Resolution process moving forward

Yesterday, LA Unified released the list of organizations who have filed letters of intent to run schools under the Public School Choice resolution.  The list is quite long, and should excite anyone who cares about improving our schools. Over 180 total letters of intent – from a wide variety of potential operators – were submitted for both currently underperforming and newly opening LAUSD campuses. Interest came groups as diverse as community based organizations, high quality charter operators, local groups of teachers and parents, UTLA, and the Mayor’s Partnership for LA Schools.

It’s nothing short of inspiring to see so many groups get seriously committed about improving educational outcomes for the children of LAUSD. But this process is just beginning, and there is much work left to be done before it can actually bring positive change to our schools. We at the Parent Revolution remain committed to ensuring every decision made in this process is first and foremost about children and what will best serve them. That means all operators – charters included – must commit to accepting attendance boundaries and serving every child. It means that the District has to give charters and others the necessary autonomy and freedoms to achieve success and produce real change. And it means that parents must be truly and honestly informed about their choices, not fed lies, scare tactics, or ridiculous propaganda.

This resolution and its continuing progress is a historic opportunity for LAUSD, but it has not yet actually changed the life of one child. Today, we can take a moment and applaud the diverse variety of groups who are fighting to doing the hard work of educating our children and bringing real change to a District desperately in need. Tomorrow, we must return to work, vigilant in our insistence that this process remains about children and children only, and actually brings the change they so desperately need.

Don’t forget the little things

Via Matt Yglesias, we hear that there is apparently some compelling evidence that serving healthier lunches to students helps raise student achievement in a significant way. Clearly a small piece of the overall puzzle, but it sounds like a great idea to me!

As the battle over education policy has become extremely contentious - especially here in Los Angeles (see blog post below) - I think this is a nice reminder that not every kids-first change has to be controversial.  We even have Rachael Ray already leading the way on this one.

They will do anything to stop change

During President Obama’s historic campaign, it became clear that many on the far right felt they could no longer fight based on ideas. Instead, they resorted to the vile smear tactics and whisper campaigns which we all remember, trying to distract voters from the real issues at hand.

Unfortunately, it seems as though some in Los Angeles have taken a page out of the far right-wing playbook in their desperate attempts to stop change from coming to LAUSD. This past week, some have been circulating the flyer below through the Latino community, stating that parents who sign charter petitions are at risk of being deported (direct translation: Do not sign petitions for charter schools because you can be deported).  These sort of disgusting lies are meant to disempower communities of color, and keep them from being able to successfully fight for better schools.

Slowly but surely, parents are taking back power over their children’s schools. This clearly bothers some defenders of the status quo, who have resorted to the only tactics they have left – lies and fear mongering. But just as these tactics failed against President Obama’s campaign for change, they will fail against ours as well. Our children’s education is too important – and this moment too rare – to be derailed by the same old games and nonsense.

The press conference this morning was a great event, with leaders from throughout the education and civil rights communities – Maria Casillas, Rev. K.W. Tulloss, Board President Monica Garcia, and others – standing together as one. Together, we will fight for parents rights to ensure that their children, and every child, gets the education they need for the future they deserve.

Parents Unite to Transform Your Schools!  (just kidding…)

When the LAUSD passed the Public School Choice Resolution last summer, the hope was that this time it would be different -- that in this historic moment, the leadership of the LAUSD would put special interests aside and make this all about kids. 

Well, you can't fault us for daring to dream...

While last summer represented a potentially historic step forward as the LAUSD grapples with systemic failure all across Los Angeles, one problem still remained: with over 250 schools designated for transformation, it could take a decade or more to cycle through and transform each one.  And as it's written, all a parent can do is hope that their school gets picked by the Superintendent in time to affect their own child.  So over the past few months, the parents of Los Angeles had been lobbying for a "Parent Trigger," to empower parents to trigger the transformation of their own school through grassroots organizing alone.  This cuts to the core of what Parent Revolution stands for: transfer raw power to parents, because parents are in the best position to make decisions about what's good for their kids, and our collective future.

What transpired is Exhibit A as to why we need a Revolution. 

On October 23rd, Superintendent Cortines endorsed a bold, historic Parent Trigger.  For the first time in America, he announced that half the parents at the focus school OR half the parents at the feeder schools could automatically trigger a transformation of their own school simply through grassroots organizing.  National media took notice, and hailed the LAUSD as a new reform leader, rather than a poster child for the status quo.

Predictably, the special interests defending the status quo freaked out at the idea of giving parents real power over the education of their own children.  So, last Friday, the Superintendent issued a "revised" Parent Trigger.  Instead of giving the power to half the parents at the focus school OR feeder schools; he changed it to half the parents at the focus school AND half the parents at the feeder schools AND half the parents in preshool -- setting the bar impossibly high to transform a school the District and the Federal Government have already designated as needing radical improvement.  Even after raising the bar to absurd heights, the District STILL feared the wrath of empowered parents flexing their newfound muscle.  So Cortines went a step further and stripped parents of any power whatsoever -- designating their grassroots organizing as only a recommendation to him, which he alone would have the power adopt or reject.

As the LA Times editorializes today, "(The Parent Trigger) Cortines has laid out seems more likely to frustrate parents than empower them."  We'd take it a step further and guarentee parents will see right through this charade, and that not one school in Los Angeles will be transformed by this patronizing new policy.

Corines' 180 degree reversal on parental power represents not only a giant step backwards for the movement to empower parents, but also a proof-point as to why we need a Revolution in the first place: because the same old special interests and bureaucrats are still dominating the LAUSD's policy agenda at the expense of parents and children.

The Times editorial concludes by calling upon the District to put kids first for a change, because of what's at stake in this moment for our kids and our future: "If the Public School Choice initiative does not emerge as a strong reform policy, L.A. Unified will be signaling its ongoing inability to fix itself and its schools -- which could prompt an outside takeover of the district. It is imperative that students' needs not be overshadowed this time by adult priorities."

We couldn't agree more.

Parents all across Los Angeles are standing up and standing together to demand change.  We will take back our schools and we will transform public education throughout Los Angeles.  History, morality, as well as plain 'ol common sense are on our side.  The only question for the District leadership is whether they stand for change in this transformational moment, or whether they stand for more of the same special interest politics that have gotten us to where we are today.

Dear Mr. Cortines

(The following is a letter that Barbara Einstein, a Venice parent of seven, sent to Superintendent Cortines just before the announcement of the recently created "parent trigger."  With Barbara's permission, I wanted to share it with you all.  It is an eloquent case for why all parents, including those whose children will soon attend a given school, desperately need formal power to bring about school transformations.  -Gabe)

Dear Mr. Cortines,

My name is Barbara Einstein. I am the mother of three boys (all of whom attend UC Santa Barbara) and four girls (all of whom attend Walgrove Elementary in Venice).

Our family has lived in Venice for over 20 years. Ten years ago, when it was time for our boys to go to middle school, Mark Twain (the local middle school) had a particularly poor reputation for being academically weak. Due to this, my husband and I decided to "play the game" and send our boys to a decent public school outside of Venice.

Now, as our girls are getting ready to enter middle school, we are once again saddened and frustrated to see that Mark Twain is still as it was ten years ago.

In response, I have joined the Parent Revolution. We have gathered over 1000 signatures from concerned parents of children who feed into Mark Twain. I was initially overjoyed when the School Choice resolution passed; however, I became deeply disappointed upon finding out that you did not include Mark Twain among the schools which will be available for eventual transformation in 2010.

Of our four girls, three are currently in the 4th grade. What are we supposed to do in one year from now? Should we send them to a failing institution?

Venice does not provide its community with a choice of middle schools. Must I “play the game” again (as thousands of other parents throughout Los Angeles do each year) in order to ensure that our girls receive a decent education?

Mark Twain desperately needs a transformation. I must inquire: how can I—as well as hundreds of other parents—be guaranteed that Mark Twain will make the list in the following year? In my 14 years as a parent with children in the public education system, I have witnessed just how slowly and inefficiently change actually occurs. I have lost faith in our school district and school board.

The parents of Venice are ready to take action and help carry the responsibilities that come with having a great Middle School. We are active and organized. We have patiently waited for many years and we now request that our engagement and energy in this matter be met by you and the school board.

There needs to be a process put in place which allows parents to trigger designated failing schools such as Mark Twain to become available for transformation immediately.

I urge you to give us the power we deserve.

Sincerely,

Barbara Einstein

This is what parent power looks like

On the front page of Education Week's website today was a story about LAUSD's recently announced "parent trigger."  This policy, which is strongly supported by the Parent Revolution, would allow parents in any community in Los Angeles to collectively demand the District transform their underperforming school.  If 51% of the parents at an underperforming school or those of students soon to attend such a school sign a petition demanding change, the District will be forced to transform the school with either a District plan or an external operator, such as a high-performing charter operator or other non-profit.

“I’ve not heard of anything quite like this,” said Pedro Noguera, an education professor at New York University. “It sounds very democratic and like an attempt to be responsive to the community, which is a good thing.”

It's exciting to see LA Unified, one of the slowest major urban district to reform, finally bringing about innovative policies to give parents power.  Even more exciting is how this change happened - parents have been rising up across our city, demanding power over their children's education, and finally, LAUSD is starting to listen. 

Of course, all of this is meaningless until it is used to actually transform a school and change children's lives.  At long last, however, LAUSD empowering parents who demand better to bring about the change their children desperately need.