the group had gathered 417 signatures and had a goal of 1,000.

Alejandra Sinjay, a second grade teacher at the Bridge Street School near downtown, has been taking her students to the 24th Street Theatre for almost five years. Before going to see a show, her students take workshops so they are "not just sitting around not understanding what's going on," Sinjay said.

"It's the most well-spent Saturday there is," she said.

Others are worried that if enough small arts groups have to close their doors or lay off staff, it will be difficult to restart the arts program when the district again has enough funding.

"You can't say 'go play for a few years and then come back when we're ready', " said Mark Slavkin, the Music Center's vice president for education. "It takes years to build infrastructure."

District officials declined to discuss that possibility.

"I don't want to go there," Burrows said.

KPCC: LAUSD Cuts Arts Funding + UCLA education think tank sides with activists, draws criticism

LAUSD Cuts Arts Funding

12/29/2008

AirTalk

The Los Angeles Unified School District has suspended an arts partnership as part of a spending freeze. AirTalk guest host David Lazarus talks about the likely impact with Los Angeles Times Staff writer Jason Song and Arts for LA Executive Director Danielle Brazell.
[ Listen listen]


 

12/29/2008

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

After two decades at UCLA, renowned education professor Jeannie Oakes has left for a higher-profile job. She'll be in charge of education grantmaking at the Ford Foundation in New York City. Part of her legacy at UCLA is an eight-year-old education think tank that's offered scholarly reinforcement to education activist groups in their efforts to improve public schools. KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Repression?

Ted Rall | Universal Press Syndicate | 12/20/08

image

published LA Times 12/27/08

The news that didn’t fit from Dec 28th

Bilingual/Hispanic Education: CONNECTICUT WOMAN’S MISSION IS TO KEEP HISPANIC YOUTH IN SCHOOL + FEDERAL JUDGE REJECTS TEXAS’ REQUEST ON ESL PROGRAM

December 24, 2008 -- Torrington, Conn. -- Back-to-school time for Maria Gonzalez means Friday evenings in a church basement, surrounded by 30 teens chattering in a mix of English and Spanish.

She pushes them to excel in school, though she is not a teacher. She coaches the students in dance, though she is not a dancer.

Judge Rejects State Request on Language Program

A federal judge has rejected the state's request to postpone his order to develop a new language program for the 140,000 students with limited English proficiency in Texas middle schools and high schools.

In a ruling released Friday, U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice said the program must be fixed by fall. The state had requested the delay while it appealed the order.

SCHOOL GROUPS HOPE K-12 GETS SHARE OF STIMULUS: Some hope education programs—not just school construction projects—will snare funding to help boost the economy.

December 23, 2008 -- As President-elect Barack Obama and Congress begin laying the groundwork for a massive economic stimulus package, education groups are hoping for a major infusion of cash—beyond just construction projects—to help put financially struggling school districts on firmer fiscal footing.

Mr. Obama announced in a recent radio address that his administration would seek to direct a portion of a federal spending bill aimed at getting the economy back on track to school construction and to expanding broadband access in schools. The overall legislation could cost as much as $850 billion, according to published reports.

But, as more states warn of substantial cuts to K-12 spending, some school and state officials are lobbying lawmakers and the Obama transition team to include money for programs such as special education, teacher training, and grants to help districts educate disadvantaged students.

A Christmas Surprise: OFFICIAL FILES PROPOSAL FOR EXPO LINE CROSSINGS IN SOUTH L.A. - The plan from a PUC member makes a pedestrian bridge across the tracks next to Dorsey High School more likely.

●●smf’s 2¢: When a “plan” is “floated” to roll out on  Christmas Day one can assume that the idea probably doesn’t depend upon a whole lot of public scrutiny and/or discussion.   Remember this: The Expo Line Construction Authority  whose sole purpose is to save money, not serve the public or promote safety – is a front for and a creature of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The MTA’s record on pedestrian safety is is not good. And even the construction authority doesn't believe the pedestrian bridges would be safe.

‘EDUCATOR’ TAG IN LAUSD RACE SPARKS COURT CHALLENGE

San Fernando Mayor Nury Martinez, who is seeking a Los Angeles Unified school board seat, is facing a court challenge over her decision to describe herself as an "educator" on the ballot.

Martinez does not teach classes but used the term "mayor/environmental educator" with her name printed on the ballot. The phrase refers to her work heading an environmental organization that includes public education as part of its mission.

Opponent Louis Pugliese will ask a judge to remove the term "environmental educator."

ARTS GROUPS TRY TO RALLY SUPPORT FOR SCHOOL FUNDING + ARTS FREEZE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Los Angeles schoolchildren learning drama from a professional actor or ballet from a skilled dancer might lose their teachers next semester if the Los Angeles Unified School District continues to freeze funding for programs employing outside contractors. District officials say the freeze will hold at least until the California Legislature reconvenes in mid-January.

Stage Raw: ARTS FREEZE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

In a cost-cutting measure, the Los Angeles Unified School District has frozen district funds until the state legislature returns to Sacramento in January to sort out the State budget gridlock. Arts for L.A. has been quick to point out that the freeze includes existing contracts for the Arts Community Partners Network (ACPN).

Arts Community Partners Network is a project that allows the LAUSD to subcontract professional artists to come into public schools, either for on-site performances or workshops with the children, from dance to music to theater. The symbiosis for all participating organizations is obvious: the arts enrich the education, the education helps build a new generation of artists and arts patrons.

NAMING OF CARSON SCHOOL HITS A ROADBLOCK: Council wanted slain L.A. SWAT officer honored, but Latinos back Cesar Chavez designation.

An effort to name a new high school serving Carson after a fallen SWAT officer has run into controversy, as Latino residents say they want it named after labor leader Cesar Chavez instead.

In October, the City Council unanimously voted to recommend naming the school after Los Angeles police SWAT Officer Randal Simmons, who died in a shootout earlier this year.

But since then two council members - Mayor Jim Dear and Councilman Harold Williams - have had second thoughts.

CALIFORNIA PRIVATE SCHOOLS RETHINK TUITION PRACTICES IN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN: One West Hills school is lowering tuition; others look at freezing fees or basing them on ability to pay.

Mira Winograd attended a special parents' meeting recently at Kadima Hebrew Academy unsure what to expect but "flipped out" when she heard the news. The private Jewish day school in West Hills announced it would lower tuition by an average of 20% next year to encourage financially strapped families to keep their children enrolled.

"I was truly in shock," said Winograd, whose son, Toby, is a sixth-grader. "I wanted to stand up and say, 'Thank you.' Paying for a private education is always difficult, but this has made it easier, and there are few things in the current economy, or in life, making things easy."

LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT DAVID BREWER SPEAKS AFTER OUSTER

by Dick Price & Sharon Kyle – LA Progessive e-newsletter & blog

December 28, 2008 -- In his first public appearance since his contract was bought out by the Los Angeles Board of Education, Superintendent David Brewer said his ouster will only make a bad situation worse. “This district has eaten up five superintendents in 14 years,” he said in speaking to the Urban Issues Forum a week ago last Friday. “You’re not going to make progress with that kind of instability.”

Hosted by Anthony Asadullah Samad at the California African-American Museum, the monthly breakfast event attracts a mostly African-American audience although the doors are open to all. Samad brings speakers who address social and political issues relevant to urban Los Angeles and its surrounding communities. Past speakers have included Barack Obama, Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, and Antonio Villaraigosa.

This particular forum was scheduled months before Brewer was ousted, according to Samad, who intended to bring Superintendent Brewer to the community to discuss the progress he has made after just two years on the job. News of his buyout came just weeks before the event.

“In districts where superintendents have turned situations around, in Chicago and New York City, for example, they’ve had time and space to make progress—six to 10 years,” Brewer said, comparing the challenges in Los Angeles with other cities. “In two years? You can’t get anything done that fast, especially when you’re where Los Angeles is. LA is behind; it will take time to catch up.”

In recent reports, LAUSD School Board president Monica Garcia made it clear that she was seeking to replace Brewer. All but two school board members approved a buyout of Brewer’s contract of $517,500. Mayor Villaraigosa reportedly said he favored a change in leadership.

Replacing Brewer, at least in the interim, will be Ramon Cortines, a retired superintendent who was brought in by Brewer to serve as senior deputy superintendent. Cortines has been running day-to-day operations since he came onboard eight months ago.

Data Will Set You Free
Citing his philosophy that “data will set you free,” the retired Navy vice admiral pointed to the progress LA’s schools have made in the short time he’s been at the helm as nothing short of phenomenal. “We’ve had a 21-point growth in API scores this year, to 683,” he said in his upbeat presentation to the forum. “That’s better than the state as a whole and the highest gain of any major school district in California.”

“Our 12th grade enrollment is also up, to 34,763—the highest it’s been since 1997,” he continued.

Brewer has attempted to run the district according to, what he calls, five “guiding principles:”

  • We will be a data-driven organization; we will use research and analysis to make decisions.
  • All of our employees will be lifelong learners.
  • We will actively encourage change and innovation within the District
  • We will empower and engage parents and partner with the community.
  • We will ensure the physical and emotional safety of our students.

As part of his efforts to take LA’s schools to the next level, Brewer was planning to unveil the “school report card” this January, a system that grades schools much like students are graded. He intended to use this tool to promote school visibility with parents, teachers, and the general public. He also planned to implement a Web-based application that allows teachers to look at each student’s education background, modeled on the SchoolNet program developed in the Inglewood School District.

Brewer was also developing plans for more boarding schools, modeled on successful pilots undertaken in Washington D.C. and Atlanta as well as single-gender academies in New York City.

The Seed boarding school in Washington serves grades 6 to 12. It’s a good example for us,” Brewer said. “Los Angeles needs 10 similar boarding schools, especially for our foster kids. We have 14,000 foster children in this district and another 10,000 who are homeless.” He also wanted to implement a teacher-mentoring program, based on the “sailor-to-admiral” program from his Navy days, designed to improve development of new teachers.

 

While praising him for working with the Legislature on the education budget—Los Angeles school’s budget will need to cut another $200 million, according to Brewer—his critics claim that the gains in scores and enrollment aren’t really the result of Brewer’s action and also slight his lack of educational background and the slow pace of accomplishment, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Where From Here
Brewer, who is a black man, did not think his ouster was race-based. However, he does see a racial and gender connection to the problems with LA’s schools.

“Middle class blacks and Latinos score below poor whites and poor Asians,” he said in returning to his beloved statistics. “So LA’s low scores aren’t just an economic problem.” He also emphasized the performance gap when gender was considered. The bottom line is that black and brown boys are not being educated in Los Angeles schools.

He attributed this education gap partly to what he called an “expectation bias,” both for Latino students and especially for black students, who fulfill a prophesy by performing poorly on tests and in school generally, in part because they’re not expected to perform as well as white and Asian students.

“But that expectation bias goes throughout our schools, through the community, and into our black homes,” he said. “We’ve got a generational issue coming out of slavery. Blacks don’t read the way whites do.”

“Whenever I take a flight, I walk down the aisle and see who’s reading,” he said in speaking to a nearly all-black audience. “It’s not us.”

“What I wanted to do, when I came here, was to change the culture in the schools,” Brewer said. “But we also have to change the culture in the community. We’ve got to get to parents, get them educated, get them stabilized. If you want your child to love reading, you’ve got to read yourself.”

What He Might Have Done
“Well, politics is a contact sport. The only thing I could have done was to delay the inevitable,” Brewer said when asked what he might have done differently. “I could have spent more time working politically—former Superintendent Ray Romer was a master politician. But I thought that if I spent that much time in politics, what would give? Working with the kids—that would have had to give.”

After seeing the strong evidence suggesting Brewer was making significant progress with the LAUSD, we asked why he thought he was asked to leave.

In a way that seemed to skirt the question, Brewer talked about politics. He said he believed the elective nature of the LAUSD board might be part of the problem, for him and for other superintendents past and future. “What you have in the country, you have political boards whose members have their own agendas,” Brewer said. “It doesn’t matter what progress you’re making.”

“Philly and Chicago have gone to appointed boards—three appointed by the governor, three by the mayor, I believe,” he continued. “Somehow you’ve got to give superintendents time and space to make changes.”

< Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad

After Brewer spent a couple of minutes giving his answer, Moderator Samad jumped in and put the issue in balder terms:

“Sharon, the deal is about the money,” Samad said. “The budget for LAUSD is four times the LA City budget. Most of that budget goes toward building projects. Every board member has a favorite contractor to build buildings. Antonio has some guys who want to get at that pot of money.”

Samad speculated that Brewer’s removal may have a lot to do with a potential Villaraigosa run for the governorship, in this case aided by the school board members he helped to get elected.

Conclusion

The forum concluded with Brewer being surrounded by a supportive audience looking for ways to continue to support his agenda after he is gone and Cortines takes the helm. With the passage of Measure Q—the $7 billion school bond—there will be resources to achieve some, if not all, of Brewers initiatives. Let’s hope the kid’s needs don’t get lost in all of the politics.

Dick Price and Sharon Kyle are Editor and Publisher of LA Progressive

Friday, December 26, 2008

Bilingual/Hispanic Education: CONNECTICUT WOMAN’S MISSION IS TO KEEP HISPANIC YOUTH IN SCHOOL + FEDERAL JUDGE REJECTS TEXAS’ REQUEST ON ESL PROGRAM

Education Week

Woman's Mission: Keep Hispanic Youths in School

By The Associated Press | Education Week/Teacher Magazine

December 24, 2008 -- Torrington, Conn. -- Back-to-school time for Maria Gonzalez means Friday evenings in a church basement, surrounded by 30 teens chattering in a mix of English and Spanish.

She pushes them to excel in school, though she is not a teacher. She coaches the students in dance, though she is not a dancer.

Gonzalez, 50, is a Torrington woman who has assigned herself a mission: to improve graduation rates and college attendance of Torrington and Winsted's Hispanic youth. (smf: Torrington is appx 20 mi west of Hartford, CN)

She hauls around a briefcase full of pamphlets about local colleges, job training and healthy relationships. Everywhere she goes, whether to a community meeting or to Wal-Mart, Gonzalez explains what she's doing to people she runs into. She asks community leaders and college professors: "Will you talk to my kids?"

She fears immigrant teens in Torrington and Winsted may be unaware of resources available to them. She worries they believe college is out of reach because they live in poverty or are unsure of the English language. They might need some extra pushing to succeed in school and continue to college.

Gonzalez provides the push.

"Do something so you don't have to be stuck in a factory," she tells them. "You have the opportunity. Take advantage of that."

The problems Gonzalez is trying to tackle might be newer to Torrington, where the immigrant population has taken hold and grown more recently than in other, larger Connecticut cities. But they are familiar problems.

The national Hispanic high school dropout rate is 21 percent compared to the national average of 10 percent, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan Washington-based research center on the nation's Hispanic population.

Additionally, students of color, those from low-income backgrounds and first-generation students are less likely to prepare for, apply for, enroll in and complete postsecondary education, according to the center.

Hispanics more commonly than their white peers have parents without high school diplomas, low family income and siblings who drop out. They're also more likely to be held back in school, have a C or less average, change schools, and become pregnant in high school, according to the center.

Gonzalez started her program, which she calls "Youth Opportunities," in January with a grant of a little more than $3,000. That money has almost entirely run out, spent on things like tutors, buses to college fairs, and a Torrington Twisters game this summer.

She's planning to apply for more money but even without funds she is determined to keep running the program.

"I'm not going to stop," she said.

Students Lack Support at Home

The basement room at Trinity Episcopal Church where Gonzalez and the teenagers meet Friday nights is not particularly inspirational: a few tables, metal folding chairs and brown wall paneling. Yet these gatherings come alive with students laughing and talking, the work of a couple devoted tutors and a steady lineup of guests.

Gonzalez is familiar with the challenges faced by new immigrants. She moved at age 17 with her family from the Dominican Republic to the Bronx, N.Y. In 1991, she moved from New York to Winsted, when hers was one of just a handful of immigrant families in town.

She now lives in Torrington with her two daughters, ages 12 and 22, her granddaughter, 3, and her husband of two years, Jose Abreu. She works as a case manager and social service supervisor at New Opportunities in Torrington, a branch of a Waterbury-based social service agency.

In her work at New Opportunities, Gonzalez sees five to 10 Hispanic students around high school graduation each year who aren't sure what to do next. They usually end up in factories or training to become truck drivers or certified nursing assistants, she said.

"They're going through the whole system, finishing, then going to a factory," Gonzalez said. "A lot of (the students in Youth Opportunities) are in middle school. If we can start with them, we can get them ready so when they go to take college placement tests, they can get in. I hope we can continue and at least be able to have them ready for college."

It's not that she sees college as the only successful path, more that she worries that many of the youth may never fully consider the option.

Torrington's Superintendent of Schools Susan O'Brien says she's confident that the schools are doing what they can to prepare students and send them on to college. She believes the problems stem from home, where many of the students lack support, she said.

"Parents have to be right here as partners," O'Brien said. "We want to reach out to our students, but it starts with mom or mom and dad in the household."

In Torrington, 11.6 percent of the city's public school students were Hispanic in 2007, up from 5.7 percent five years earlier.

More than 10 percent of the city's students spoke a language other than English at home in 2007, up from 6.4 percent five years earlier. Social service providers who work with the city's Hispanic population believe numbers are larger than official counts show.

Gonzalez's weekly meetings are unstructured enough that the teens can socialize and chat, but in general she begins with a group activity, then a guest speaker and ends with lessons in traditional Dominican and Puerto Rican dance, which many of the students are already familiar with.

Throughout the evening, tutors meet with individual students needing help on homework or school projects.

The dance portion of her meetings is meant to help keep students interested in attending. A promise of two hours of school work would likely just turn them away, she said.

On a recent Friday night, most students hadn't yet returned from summer vacation. The seven students who did attend heard a presentation from Frances Moulder, a UConn Torrington sociology professor, who asked them to dissect the meaning of famous quotations such as "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Danny Diaz, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Torrington Middle School, who would like to go to Harvard and also be a professional baseball player, has a clear idea of why Gonzalez is running the group.

Because of Hispanic students who drop out of school, "people in Torrington think that Hispanics are up to no good," he said. "She's trying to change that."

"It's like a passion job," said Diaz's mother, Dolores Ramirez. They're from the Dominican Republic, though Diaz was born in the United States right after they moved. "I can see that too many kids, they don't have anything to do after school. They're coming here and they want to stay here."

Ramirez said she was early to drop her son off one Friday during the winter and there were already kids standing outside the door in the cold waiting for Gonzalez.

"She is loving," she said. "And all these kids, they love her.

 

Judge Rejects State Request on Language Program

Education Week

By The Associated Press | from Education Week

December 22, 2008 – Austin -- A federal judge has rejected the state's request to postpone his order to develop a new language program for the 140,000 students with limited English proficiency in Texas middle schools and high schools.

In a ruling released Friday, U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice said the program must be fixed by fall. The state had requested the delay while it appealed the order.

"The time has come to put a halt to the failed secondary English as a Second Language program and monitoring system" in Texas, Justice wrote.

In his original order in July, he said the improvements had to be in place by the start of the 2009-10 school year. A preliminary plan is due Jan. 31.

State officials could still request a stay of Justice's order from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

David Hinojosa of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who represented the plaintiffs in the case, said Justice's original order gave the state more than a year to develop a new plan.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said her panel is exploring legislation to upgrade instruction and improve dropout prevention programs for limited-English students.

"While our elementary school students are doing very well, we recognize there are problems in our high schools that we want to address," Shapiro said in a story in The Dallas Morning News.

Problems related to limited English students include low test scores and high dropout rates.

The House's education leader, Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, said he will again offer legislation to provide state funding for dual-language immersion programs that would replace traditional bilingual and ESL classes. Under a dual-language program, students learn some subjects in their native languages for half a day and other subjects in English for the other half.

In bilingual education classes, students are taught core subjects in their native languages while they are learning English.

In ESL, students get intensive instruction in English while taking core courses that typically allow limited use of their native languages.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

SCHOOL GROUPS HOPE K-12 GETS SHARE OF STIMULUS: Some hope education programs—not just school construction projects—will snare funding to help boost the economy.

Education Week

collection logo

By Alyson Klein | Education Week

December 23, 2008 -- As President-elect Barack Obama and Congress begin laying the groundwork for a massive economic stimulus package, education groups are hoping for a major infusion of cash—beyond just construction projects—to help put financially struggling school districts on firmer fiscal footing.

Mr. Obama announced in a recent radio address that his administration would seek to direct a portion of a federal spending bill aimed at getting the economy back on track to school construction and to expanding broadband access in schools. The overall legislation could cost as much as $850 billion, according to published reports.

But, as more states warn of substantial cuts to K-12 spending, some school and state officials are lobbying lawmakers and the Obama transition team to include money for programs such as special education, teacher training, and grants to help districts educate disadvantaged students.

“The context has shifted so dramatically with this economic meltdown, but I think it also creates an opportunity for bold action, and that’s what it will take to make education a priority,” said Edward R. Kealy, the executive director of the Committee for Education Funding, a Washington lobbying coalition.

He argued that, over the long term, education is one of the best places to target federal dollars because “it actually has the strongest possibility of being able to pay back” the government, since students and workers will be better equipped to compete in the global economy.

Best Approach Debated

President-elect Obama said he would like Congress, which convenes next month, to get a stimulus package ready for his signature shortly after he takes office Jan. 20, providing an immediate jolt to the stumbling economy.

But fiscal-policy experts are split over whether aid for schools’ operating costs—such as materials and teacher salaries—will help create jobs and eventually generate revenue for states and the federal government.

Many states already face yawning deficits, and it’s possible that federal relief would simply help stave off cuts to education programs, rather than allow schools to purchase more materials, or hire additional teachers, said Nick Johnson, the director of the state fiscal project at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research group in Washington focused on the needs of low-income families.

Still, in tight times, even keeping major cuts at bay might help save jobs, he said.

“When states make cuts, it is very bad for the economy,” Mr. Johnson said. “They lay off workers, cancel payments to vendors and so on.”

But Chris Edwards, an economist at the Cato Institute, a free-market think tank in Washington, said the projected size of the stimulus package is simply opening the door for education organizations and state policymakers to “recycle long-standing requests for aid” that may have nothing to do with stimulating economic growth. Mr. Edwards is also skeptical that increased government spending will spur a recovery.

It’s too early to say if federal relief for cash-strapped states—if any—can help states avoid or scale-back cuts to K-12 programs.

When President-elect Obama met with the majority of the nation’s governors in Philadelphia earlier this month, most expressed support for federal help, but education took a back seat to other priorities. ("Governors Make Pitch to Obama for Stimulus Money," Dec. 10, 2008.)

And in testifying before the House Appropriations Committee this month, Gov. James E. Doyle, a Democrat from Wisconsin, said that extra money for programs such as Medicaid might help state legislatures shift resources to education programs.

But another Democratic governor, Jon Corzine of New Jersey, said he’d like to see “some kind of block grant,” possibly geared just for schools.

Some lawmakers on the panel agreed with him. “Count two for that plan,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., said, noting that schools in her South Florida congressional district were considering hiring freezes and layoffs. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Special Education Relief

Education organizations are encouraged by the President-elect’s high-profile support for making school construction money and funds for expanded broadband access part of a stimulus package.

In a letter sent this month to congressional leaders, the Committee for Education Funding said that investing $20 billion over five years in school facilities could support about 50,000 jobs. If such construction took a “green,” or environmentally friendly, approach, it could save up to $20 billion in energy costs over 10 years, the organization wrote.

But education lobbyists are also hoping for money for career and technical programs, Pell Grants for college students, pre-kindergarten programs, and state data systems.

And one item makes nearly everyone’s wish list: Increasing the federal share of funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Under the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, the federal government is authorized to cover up to 40 percent of the states’ excess special education costs, based on the national average per-pupil expenditure. That 40 percent is what is considered “full funding.” But annual federal appropriations have fallen far short of that goal. In fiscal 2008, which ended Sept. 30, the federal government covered 17 percent of such costs.

In November, the National Governors Association sent a letter to Congress asking for $19 billion over the next two years to fund IDEA. And some groups, including the American Association of School Administrators, want the funding to become mandatory, meaning that the federal share of IDEA would be financed automatically by law and not subject to the annual appropriations process.

Providing more money for special education would take pressure off state coffers, help relieve property taxes, and boost districts’ bottom lines, said Mary L. Kusler, the assistant director of government relations for AASA, which is based in Arlington, Va.

“If the federal government really wanted to do something that would help everybody at the local level,” it would fully fund IDEA, she said.

If the federal government decides to provide substantial funding for IDEA and other programs in the stimulus, it’s likely that education organizations and state policymakers will keep pressure on Congress to continue with the investment even after the economic outlook has brightened.

“We will hold their feet to the fire to make sure they keep full funding,” said Randall Moody, the chief lobbyist for the National Education Association, a 3.2 million member Washington-based union.

A Christmas Surprise: OFFICIAL FILES PROPOSAL FOR EXPO LINE CROSSINGS IN SOUTH L.A. - The plan from a PUC member makes a pedestrian bridge across the tracks next to Dorsey High School more likely.

●●smf’s 2¢: When a “plan” is “floated” to roll out on  Christmas Day one can assume that the idea probably doesn’t depend upon a whole lot of public scrutiny and/or discussion.   Remember this: The Expo Line Construction Authority  whose sole purpose is to save money, not serve the public or promote safety is a front for and a creature of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The MTA’s record on pedestrian safety is is not good. And even the construction authority doesn't believe the pedestrian bridges would be safe.

By Steve Hymon  - December 25, 2008

California Public Utilities Commissioner Rachelle Chong filed an alternative proposal Tuesday on how best to solve the controversy involving two Expo Line light rail street crossings in South Los Angeles.

The gist of it: Chong's proposal makes it more likely that a pedestrian bridge -- at the least -- will be built across the tracks next to Dorsey High School. That means the Expo Line is going to have to find some extra money. Building the bridge could also jeopardize plans to open the line in 2010.

First, some background.

The Expo Line Construction Authority, which is building the $862-million line from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City, still needs the state's permission to build two at-grade street crossings next to schools in South Los Angeles, the Foshay Learning Center and Dorsey High. At Foshay, the authority needs the state's approval to put rails atop an existing pedestrian tunnel at Harvard Boulevard. At Dorsey, the agency needs approval to lay rails across Farmdale Avenue.

In October, a PUC administrative law judge denied those requests and instead proposed that pedestrian bridges be built over the tracks at both locations for safety reasons; with bridges, students and others would not have to walk across the tracks at those sites.

But the judge doesn't have last say on the matter. It's up to the five-member PUC to decide, and the commission has already twice postponed a vote on the issue.

At present, no one is happy with the judge's proposed solution: The construction authority doesn't believe the pedestrian bridges would be safe, saying they would funnel too many students into a confined area. . Community activists and the Los Angeles Unified School District want the train to either tunnel under Farmdale or go over it on a bridge. Activists also want the train to tunnel under both Western Avenue and Harvard (Western is near Harvard).

Under Chong's proposal, the construction authority would be allowed to build rails across the pedestrian tunnel next to Foshay, but she denied the agency's request to build an at-grade crossing of Farmdale next to Dorsey. Her proposal leaves open the possibility of a pedestrian bridge or a rail bridge over Farmdale. And because of the PUC process, her proposals makes it unlikely that a street-level crossing with no pedestrian bridge will even be considered.

Chong also proposes giving the authority something it requested: that the PUC act as the lead agency in considering future environmental review of the crossings. That's wonky, but significant. It basically means that a lawsuit over the environmental studies would go directly to the California Supreme Court (if it decided to hear it), whereas a lawsuit against the construction authority would start lower on the legal ladder, in Superior Court.

In other words, that move could shorten the time the issue is in court, thereby also shortening construction time and project costs.

The proposal from Chong will be considered at the PUC's January meeting. Keep in mind, it's just a proposal. The PUC can decide to keep it, amend it or toss it out completely.

But it does appear that the community, the LAUSD and the Expo Line authority are getting closer to knowing what they're actually building at the two crossings.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

‘EDUCATOR’ TAG IN LAUSD RACE SPARKS COURT CHALLENGE

By George B. Sánchez, Staff Writer | LA Daily News

23 Dec 2008 -- San Fernando Mayor Nury Martinez, who is seeking a Los Angeles Unified school board seat, is facing a court challenge over her decision to describe herself as an "educator" on the ballot.

Martinez does not teach classes but used the term "mayor/environmental educator" with her name printed on the ballot. The phrase refers to her work heading an environmental organization that includes public education as part of its mission.

Opponent Louis Pugliese will ask a judge to remove the term "environmental educator."

The two are the only candidates for Los Angeles Unified School District board District 6, which encompasses the central San Fernando Valley. They are running in the March 2009 election to replace Julie Korenstein, who is stepping down after 22 years in office.

Martinez's educator title refers to her executive director position with Pacoima Beautiful, an environmental nonprofit organization.

"She's not an educator as far as I'm concerned," said Pugliese, a lecturer at California State University, Northridge, and former LAUSD teacher. "They do educational activities, but that doesn't make her an educator."

Martinez did not return phone calls Tuesday, but her campaign consultant, Yvette Martinez - no relation to the candidate - called Pugliese's complaint a "distraction." Though San Fernando's mayor is not a teacher, Martinez oversees environmental workshops, youth training and community meetings, she said.  "Her ballot designation is completely true," said the consultant. "She is mayor of San Fernando and core to the mission of her nonprofit is environmental education."

In November, Pugliese asked the Los Angeles city clerk to remove the identification from the ballot. That same day, the City Clerk's Office responded in writing to Pugliese, saying it was not its responsibility to verify or investigate a candidate's identity.

Pugliese is taking his complaint to Los Angeles Superior Court this morning.

Complaints about an opponent's self-identification on the ballot are common in elections, said Jinny Pak, assistant chief of elections in the City Clerk's Office.

"There's maybe one each cycle," she said. "It's not rare, but it's not common. It happens."

Pak expects a ruling today.

Also up in the March election are the seats now held by board President Mónica García, who is unopposed in her re-election bid, and Marlene Canter, who is stepping down after eight years. Two candidates are seeking Canter's seat, which represents the West Valley and L.A.'s Westside.

  • smf notes that both candidates for Canter’s seat are high school teachers, one at Fairfax High School and one at Marshall High School.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

ARTS GROUPS TRY TO RALLY SUPPORT FOR SCHOOL FUNDING + ARTS FREEZE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Culture Monster: All the Arts, All the Time

LA TIMES CULTURE MONSTER BLOG

Quick links: ART | ARCHITECTURE | CLASSICAL MUSIC | THEATER | DANCE | OPERA

3:41 PM, December 22, 2008

Los Angeles schoolchildren learning drama from a professional actor or ballet from a skilled dancer might lose their teachers next semester if the Los Angeles Unified School District continues to freeze funding for programs employing outside contractors. District officials say the freeze will hold at least until the California Legislature reconvenes in mid-January.

Balletshoes This crunch is especially felt by the 80 organizations comprising the Arts Community Partnership Network, which aren’t being paid and whose absence will greatly limit arts programming throughout the district.

Though standard art and music classes taught by LAUSD teachers are scheduled to continue uninterrupted, students will miss the opportunity to learn from working professionals.

ACPN-run programs go beyond the typical hour spent memorizing Shakespeare. The music arm of ACPN alone spends $2.2 million on an instrument repair shop that services roughly 35,000 instruments a year. These instruments are used by the 190 elementary school orchestras and 200 middle and high school ensembles throughout the district.

“This doesn’t just affect arts education; it affects the entire district,” said Danielle Brazell, executive director of Arts for L.A., an arts education organization that oversees ACPN. “It’s very important to acknowledge and understand that our students need quality education regardless of state or district budgets.”

The spending freeze, which ACPN learned about via e-mail on Dec. 12, affects the entire school district, not simply the arts programs. With the state deficit growing and funding uncertain, officials were forced to weigh the immediate needs of students against programs it thought were expendable, said Megan Reilly, chief financial officer for LAUSD. Learning to paint lost out to supplying ink for printers, she said.

More after the jump...

For small organizations such as the 24th Street Theatre, a production and education center downtown that counts funny man Jack Black among its alums, the freeze threatens to halt operations. More than half of the theater’s revenue comes from its $308,000 contract with the school district, which is meant to reach 11,000 students during the academic year. Because the majority of classes are held in the spring semester, the freeze could prevent as many as 9,000 children from taking classes with professional actors and spending a day frolicking through the theater.

Big contractors such as the Music Center downtown are not worried about shutting down, but they do lament that without enough funding, Los Angeles’ thriving artistic community could be weakened.
“Our concern is that small organizations and artists who have been relying on these funds don’t have a backup plan, and if they don’t get paid, they’re in a pretty difficult situation,” said Mark Slavkin, vice president of education at the Music Center.

Unable to supplement their incomes, some artists might move out of Los Angeles or, even worse, switch trades just to pay their bills, Slavkin suggested.

“Even if things get better, artists might not want to work with the LAUSD again,” he said.
In a frantic rush to secure funding for spring, the ACPN is urging arts-minded people to sign petitions and contact school officials. The 24th Street Theatre is hoping that comedian Black can recruit other celebrities to join the cause and use their fame to push arts programming in Los Angeles.

District officials warn that despite community concerns, the freeze will continue until they receive word about funding from the state, which might not be until late in the semester.

--Alicia Lozano

Photo: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Stage Raw: ARTS FREEZE FOR THE HOLIDAYSby Steven Leigh Morris | LAWEEKLY LA DAILY BLOG/Stage Raw

December 22, 2008 12:00 PM

stagerawv2_480x100.jpg

In a cost-cutting measure, the Los Angeles Unified School District has frozen district funds until the state legislature returns to Sacramento in January to sort out the State budget gridlock. Arts for L.A. has been quick to point out that the freeze includes existing contracts for the Arts Community Partners Network (ACPN).

Arts Community Partners Network is a project that allows the LAUSD to subcontract professional artists to come into public schools, either for on-site performances or workshops with the children, from dance to music to theater. The symbiosis for all participating organizations is obvious: the arts enrich the education, the education helps build a new generation of artists and arts patrons.

"Payments for work incurred have been delayed and future payments have been frozen for an unknown period of time," reports ACPN, which also describes the "ripple effect" throughout LAUSD, after all services were ordered frozen on December 12.

Over 80 individual artists and arts organizations throughout the city are affected.

Arts for L.A. is urging a campaign to release those arts funds and allow the contracts to be honored, and the program to continue. For more information, visit their website.

Monday, December 22, 2008

L.A.’s NEW ART SCHOOL IS AN EXPENSIVE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT + YOUR NAME HERE!

Although Central High School No. 9 in downtown Los Angeles has a completed campus, it still lacks a principal, a teaching staff, a curriculum, a permanent name and a method for admitting students.

The campus has long been intended as a local school, mostly serving students from surrounding neighborhoods. Critics say the district's best resources shouldn't be restricted geographically.

L.A. Central High School No. 9

Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

By Mitchell Landsberg | LA Times


December 22, 2008 -- With just nine months left before it opens, a new arts high school in downtown Los Angeles still lacks a principal, a staff, a curriculum, a permanent name and a clearly articulated plan for how students will be selected -- critical details for a school that aims to be one of the foremost arts education institutions in the United States.

Central High School No. 9 does have a completed campus, believed to be the second most expensive public high school ever built in the United States. But the very fact that it offers what may be the finest such facilities in the region has fueled a debate over the district's plan to operate it primarily as a neighborhood school, with fewer than one-quarter of its slots allotted to students citywide.

Related Content

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This school is built to build the potential that exists within this community, in which we have thousands of very talented students but who lack the social capital and the access to quality arts training," said Richard Alonzo, a former art teacher who now has authority over the school as a local district superintendent. B

y "community," he was referring primarily to the Pico-Union area that lies just west of the school. Alonzo said the school might intentionally discourage the most talented students from outside the surrounding neighborhoods from applying, lest they hog the spotlight.

That has led some people to question whether it's fair to the wider community -- and if it makes sense from an educational standpoint -- to lavish resources on a flagship arts school that is designed primarily for one section of the city.

"I just think that L.A. Unified rushes to mediocrity," said former school board member Caprice Young, who said she thought the goal should be the highest level of performance, regardless of geography. "As a school district, we need to be honoring excellence."

Few will question whether the campus itself is capable of fostering excellence. At a cost of $232 million, it is one of the crown jewels of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

That's clear from the moment you pull into the multilevel, 300-car garage. Up a broad flight of stairs, the campus' main buildings offer three dance studios with sprung maple flooring.

A professional-quality, 950-seat theater. Music classrooms with acoustic tiling and special whiteboards designed for musical notation.

Floor-to-ceiling windows with motorized blackout shades. Ceiling-mounted projectors in every classroom, allowing teachers to display lessons from computers.

Track lighting in the hallways to illuminate student art. An outdoor atrium for firing Japanese raku pottery. And the school's centerpiece, a conical library whose dazzling interior swirls upward to an off-center skylight.

All that, and a tower that looms over the 101 Freeway like a severed limb of the Iron Giant.

But while the school is physically ready to open in the fall, key operational details remain undetermined. An executive director was hired but quit, and now the school is interviewing candidates for principal.

"I'm concerned -- I will use that word," said Ramon C. Cortines, the district's incoming superintendent. Any school needs at least a year of preparation to open successfully, he said, and a specialty arts school may need more.

Alonzo, who has a passionate vision for the school, remains upbeat and insists that any obstacles will be surmounted.

He said he is close to selecting a principal from among three finalists -- two from the East Coast and one from Southern California. And he has apparently beaten back efforts to wrest the campus from district control and turn it into a charter, a public school largely free of district supervision.

He also believes he has settled the debate over whether the campus will be a neighborhood school or one that attracts the most talented students citywide -- an issue that will define the school's identity.

In its early years, at least, 1,200 of the school's 1,700 seats will be reserved for students from the surrounding neighborhoods, primarily the low-income enclaves of Pico-Union and Chinatown, Alonzo said.

The school, whose name is up for sale for $25 million, has a complicated history that speaks to the ethnic and geographic schisms that run through L.A.'s educational politics. It sits at 450 N. Grand Ave., directly across the freeway from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The site long served as the school district's headquarters and stands at the northern terminus of the Grand Avenue Project, a multibillion-dollar redevelopment of the city's civic and cultural hub.

The campus was initially conceived as a regular comprehensive high school that would relieve overcrowding at nearby Belmont High, whose partially completed replacement campus was temporarily abandoned because the site was deemed an environmental minefield.

Partly at the urging of philanthropist Eli Broad, the district later decided to turn its old headquarters into a flagship arts school that would anchor Broad's Grand Avenue Project and embrace the major arts institutions within walking distance: the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the L.A. Opera, the Center Theatre Group, the Colburn School of Music and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The cost of the building, paid largely through school construction bonds, soared once the district decided to make it "world class," district facilities chief Guy Mehula said. Only one other public school in the United States cost more to build -- the Edward Roybal Learning Center. Roybal, about six blocks away, was finished on the abandoned Belmont site after the school board decided it could manage the environmental problems.

The cost of the arts school dwarfs even Roybal if the $190-million cost of moving the district's headquarters and renovating new offices on Beaudry Avenue is included.

No other part of the city is so richly endowed with new schools. Besides Roybal, there is the nearby Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, and the area will eventually be served by the new schools being built on the site of the Ambassador Hotel -- which, at a projected $570 million for an elementary, middle and high school, will be the costliest yet.

Former school board member David Tokofsky said he believed the overcrowding problem had been solved, leaving no need for the school to focus on the neighborhood. He said the school should reach out for "talent from Banning [High], from Pacoima, from Huntington Park."

While on the school board, Tokofsky pushed through a compromise that calls for the arts school to be "open to all District students, beginning with a minimum of 500 students from outside the residential area to grow as space permits."

But Alonzo and others insist that the district has, in effect, a social obligation to make up for decades of neglect in the areas just west of downtown.

"For 27, almost 30 years, these kids have had a 65% dropout rate, a very limited outlook for their future," said Maria Casillas, president of a nonprofit foundation that promotes parental involvement in schools and a member of an advisory board established to support the arts high school. "And I don't know that the cost of these buildings actually pays for the pain and suffering that we have created . . . for these kids."

Alonzo said students at the school may not have the most experience in the arts, but they will not suffer for it. For instance, usually in the case of a school play, "The part's going to go to the kid who shows the greatest talent, and that's not the kind of school that this is going to be," Alonzo said. "This is really looking at building potential in communities that have been underserved, for kids that really haven't had the chance."

While the school might tell star performers that they would likely be happier elsewhere, it won't refuse to accept them if they really want to attend, he said.

In part, Alonzo frames the argument for a neighborhood school in economic terms. Los Angeles, he said, offers well-paying jobs to people in the arts, not just as artists and performers but in back-office and blue-collar roles. The new school will help give disadvantaged students entree to those jobs, he said.

Another key issue is how the students are selected.

Los Angeles Unified already has performing-arts programs as part of its magnet system, and those schools are required to take students without regard to talent. The L.A. County High School for the Arts, on the other hand, requires auditions or portfolios of student work.

Alonzo said the new school will steer a middle course, with students required to get a recommendation from a teacher and to demonstrate their interest in attending. They will not, however, be required to demonstrate artistic ability, since many students in the neighborhood never had the opportunity to study an art form.

The students from outside the neighborhood -- 350 the first year, then 500 -- will be selected in the same way, he said.

He said all students will be expected to attend Saturday classes or summer classes at the school "to give us the opportunity to talk to the parents, to talk to the child, to find out is this really the place where you should be coming to school." He said the classes would start next month.

Ariceli Ruano, chief executive of a foundation that helps Latin American children and an active member of the arts school advisory board, said the selection process isn't clear.

"Is it first-come, first-served?" she asked. "I don't know. And with the local students, there's no application that's been developed that I've seen. . . . I don't really understand, and if I don't understand, I don't think it will be very clear to parents."

Directors of some of the district's magnet arts programs have been watching the progress on Grand Avenue with interest, perhaps a bit of jealousy, and some frustration.

David Way, head of the Academy of Music at Hamilton High School, said there was some "institutional concern" about the new school. Given his druthers, he said, he would rather have seen the district put the resources into its existing arts programs.

Still, he said, "I've never worried, lost sleep, over not getting talented kids. There's three-quarters of a million kids in the Los Angeles Unified School District."

Alan Warhaftig, co-director of the visual arts magnet at Fairfax High, said he wished the new school well but would not be "real happy" if it began siphoning off his best students. But he said the school's new campus wouldn't be enough to attract talent, or ensure a successful program.

"It doesn't matter how large and well-equipped your studios are," Warhaftig said. "The education of artists is not about training their hands. It's about training the mind, it's about training the eye."

He added: "To build something that has coherence takes time, and it doesn't matter if it's an arts program or one that's focused on international affairs or medicine. . . . As much as people would like to reduce it to a formula, it's ultimately an art form."

 

YOUR NAME HERE

Name for sale  -or-  “Tag sale philanthropy” 

December 22, 2008 -- There are no signs saying "Your Name Here," but there might as well be. For the right price, Los Angeles Unified will sell naming rights to its new arts high school on Grand Avenue.

Such fundraising is common at private schools but rare for a public institution.

It's all part of an acknowledgment that running a flagship arts high school is far more expensive than running a traditional school, and the additional money will have to come from nontraditional sources.

The school also has plans to rent out its theater, music studios, dance studios, gym and other facilities.

Does that mean we may end up with an ExxonMobil High? In-N-Out Burger High? There's probably little danger of that.

The district has made clear that it wants philanthropists, not corporations, to bid for the naming rights.

Here are the buildings available for naming, and the amount the school hopes to receive for each:

  • School
    $25 million
  • Theater
    $5 million
  • Dance program
    $2 million
  • Drama program
    $2 million
  • Music program
    $2 million
  • Administration building
    $2 million
  • Visual arts building
    $2 million
  • Library
    $3 million
  • Amphitheater
    $1 million
  • Black box theater
    $1 million

-- Mitchell Landsberg

Correction: The once and future supe.

In ‘The once and future supe’ (12/21) 4LAKids wrote:

“There was an announcement that Cortines would stay in his lower floor office - avoiding the 24th floor at Beaudry - the power center of the puzzle palace - altogether. But by Friday it was conceded that he would occupy the superintendent's corner suite with its (2001) controversial private rest room and panoramic view of Belmont/Vista Hermosa/Roybal, Dodger Stadium, City Hall, and the "skate board ramp" at the High School for the Arts. Sometimes the cost of symbolic change exceeds the cost benefit analysis.”

In a message dated 12/21/2008 8:05:21 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, district staff wrote:

FYI, Mr. Cortines will move to the 24th floor because it is the most economical and efficient use of the space in the building.  He has not agreed to use the Superintendent's office as his workspace.  The Superintedent's Office will be used as a conference room and Mr. Cortines will occupy another office on the 24th floor. 

smf writes: Thank you - correction noted and apologies for any misunderstanding, under-or-over interpretation.  Sometimes the tea leaves are just leftover from making tea - other times they require dressing as Indians and dumping into the Harbour. 

4LAKids certainly concurs with Mr. Cortines’ decision to be on the 24th floor as the most economical and efficient use of use of space, assets and resources: capital and human. And it will probably solve wear and tear on the elevators.

I always figured that the panoramic view of Belmont LC was a constant galling reminder to Superintendent Romer of  human folly. Roy is such a lookie-loo - the static view of nothing happening was probably the greatest impetus possible for onward momentum!

NAMING OF CARSON SCHOOL HITS A ROADBLOCK: Council wanted slain L.A. SWAT officer honored, but Latinos back Cesar Chavez designation.

By Gene Maddaus, Staff Writer

 

Construction of a high school that will serve Carson students is under way amid a growing controversy over the name for the campus. (Sean Hiller / Staff Photographer)

21•Dec•08 -- An effort to name a new high school serving Carson after a fallen SWAT officer has run into controversy, as Latino residents say they want it named after labor leader Cesar Chavez instead.

In October, the City Council unanimously voted to recommend naming the school after Los Angeles police SWAT Officer Randal Simmons, who died in a shootout earlier this year.

But since then two council members - Mayor Jim Dear and Councilman Harold Williams - have had second thoughts.

Williams said he was fooled into believing that the idea had full community backing, and encouraged Latino residents to come forward and voice their opposition to the choice.

"I'm very upset," said Miriam Vasquez, who lives in the neighborhood near the school. "This is a Latino area. It should be named after Cesar Chavez."

The issue has the potential to stir up resentment in a community that prides itself on racial harmony. Simmons was black, and much of the support for naming the school in his honor comes from his church, Glory Christian International Fellowship, which has a predominantly black congregation.

The issue may also play a role in the upcoming council election. Julie Ruiz Raber, a Latina and a former councilwoman, has taken the lead in calling for the decision to be re-examined.

"If I had my first choice, it would be Cesar Chavez," she said. "That would be such an honor. He's the only Mexican-American hero for the Latino community."

Raber, a close ally of Dear and Williams, is campaigning to get her council seat back in March, and Vasquez noted that the current council has no Latinos. Simmons' friends think that helps explain why the issue is coming up again.

"It's a few people trying to make political headway with a segment of the community," said Walter Clark, who works at Glory Christian International. "They're trying to make it a black-and-brown issue, which is ridiculous."

Clark noted that Simmons, who lived in Rancho Palos Verdes, ministered to youth in predominantly Latino housing projects, such as Scottsdale in Carson.

"He crossed racial boundaries," Clark said. "He was colorblind."

Councilman Mike Gipson, who led the effort to name the school for Simmons, noted that the Los Angeles Unified School District already has a school named after Chavez.

"I don't care if Randy Simmons was Iranian, Persian, Arab, white, Asian," said Gipson, who knew Simmons through his volunteer work. "This is not a racial thing for me. This was someone who lost his life trying to save other people's lives."

LAUSD is building the school at Santa Fe Avenue and Carson Street, just over the Long Beach side of the border with Carson.

Long Beach adamantly opposed putting the school there because it took away some of the city's industrial land. Carson also objected to the location, citing parking and traffic concerns.

In the midst of a relentless building campaign, LAUSD brushed those concerns aside, bought the land through eminent domain and started building. The campus is scheduled to open in 2011.

Reina Alvarez, who has been involved with the parent-teacher organization at nearby Dominguez Elementary School, said she and her neighbors first heard of the idea of naming the school for Simmons at the school's recent groundbreaking.

Though they said they have nothing against the fallen officer, they were troubled that they were not consulted.

They circulated a petition asking that the school be named for Chavez or for Manuel Dominguez, who owned the area's 19th century Spanish land grant.

The petition got about 100 signatures, but Alvarez said the group later decided to drop its request for particular Latino names.

"We come in peace," Alvarez said. "It's not politics. It's not a racial thing. It's just us being heard."

At the council meeting on Tuesday, Williams and Dear voted to rescind the city's support for naming the school for Simmons.

But that motion failed on a 2-2 vote, leaving the council's earlier unanimous support for the idea officially in place.

Gipson called the vote "divisive" and said it made the city look bad.

Raber, on the other hand, said it was Gipson who had stirred up the issue by bringing it to the council in October.

"He's the one that opened up the can of worms," she said. "It wasn't us. He blindsided us."

Despite the political tug-of-war in Carson, the right to name the school rests with the school district. While it will take the city's views into account, it will also conduct its own community outreach, said Dave Kooper, chief of staff to LAUSD board member Richard Vladovic.

"School naming shouldn't be controversial," Kooper said. "It's one of those things you get to do. It should bring the community together."

Sunday, December 21, 2008

CORTINES AT THE HELM: L.A. Unified's new superintendent, a longtime educator, discusses the challenges the huge school district faces and his goals for its future.

By Howard Blume | Opinion from the Los Angeles Times

right answer:

LA Times: In earlier interviews, you mentioned focusing on dropouts. Is that still high on the agenda?

Cortines: Hell yes. I don't care if it takes five years or six years for kids to finish high school.

 

December 21, 2008 -- Retirement doesn't seem to agree with Ramon C. Cortines, the 76-year-old educator who was named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District last week.

He first tried to step out of the saddle in 1992, when he was schools chief in San Francisco. But he quickly returned to full-time employment, serving in the Clinton administration before going on to head the nation's largest school system in New York City. After another attempt at retirement, Cortines stepped in for six months in 2000 to serve as interim superintendent in Los Angeles. After trying retirement once again, he was drafted in 2006 to be a deputy mayor and chief education advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

In April of this year, Cortines became top lieutenant to Los Angeles schools Supt. David L. Brewer, and in January, he will replace his former boss at the helm of the nation's second-largest school district.

Cortines, who still wears the same-sized clothes he donned as a military draftee in 1953, rises at 4 a.m. daily to exercise, works six days a week and takes his first appointment at 6 a.m.

But does he really need the hassle of leading an academically beleaguered school system amid a crippling budget crisis?

Times staff writer Howard Blume interviewed Cortines last week. What follows is an edited transcript of their discussion.

BLUME: The budget numbers are daunting, $200 million to $400 million in immediate cuts and similar cuts in each of the next two years. How will the district cope?

CORTINES: Unless there is some miracle from Sacramento -- and that means a tax increase or a gift of money from out of the sky -- I think this means employee layoffs. Administrative services will be among the first to go. I think that school principals are going to have to take more responsibility, and local districts are going to have to take more responsibility. It's very difficult, and it is very demoralizing.

Could that mean having to move students to different classes midyear so that all classes are fuller?

I hope not. Remember, that was on the table recently. I listened to the principals. And I took it off the table, and it's still off the table.

Last year's budget, which you didn't handle, included unpaid furlough days for employees. The unions have challenged that plan, and early on, you sided with the unions.

I had taken the furlough days off the table, but now they are back on.

How do you improve schools in this financial environment?

I look at this as an opportunity to do things differently, to deliver services differently, to manage differently.

Fifteen years ago, you retired as superintendent in San Francisco, a much smaller school district -- where you were quite popular -- partly because of stress that left you with an ulcer. And you want this job?

I think my work ethic is better now. I know how to manage my time better. I work one day every weekend, and I take one complete day off. That's my day. I never used to do that. I think I know how to smell the flowers better. I don't let my work consume me.

Does that make you more effective?

Yes.

What have you learned in your other jobs that you can apply here?

For too long, we have focused on the needs of adults and not the needs of students. I've been to more than 40 schools in seven months, and I find a wonderful teaching force. I find leadership. But I also find some mediocrity, and when I see it, I call it out. I'm going to continue to put people on notice when I see they're not living up to what I believe students deserve.

When I look at the test scores, yes, we've made gains. Many children are at the proficient level, but many are not. Proficiency has got to be the goal. Not moving from below-basic to basic.

You served as interim superintendent in Los Angeles for six months in 2000. During that time, you developed a decentralization plan that never really went into effect. What happened?

Where I was naive, and where the board was naive, is that when you decentralize -- and the board has approved it and all the unions have bought into it -- you think it will happen. And it didn't happen.

Did you make a mistake leaving after only six months.

Yes. I should have at least stayed a couple of years to implement what everybody said they wanted, and to iron out the bugs and make modifications where necessary. I thought I was doing the right thing because I said I'd come in and do four or five things: cut the budget, balance the budget, cut the bureaucracy, decentralize and help the board find a superintendent.

Generally, I do everything I'm asked to do and more, but I've learned that it's not enough just to design and bring a plan to fruition. It's important to effect that plan.

What if the school board doesn't really know what it's doing? Or if its members can neither reach consensus nor offer a consistent, driving philosophy?

When I came to L.A. in 2000, I think the board was just as you have described. And when I left L.A., there was a consensus and there was a focus. A lot of people like to rag on boards, but I think the superintendent has a responsibility to help a board and provide leadership as it relates to working together.

Your contract has no buyout provision, just 30 days' notice.

I serve at the day-to-day pleasure of the board and my own pleasure. I have told them I will be here for three years.

Years ago, you were quoted in an article as saying that you were not necessarily opposed to vouchers (public funds that parents could use to pay for private schools).

I don't believe students should be held captive. If we're not doing the job, we have a responsibility to make sure that better opportunities are available. Children are the future.

Supt. Brewer and the school board never agreed on how he should be evaluated, which eventually made his dismissal more controversial. What would be reasonable, specific goals for you?

I've already agreed with the board that there will be an evaluation process of the superintendent, and it's my hope that it will be public.

I want to continue the trajectory of academic achievement that has begun. I want to see parent involvement increase. I want to see out-of-school suspensions decrease. I want to see [good] behavior increasing. I want to see teachers valued. I want to see leadership valued. But I want people to take responsibility.

I'll give you an example of what I see. When I look at the 34 high-priority schools, all but a very few have made great progress in almost every area. But I think we have a problem, and Supt. Brewer put his finger on it. Many of our African American students, especially boys, and some of our Latino students, especially boys, have not made the progress that they should. They have just as much potential, but I believe we have to address some of the social issues.

In earlier interviews, you mentioned focusing on dropouts. Is that still high on the agenda?

Hell yes. I don't care if it takes five years or six years for kids to finish high school. I understand that students are different now. They have family responsibilities. They have their own families. They're emancipated minors. I just want students to finish school. One of the best schools I visited in South Central was the pregnant-minor program. It's unbelievable the care that these young ladies were getting, the education they were getting from the dedicated teachers at that school. I don't believe you have to be in a regular classroom. I do believe that instruction has to happen, and we all need to be held accountable.

Is this the last greatest challenge of your professional life?

I would think so. I would never have been here if Supt. Brewer hadn't asked me. He sincerely felt that I could help him. Because questions weren't getting answered. Schools were not getting responded to. Some of the people, not all of the people, were just spinning their wheels for each other and had no connection to schools. I remember saying to some instructional people: "You should be in schools and visiting." And they said, "We don't visit schools." Well, they are today, I'll tell you that.

I certainly never intended to be a superintendent ever in my life again. I've had a wonderful career. But at this moment, this needs to be done. As long as I'm here, I'll give it my full and best dedication. And I will make mistakes. And I will stub my toe. And I won't cover those up. I'll get up, dust myself off, apologize, and we'll move on.

Howard Blume is a Times staff writer