OFFICIAL LEAVES MAYOR'S PARTNERSHIP
Jason Song | L.A. Times L.A. Now blog
June 9, 2010 | 6:29 pm -- The administrator in charge of instruction for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's educational organization is leaving to take a similar position in San Diego, officials announced Wednesday.
Angela Bass had served as superintendent of instruction for the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools for almost two years. She oversaw increased testing of gifted children and put greater emphasis on teacher evaluations at the nonprofit's 12 schools.
She will become one of eight area superintendents for San Diego Unified, the state's second largest school system. Before coming to the Partnership, Bass had been a teacher and administrator for more than 25 years with San Diego Unified, which is currently searching for a new head superintendent.
"I wish Angela all the best and thank her for her generous contributions toward improving the lives of children," Villaraigosa said in a statement.
TEACHABLE MOMENTS: MORE BACKGROUND ON SD UNIFIED’S NEW AREA SUPERINTENDENTS
By Marsha Sutton, San Diego News Network SDNN.com [this article has been edited for 4LAKids - entire story at http://bit.ly/at2kCK]
Sunday, June 13, 2010 -- Angela Bass, a former San Diego Unified School District Instructional Leader, was named on June 8 to be SDUSD’s new Area Superintendent for Area 5, the cluster that includes Mira Mesa and Scripps Ranch high schools, and their feeder schools.
Bass had applied for the position of Superintendent of San Diego Unified, but apparently was passed over for the top job and has accepted instead the Area Superintendent position reporting to an un-named Deputy Superintendent.
Angela Bass’s cover letter for the submission of her application to the position of superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District. | http://bit.ly/aLSoqP
With 32 years in education, 25 of them in San Diego schools, Bass will return to San Diego after serving nearly two years as Superintendent of Instruction for the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. As head of the Partnership, she met with approval and success leading an effort to transform 15 traditionally under-performing schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The Partnership schools are 91 percent Latino and 9 percent African-American, with 95 percent of students qualifying for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program, an indicator of poverty.
“During my tenure as the Partnership’s board chairperson, Angela distinguished herself as the Superintendent of Instruction,” wrote Carolyn Webb de Macias, immediate past president of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, in her letter of recommendation for Bass to the San Diego search committee. “Due to Angela’s visionary leadership and management, the Partnership immediately focused on improving the quality of instruction as the critical path to increasing student achievement.” She also touted Bass’s ability to work collaboratively with numerous stakeholder groups, including the teachers’ union.
Carolyn Webb de Macias’s letter of recommendation for Bass. | http://bit.ly/aiYqE4
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former SDUSD superintendent Tom Payzant also wrote letters of recommendation on Bass’s behalf, both expressing the opinion that Bass would be an excellent choice for SDUSD superintendent.
Villaraigosa wrote that Bass’s “visionary instructional leadership” has been pivotal in changing some of LAUSD’s key instructional practices and recommended her for the job “without any reservations.”
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s letter of recommendation for Bass. | http://bit.ly/cpCbfu
Payzant, who served as SDUSD superintendent from 1982 to 1993, called Bass “a skilled, collaborative leader.”
Tom Payzant’s letter of recommendation for Bass. | http://bit.ly/dl7XEt
The Board of Education for San Diego Unified, currently led by Interim Superintendent Bill Kowba, formed a superintendent search selection committee several months ago, to solicit and review the resumes of candidates. But just last month, without a permanent superintendent in place, the district announced [http://bit.ly/dc6xvE ] a restructuring of its organization into eight separate areas to be managed by eight Area Superintendents. And last week the district identified the names of the people chosen to fill those slots, the timing of the announcement being more than mildly interesting.
The district is expected to name three finalists for superintendent this week. Kowba is expected to be one of the three; Bass is not.
Read more: http://bit.ly/at2kCK
●●smf's 2¢:
- 'She oversaw increased testing of gifted children….' Testing of gifted children drives the overall test results up; it improves nothing other than the scores themselves.
- Angela Bass has been a decidedly low profile figure in the Mayor's Partnership. While nominally the Superintendent of Instruction she has played third fiddle to Mayor Tony and CEO Marshall Tuck - neither of whom have education cred or credentials.
- Dr. Bass applied for the job of San Diego Superintendent; the glowing letters recommend her for that post. She has accepted the lesser post of Area Superintendent in San Diego Unified - 'reporting to an un-named Deputy Superintendent'.
- Dr. Bass technically never left San Diego Unified. When she came to the Mayor's Partnership, she was "on loan" to the PLAS - with the Partnership reimbursing SDUSD for her salary and benefits to keep her benefits package and seniority current. "Like a dog without a bone, an actor out on loan, riders on the storm" - Jim Morrison/The Doors.
As the article above says: '…the timing of the announcement being more than mildly interesting'. The lines here are widely spaced, there's plenty of room to read between them. There is an obvious shake-up ongoing at the top at PLAS - President Carolyn Webb de Macias has left PLAS for DC, now Angela Bass is headed back to San Diego. Rats on the sinking ship? …or rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? You choose.
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