LAUSD[C]

by smf for 4LAKids

In the past few weeks a number of educators, parents students and community members have been gathering together to discuss the Public School Choice Resolution and the impending giveaway of LAUSD Schools.

The group is small and diverse, meeting on Wednesday evenings in a central city storefront over coffee and cookies – activists and troublemakers, teachers andconcerned parents; bloggers and union leaders and NYU law students; Black and Brown and White. Building consensus. The discussion has been important and fruitful.  We are well begun

The Group calls itself the Los Angeles School Development Coalition (LAUSDC) and is formed under the umbrella of CORE-CA, The Congress of Racial Equality of California

WHY CORE?

• Because Public Education IS the Civil Rights Issue of the 21^st Century. Not because politicians looking for a vote say it – but because it is!

• Because Equity and Access are key to public education.

• Because the outside providers competing under the PSCR have questionable records on providing Equity and Access, especially to

  • Special Education Students
  • Students with Disabilities
  • English language Learners

• Because Social Justice is fundamentally challenged under PSC – the voters have committed to a $30 billion investment in OUR SCHOOLS, not the Partnership's schools or charter schools.

• Because we want public schools with a public agenda, not pubic schools with a private agenda or privatized public schools. We don’t want nonprofit or not-for-profit …we want  public schools.

• Because we expect OUR Kids to attend and excel in OUR schools in OUR neighborhoods. That was the promise of the BB, K, R, Y and Q bonds.

• Because the prepackaged/prefab parent involvement granted under the PSC Resolution (non-binding advisory votes?) and offered by outside providers – or compliance-driven by LAUSD - is not enough.

• Because, as much as it's about Equality – it's really about Quality. Quality Education in Quality Schools.

• BECAUSE WE ARE LAUSD AND THEY ARE OUR SCHOOLS.

Here are some discussion points the LAUSDC are working on:

The Los Angeles Unified School Development Coalition (LAUSDC) believes that once educated, the community will not tolerate the giveaway of public schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District and we hold the Mayor of Los Angles, the LAUSD Board of Education, and other private interests responsible for this power play at the expense of the people.

The Lack of a Choice in the Public School Giveaway

The Los Angeles Unified School Development Coalition (LAUSDC) is a group of concerned parents, educators, and students united for the improvement of public schools and the creation of quality educational models. The LAUSDC seeks to create quality in public education

YES TO QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION

No to the Public School Giveaway

10 Points to Consider

● The resolution demonstrates reckless disregard for the students and community

● The proposal completely violates the will of the tax-paying public that voted for bonds

● There is no quality or quantifiable public participation in public school giveaway

● There is no transparency in regards to charter groups, hiring practices, or budgeting

● The LAUSD is moving down a fast track towards an unknown destination

● We must help improve existing schools and the district to deal with global standards

● The new schools in the community should be open to all students in the neighborhood

● The LAUSD must produce standards for public schools created with the community

● The community must help create student focused educational models in the LAUSD

● Together, we can create improved models of education for public schools in the US

Join the Los Angeles Unified School Development Coalition (LAUSDC) on the birthday of the great Civil Rights Leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., January 18, 2010 as we march in THE KINGDOM DAY PARADE on Monday, January 18. It begins at 10:15 am (televised at 11 am) at Martin Luther King Blvd and Western Ave, traveling west on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Crenshaw Blvd, south on Crenshaw Blvd to Vernon Ave with a festival at Leimert Park.

 

THE NEXT MEETING OF THE LAUSDC will follow the PSCR Applicants Presentation Community Meeting @ 5 PM at Jefferson High School 1314 E.. 41^st St, LA 90011 [map] on Wednesday Jan 20

Help continue the legacy of improving public education that civil rights leaders created. The struggle for Quality Education continues and the people of Los Angeles plan to challenge the public school giveaway with broad based community cooperation.