More than 250 Los Angeles schools – from the very worst to 50 new multi-million-dollar campuses — could be turned over to charter networks and outside operators under a plan approved 6-1 by the school board. Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who supported the plan, will be able to recommend the best option to run each school. From the Los Angeles Times:
District officials and others have said their ability to achieve more than incremental progress is hindered by the powerful teachers union, whose contract makes it nearly impossible to fire ineffective tenured teachers. Union leaders blame a district bureaucracy that they say fails to include teachers in “top-down reforms.”
“The premise of the resolution is first and foremost to create choice and competition,” said board member Yolie Flores Aguilar, who brought the resolution, “and to really force and pressure the district to put forth a better educational plan.”
Flores Aguilar says she was motivated by the horrendously low graduation rates in her southeast LA district and low reading scores for elementary students.
Despite his liberal Democratic roots, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa backed the plan. The Los Angeles Times editorialized in favor of it.
Sixteen LA charter school operators with a record of success plan to bid for control of new schools.
Ben Austin of the Parents Union celebrates the victory — and reaches out to teachers.
The problem isn’t the people, it’s the system itself. More often than not, if we can change the system, we can work with the people. Even though major elements of organized labor opposed us today, there isn’t any reason why we shouldn’t ultimately be on the same side. Because what’s good for kids is almost invariably good for good and great teachers.
It’s good for kids if teachers are paid very well. It’s good for kids if teachers are respected inside and outside the classroom. And it’s good for kids if teachers are empowered to be creative and teach from the heart, because they aren’t micromanaged by bureaucrats in a far-away centralized bureaucracy. But it’s also good for kids if teachers (and parents) are held accountable for the performance of their students. That’s the kids-first bargain.
As Austin writes, it’s not a victory unless the new school operators can teach the children well under very challenging circumstances.