“We have a crisis with our youngsters,” board member Richard Vladovic told the district’s chief academic officer.

LA Unified’s chief academic officer came before board members Tuesday with an upbeat-titled report called “Breaking Our Own Records,” but instead of resting on the improvement in overall test scores, the four school board members in attendance grilled her for nearly two hours throwing out terms like “frustrating,” “depressing” and “disappointing” and saying the district is in “crisis” when educating certain segments of the student population.

“I had to say this because it depressed me as an educator and after eight years I was told it was going to get better, and I’ve been assured it will get better,” said board member Richard Vladovic, chairman of the Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Equity Committee that met Tuesday. “I’m most concerned about those children not getting what they deserve, and that is quality education.”

Math scores highlighting groups that need attention.

Board member George McKenna said, “I’m as frustrated as I can possibly be. The data is miserable. Test scores are still almost embarrassingly low. It is continually depressing and disappointing.”

The committee was discussing the list of lowest performing schools and other test score numbers that the district was touting as “breaking our records!”

Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson pointed out that the district’s record 75 percent graduation rate is up from 72 percent last year, and she showed other upward trends in the Smarter Balanced Assessments. She also noted that 265 schools are now participating in the Early Language and Literacy Plan, up from 85 in the 2015-16 school year.

“Some of the scores are record-breaking, but we have not hit the finish line yet,” Gipson said. “Our goal for graduation is 100 percent.”

Gipson tried to paint a positive spin repeating district catchphrases including “A District on the Move” and “All Hands on Deck” used by Superintendent Michelle King. But the four of seven board members on the committee were having none of it. Other members of the committee included representatives of three unions and USC and UCLA.

She pointed again to the increase in students meeting or exceeding English Language Arts standards, to 39 percent, up from 33 percent last year. Math scores rose to 29 percent from 25 percent in 2014-2015.

But then came the board members’ harsh reaction to zero improvement for English learners’ math scores: only 5 percent met standards, and only 4 percent met English standards, up one point. There was no improvement for students with disabilities: 6 percent met math standards two years in a row, and 8 percent met English standards.

Frances Gipson

Gipson said some successes were made through personalization of graduation goals and a dozen different types of interventions. “We are assessing what worked best for students and are accelerating that while eliminating things that did not work best.”

Another new number showed that 42 percent of students received a C grade or better in each of the 15 required A through G courses. Even though students can graduate by getting a D in those classes, Gipson said they want to strive for a C grade or better. California’s public universities require a C or better in those classes.

State math score rankings for the largest school districts in California.

School board President Steve Zimmer said, “I want to ask staff what specific crisis we are addressing? What do we need to see in due time? We need to reflect the urgency to see some positive results in continuing areas of inequity and our failure for public education.”

Zimmer said the board needs to hear “some type of strategy plan and urgency and honest feedback of what we need to do.”

Gipson had staff members from Beyond the Bell, Counseling Services and the Charter Schools Division ready to explain other recent successes in various departments but cut some of the presentations short as the board members asked her questions for nearly two hours.

“This group does represent a sense of urgency,” Gipson responded. “We have taken some bold steps.”

Gipson said she plans to report back with how some of those bold plans are working at school sites.

“We have a crisis with our youngsters and our youngsters need the very best, and if we are paying someone 15 percent more why aren’t they concentrated in schools that need it the most?” asked Vladovic. “There needs to be a concentrated plan. We are in the process of being confronted with a budget crisis that we have never confronted before, and people don’t know that.”

George McKenna and Scott Schmerelson.

Vladovic was particularly concerned with Long Term English Speakers who have scored persistently at 23 percent and never higher. “I feel like we have written them off,” he said.

Board member Scott Schmerelson echoed that, saying, “I’m not concerned about the cracks in the system, but the craters.” He also referred to students continuing from fifth to sixth grades or eighth grade to high school without the appropriate skill sets.

McKenna pointed out that some schools celebrate successes while African-Americans and poor children are still failing. “Is it that these poor children have gangs, or don’t have a momma or a daddy, or there’s no literacy at home? I got all that! So, what are the extreme measures that we should do?”

McKenna pointed to math scores, for example, that showed 18 percent of African-Americans and 23 percent of Latinos exceeding standards while Asians hit 70 percent, Filipinos hit 56 percent and whites were at 57 percent. Economically disadvantaged students scored 23 percent compared to 50 percent for non-economically disadvantaged.

McKenna, the only African-American on the school board, added, “Girls do better than boys and African-American males are at the bottom of the ladder. Am I surprising anyone? Absolutely not! What else can we do? Do we tell them to sing and dance and play baseball?”

McKenna said the district must focus on middle schools because only then “graduation becomes an aspiration rather than an illusion.”

Gipson pointed to working with the community colleges, using block schedules, holding twilight classes, getting grants and creating a director of innovation to review what is working in education. She also said a new dashboard computer program allows teachers to quickly figure out what each student needs to improve on the most.

Gipson said her team “ended some curriculum chaos” by pulling together many different teams and figuring out how to support each other. The district tripled their work in English language development. Gipson said the district saw a large drop in reclassification percentages because of changes in state accountability, and, because the year is from October to October, she said she expects some better numbers in a few weeks.

Zimmer said, “I think we are on the right path, but I want to caution that if we want to eradicate the school readiness gap we have to see the literacy foundation results” and see how early learning initiatives are directly linked to early elementary and math initiatives.

“We need to align the resources with the neediest students,” Gipson said.

One of the committee members, Mojgan Moazzez, principal of Logan Street Elementary School and representing AALA, the principal’s union, praised Gipson and said, “I have personally seen how she works with schools and has allocated resources where it is needed.”

The school board members wanted to see a more precise plan of action to help the lowest-performing students.

“And if we believe in the plan, why not have the plan anchor our approach?” Zimmer asked.

Vladovic added, “We need to see a plan rather than wishes of what we want to do. We need to shore up those youngsters and need a timeline and expected outcomes and what will happen if they are not achieved. We have to make a change.”

“We are doing it now,” Gipson said.

Vladovic continued, “We want to see some real particulars in what you’re doing. I truly believe all kids can learn. It’s our fault, … not theirs. I’m hoping you’ll do it. Let’s not just wait.”

After the meeting, Gipson was asked if the board seemed particularly harsh.

She answered, “We all want better. We have done better. We have a way to go.”

Shannan Brown

Two witnesses from the same California school district told the court in Vergara vs. California today that collaborative efforts have enabled the district to deal smoothly with ineffective teachers without constrictions from the laws at issue in the case.

Shannan Brown, the head of the San Juan Unified School District’s teachers union, and Elizabeth Davies, an assistant superintendent for elementary schools, described programs and protocols that helped teachers overcome the outside influences of drugs, gangs and lack of parental supervision that undermine student achievement.

Together, theirs was more testimony in support of the defendants’ position that well-managed schools can overcome state laws that plaintiffs argue protect ineffective teachers and deny California students a quality education.

Brown, one of five California Teacher of the Year honorees in 2011, said poor leadership influences student learning, telling the court, “when adults can’t figure out how to work together, it will always impact students.”

The case has been brought by nine students against the state, with the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers joining the defense.  The lawsuit focuses on five California statutes that govern tenure, dismissal and seniority as a criterion for layoffs.

The defense contends there are a number of factors, besides the contested laws, that affect students’ ability to gain an effective education.

Brown testified that many of the students in her school district lack food, clothing and parental supervision and are often subjected to violence on a daily basis, all of which impacts teacher effectiveness.

She said schools “must address these issues in order to deal with learning gains.”

Brown also testified that the teachers union and the district have worked together to address these problems and have implemented programs in low-income schools to improve student learning.

One such program, “Capacity Building,” she said, allows for more teacher leadership, feedback and observation. The results, she explained, have led to a more focused and calmer school culture with greater emphasis on student learning.

Davies added, “We put our strongest principals” at lower-income schools, and provide additional funding to reduce class size and target student needs.

She also testified that 18 months was a sufficient time to decide whether to grant tenure to new teachers — a period that the plaintiffs are arguing is much too short.  Davies attributed that to a well-organized evaluation system that also included determining whether teachers were adhering to the California teaching standards.

Another defense witness, Peggy Raun-Linde, former principal at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, also testified that the statutory time period was sufficient for making tenure decisions.

By observing teachers in the classroom, and maintaining a detailed evaluation system beginning at the start of each school year, Raun-Linde testified there was enough time to determine whether teachers should be granted tenure.

On cross examination, plaintiffs’ lawyers reprised the same point they have used with other witnesses who extol strategies to blunt teacher ineffectiveness by pointing out that whatever they do, the achievement gap between white and minority students remains.

In the case of the San Juan district, Marcellus McRae asserted that in 2012 the  Academic Performance Index gap between white and African American students was about 130 points and the gap between whites and Latino students was about 100 points.

Likewise, Josh Lipshutz called attention to the API  gap of nearly 200 points between white and Latino students at Fremont High School during Raun-Linde’s last year as principal in 2009 and that in each of her six years in the job, the gap was never less than 170 points.

Previous posts: Three more witnesses in Vergara v California say collaboration works; Vergara witness says district, teachers in San Diego worked together; Teacher in Vergara v California denies that she was ineffective.

Maria Brenes of InnerCity Struggle (in red) and other CLASS members address the audience at yesterday’s kickoff event.

Communities for Los Angeles Student Success (CLASS), a new coalition of eight community groups and education-related organizations, officially debuted on Thursday to resounding cheers and support of about 150 educators and community members at United Way of Los Angeles headquarters downtown.

The large, high windowed-room overlooking all of downtown was filled with education advocates, parent groups, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) representatives and many other members from different organizations supporting L.A.’s massive school system.

Collectively, CLASS represents 115,000 students, teachers, parents and other community members, and has also cast its net wider than traditional education advocacy groups to include parent groups, health advocates and foster youth organizations

While CLASS is comprised of different sorts of advocacy groups — from InnerCity Struggle to Educators for Excellence — the broad-based coalition shares the same overarching mission: close the achievement gap in LAUSD.

“It’s a civil rights issue,” said Kaci Patterson of Families in Schools. “There are too many students in too many schools who cannot read by the time they leave third grade. Too many students don’t have access to rigorous enough courses to get them into college.”

Between potato salad and cold-cut sandwiches, participants listened as different CLASS members presented the coalition’s three top priorities: lifting up low-performing schools, expanding access to quality teaching and learning and increasing resources, support and safety for students.

One of CLASS’s first steps to developing a plan to fix the second largest school district in the country was to survey over 100 community leaders about the state of LAUSD.

Ama Nyamekye, executive director for Educators 4 Excellence, presented the findings. “Most responders said they wanted to provide school with more local control of decision-making,” said Nyamekye. “They also want a more diverse evaluation system for teachers that includes classroom observations, parent and student input and student growth on tests.”

A more extensive evaluation system for principals was also overwhelmingly desired, as well as more college and career preparation courses for all students.

Over half of those surveyed wanted additional revenue directed to early childhood education.

Chris Turner from the Los Angeles Urban League addressed LAUSD’s lack of representation in Sacramento. “From all the districts in the state, L.A. is the only district who does not have a spokesperson vying for them in Sacramento,” said Turner. “That’s scary to me.”

The presentation ended with a question: “Who wants to join CLASS’s mission in improving equity and access for under-served students in Los Angeles?”

Of course every hand in the room shot up and hundreds of information cards were filled out and handed in with promises of support and action.

But another question, not as easily answered, was also asked. “How?” “Can you give more specifics?” One audience member asked. “Are you working with decision makers in LAUSD?”

Questioned another “What about the schools in youth correctional facilities who aren’t represented by LAUSD? How do we help those students?”

These types of questions as to how exactly CLASS planned to achieve its impressive, overarching goal continued and leaders of the fledgling organization, started about six months ago, did not have specific answers.

“We are starting the conversation on how to build the framework for this group,” said Turner.

Though some attendees asked if CLASS was just another education organization attempting to make sweeping changes in a school district wrapped tightly with red tape and bureaucracy, its members assured its fellow educators that there group was a different story.

“What’s different now is timing,” Nyamekye told the LA School Report. “There is a lot of grassroots energy in L.A. right now. Parents are readily getting involved all over the district and we are harnessing that grassroots power.”

Though representatives from LAUSD hesitated to answer directly if they believed that CLASS would really make a difference, Pedro Salcido, a legislative liaison for the district, said the vast amount of people involved under one name was a positive sign.

“They have a clear set of priorities and one vision,” said Salcido. “Many of these organizations have been around for a while and have come together to do good work.”

“When you get this many people in the same room for one thing, that’s always a powerful thing,” he added.

Members of CLASS were even more optimistic that this coalition was different — and could make a difference.

“We are moving beyond the traditional education space,” said Patterson.

Ryan Smith from United Way agreed. “Including teacher advocacy organizations is a new thing,” he added.

Another difference, he noted, was that CLASS’s goal is to “create policy, not merely respond to it.”

“We’re starting discussions now about different advocacy campaigns to bring more resources to the most underprivileged students,” said Smith.

The energetic launch ended on a high note, with many educators shaking hands, smiling and lingering in small groups.

Getting hundreds of educators in a room is a good thing. An even better thing is if CLASS can turn those conversations into powerful actions. We will wait and see.

Previous posts: Local Groups Join Up for School Improvements; What Do Ed Leaders Want From LA’s Next Mayor?; What Next for the Coalition for School Reform?