Public School Choice 9-25-09 Update

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD MONICA GARCIA, PRESIDENT YOLIE FLORES AGUILAR TAMAR GALATZAN MARGUERITE POINDEXTER LAMOTTE NURY MARTINEZ RICHARD A. VLADOVIC STEVEN ZIMMER

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Administrative Office 333 South Beaudry Avenue, 24th Floor Los Angeles, California 90017 Telephone: (213) 241-7000 Fax: (213) 241-8442 RAMON C. CORTINES SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

September 25, 2009 To the LAUSD Staff and Community: I appreciate your feedback this week regarding the criteria we should use to select our focus schools for the year. Many of you indicated that schools demonstrating growth this past year should have the opportunity to continue implementing their improvement plans (with the appropriate level of support). Therefore, I have revised one element of the selection criteria for focus schools to only include schools that have shown zero or negative growth in Academic Performance Index (API) this past year. Final Criteria Used to Select Focus Schools for 2009-10 Schools must meet all of the following characteristics in order to be selected as a focus school: • Program Improvement Status of 3+ years • Zero or negative growth in Academic Performance Index (API) for the 2008-09 year • Less than 21% proficiency in either Math or ELA • Greater than 10% dropout rates (for High Schools only) I received several phone calls and emails expressing concerns about being a potential “focus school” or being “taken over by private operators.” I want to reassure everyone this process is about providing our schools with the appropriate supports to develop and implement plans that meet the needs of our students. Being classified as a “focus school” should not be viewed as a negative term. Instead, I want us to work together to identify strategies that can help our schools overcome the challenges that they are facing. It will take all of us working together to help our students reach their highest potential. Dr. Sharon Robinson from the Superintendent’s office will be working directly with the Local District Superintendents and school communities to develop and implement comprehensive plans that help raise student achievement levels for our focus schools. This will not be a top-down approach, but rather, a local school-led effort that involves parents, students, educators and staff. Schools will work with their families of schools (feeder schools) so that we can support our children from early childhood to graduation. I do not support the concept of handing over schools to outside providers or hostile takeovers – our students need collaborative partnerships in order to be successful. If an organization has an innovative strategy and a proven track record, it should bring the plan to the table for all of us to learn from it and then I can decide which organization has the capacity to implement it most effectively. We have many successes and challenges in our district, and there are plenty of opportunities for us to work together. The artificial walls between union and management, district and charter, etc. need to be torn down. Levels of Support The attached presentation illustrates the different levels of supports and expectations for our schools this upcoming year. • All Schools (856 schools, including charters): will continue to focus on ensuring all students are college prepared and career ready and ensure standards are being covered in all classes • Program Improvement (PI) 3+ schools (260 schools, including charters & iDesign): will focus on revising their Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA). The focus is not on compliance, but on raising the bar for all students.

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Increased Support & Service – Schools that are PI 3+, with zero or negative growth (68 schools, including charters and iDesign): Local District Superintendents and their staff will be held accountable to work with their school communities to identify specific instructional interventions iDesign schools: Superintendent will conduct an accountability review per the MOU with the LAUSD. Focus Schools – Schools that are PI 3+, with zero or negative growth, and less than 21% proficiency/advanced in Math or English Language Arts (12 schools): Superintendent Cortines and Dr. Sharon Robinson will work closely with the Local District Superintendents and staff to develop plans for these schools. These schools will participate in the Public School Choice process. As needed, appropriate staffing changes will occur.

In addition, our Local District Superintendent will work with school communities to develop plans for our 24 new schools (the four schools at the former Ambassador hotel site have already completed a proposal process). Outside providers will have the opportunity to submit plans to be considered as well. To see the lists of all schools, please visit http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,1129253&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP School Community Led Reforms I want us all to remind ourselves that students and parents must be at the center of all conversations regarding our schools. Local District Superintendents and principals will be working with their parents so they understand the successes and challenges of their schools, allow time to review the draft application process and rubric, collect feedback on the process, and begin to develop improvement plans for their schools. In addition, per the language of the Public School Choice resolution we will “develop a process whereby parents, communities and educators can work with the Superintendent to initiate reforms for any school that is in Program Improvement 3+ status.” This process will be developed by October 27, 2009 and you may submit suggestions regarding this process to [email protected] Next Steps Based on your feedback I have revised the timeline to allow more time for school communities to develop thoughtful plans. •

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By October 20 (further details will be provided by Local District Superintendents): Local District Superintendents & Principals will host community engagement sessions with our focus and new school communities. These meetings will cover two topics: • School communities will review their school report cards & new student data • School communities will review the draft application process and rubric to identify any questions and provide feedback to the Superintendent. October 27: Superintendent Cortines will present the final application process and rubric to the LAUSD School Board October 28: School communities will begin development of proposals November 15: Deadline to submit Summary Letters November 17: The Workforce Stability Taskforce will submit their recommendations to the Board January 8: Full Applications Submitted (please note revised deadline) January 11-30: Applications will be reviewed February – Board review and vote

Finally, I have attached an updated timeline that highlights our work until October 27th. Thank you,

Ramon C. Cortines Superintendent of Schools

Appendix: Public School Choice Process Development Timeline Date Week of 8/24

Week of 8/31 Week of 9/7

Week of 9/14

Week of 9/21

Week of 9/28

Week of 10/5

Week of 10/12

Week of 10/19

Week of 10/26

Activities - Resolution Adopted by Board 8/25 - Begin working on draft process - Weekly Update: Superintendent Summary of Process - Distribute draft process and templates - Weekly Update: Draft process and rubric - Post materials at www.lausd.net - Continue collecting feedback via email [email protected] - Weekly Update Email: Update on the timeline - API scores released 9/15 - Identify schools that will participate in the process for the 2010-11 school year (Update: list of schools will be released on 9/25) - Continue collecting feedback via email [email protected] - Weekly Update Email: Superintendent determines lists of schools that will participate in RFP process(Update: list of schools will be released on 9/25) - Update at Board of Education Meeting (9/22) - Workforce Stability Taskforce Kickoff (9/24 from 2:30-4pm) - Local Districts host community meetings (to be scheduled at specific schools) (Update: community meetings will not start until focus schools have been identified after 9/25) - Continue collecting feedback via email [email protected] - Weekly Update Email: Updates to Frequently Asked Questions& (Update: list of schools will be released on 9/25) - Revise process and rubric - Local Districts host Community Meetings (to be scheduled at specific schools) - Continue collecting feedback via email [email protected] - Weekly Update Email: Updated document distributed - Workforce Stability Taskforce (10/5 from 1pm-2:30pm) - Local Districts host Community Meetings (to be scheduled at specific schools) - Continue collecting feedback via email [email protected] - Weekly Update Email: Updates to Frequently Asked Questions - Local Districts host Community Meetings (to be scheduled at specific schools) - Continue collecting feedback via email [email protected] - Weekly Update Email: Updates to Frequently Asked Questions - Final revisions - Workforce Stability Taskforce (10/20 from 1-2:30pm) - Weekly Update Email: Process and rubric documents distributed - Presentation to the Board (10/27) - Weekly Update Email: Summarize results from the Board Meeting