Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel

Mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel will meet with parents on Monday, May 6 at 24th Street Elementary, the first school in LAUSD to be taken over by parents using the parent trigger law.

Parent Revolution, an education advocacy group that has led the parent trigger effort in California, will host the meet and greet. Garcetti and Greuel will visit the school at separate times to hear from parents about their successful school overhaul and to have a Q&A session on the future of education in Los Angeles.

The candidates’ positions on education policies and the parent trigger law have evolved over the course of their campaigns. Garcetti, who is endorsed by the teachers union in LA, initially seemed to oppose the parent trigger movement (read about it here), but he eventually expressed unequivocal support for the option (read the story here). Greuel aligned herself with education reformers earlier in the campaign process and has consistently said she support the trigger option as a way to fix failing schools (read about it here.)

Previous posts: One Mayoral Candidate Opposes Parent Trigger – Sort Of; Garcetti Praises Reform Strategies; Mayoral Candidate Greuel Supports Garcia, Parent Trigger

24th Street Elementary School parent speaks in favor of the new plan for the school

Tuesday’s Board meeting began with a moment of silence for the victims and survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing and the memory of teacher and activist Sal Castro.

During the following hours came several key decisions including the unanimous passage of Board member Tamar Galatzan’s resolution to streamline teacher misconduct investigations and the unanimous renewal for the beleaguered charter school Ivy Academia, whose founders were recently convicted of embezzling public funds.

Perhaps the highlight of the session was Board’s 5-1 vote to approve the much-discussed “parent trigger” plan for 24th St. Elementary School to be jointly managed by the district and Crown Preparatory Academy, a charter operator.

The one dissenting vote was cast by Board member Marguerite LaMotte, whose district encompasses the embattled school.

“This is not right,” she said. “The school wasn’t as bad as we tried to pretend it was.”

No Board member responded to LaMotte’s tirade. However, Board member Steve Zimmer said he was abstaining from the vote “in deference to Ms. LaMotte.”

Parent Trigger Approval

Numerous parents, most of whom spoke Spanish, praised the plan for 24th St. Elementary School, which was designed by parents and activists after they organized a “parent trigger” petition drive.

Board member LaMotte suggested that these parents were being coached on what to say.

“I didn’t know most of the people who spoke,” she said. “Someone took people outside to tell them what to say.”

Former Board member Daivd Tokofsky, now a consultant for the administrators union, said that the parent trigger law was flawed, and that the school district needs to provide guidance as to how all parties are supposed to act during the signature-gathering process.

But LaMotte and Tokofsky were the only critical voices in what was otherwise a celebratory day for 24th St. parents and Parent Revolution activists.

“This is a historic day,” said Parent Revolution founder Ben Austin. “This has literally never happened before, this charter-district collaboration… Parents forced adult interests to play in the sandbox together.”

Misconduct Investigation Resolution Passes

A proposal by Tamar Galatzan, co-sponsored by Bennett Kayser, to streamline investigations of teacher misconduct passed unanimously.

Although a few public commenters blasted the board for detaining and dismissing teachers, UTLA Secretary David Lyell thanked Galatzan for her resolution.

“Teachers don’t want colleagues in the classroom who shouldn’t be in the classroom,” he said.

There are currently 278 teachers in “teacher jail,” according to the LA Daily News.

Ivy Academia Renewed

Ivy Academia Entrepreneurial Charter School was approved for another 5 years by a vote of 5-2, with Board Members LaMotte and Kayser voting against.

The founders of the school were recently convicted of embezzling more than $200,000 in public money.

But the school’s chief financial officer, Carl Raggio, hired in 2010 after criminal charges were filed, said the school had changed its ways.

“Ivy has come a long way since 2010,” he said. “This is a different school. We have changed our financial set-up.”

(For more, see the LA Times)

Postponments

Three resolutions offered by Board member Bennett Kayser — dealing with magnet schools, fiscal priorities and “sustainable funding for modern technology” — were all postponed.

His long-postponed “ethical standards” resolution, which called for Board members who’d received campaign contributions from charter schools to recuse themselves from voting on their renewal, was finally withdrawn.

Miscellany

• In a closed session before the meeting, the Board approved the contract renewals of 45 top LAUSD officials by a vote of 5-1, according to the LA Daily News.

• The Board passed symbolic resolutions in support of State Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan’s teacher dismissal bill AB 375, universal preschool in California and the immigration reform bill being debated in Washington, DC.

Previous posts: Board Preview Update; UTLA’s “Wait and See” Mode on Parent Trigger; Teacher Misconduct Proposal Wins Unexpected Support

In just the last few weeks, the parents of 24th St. have chosen a new “hybrid” plan that would leave the younger grades in the hands of LAUSD; the parents of Weigand Elementary have turned in a trigger petition that precludes any charter conversion; and the trigger process at Haddon Elementary has been put on pause so that teachers and parents could discuss options.

So what does UTLA think about all this?  At last night’s press conference, LA School Report asked UTLA President Warren Fletcher, who had this to say:

“The Parent trigger law is a very poorly put together law… When it’s used to destabilize school communities, it’s a danger.”

Fletcher added, however, that the union was taking a wait-and-see approach to the petitions in both 24th St. and Weigand, the latter of which says that teachers won’t have to reapply for their jobs.

“UTLA is continuing to follow the story,” he said. “We’re watching what happens at 24th Street and other schools — watching to see if it destabilizes the schools.”

In a blog post last month, Parent Revolution praised the union’s mild response to the 24th St. trigger petition:

“From the beginning of the 24th Street Parents Unions campaign, UTLA has treated the parents, the process, and the law with respect. They deserve real credit for their actions in this regard, and we recognize and appreciate the professional nature in which they have approached this important effort.”

Previous posts: Two More “Parent Triggers” in the Works; Listen: Parent Trigger Ups and Downs; LA Parents Opting for Varied “Trigger” Options; Parent Trigger Coming to LAUSD

Eric Garcetti Avoids Schoolyard Tussle With Wendy Greuel
On the heels of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa calling on the two mayoral candidates to step up and communicate their education platforms during his State of the City address Tuesday night, Wendy Greuel stepped up with a challenge to Eric Garcetti. KPCC
See also: LA School Report, Annenberg News, LA Times

LAUSD Superintendent Fires Lemon Teachers
The speed with which Deasy moves and speaks is well documented. He brings an uncomfortable impatience to the LAUSD supe’s job as he moves to increase the types of schools available to students (known as School Choice), raise achievement on test scores and graduation rates, and require accountability from L.A.’s more than 20,000 tenured-for-life teachers. LA Weekly

Education Coalition Wants to Stay Course in L.A. Unified
A coalition of groups, including the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, has launched an effort to put education at the center of the mayoral race and civic attention. LA Times
See also: LA School Report

Operation Back in School Sweeps up Truant Kids
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Parents Choose Unique School Takeover Model in ‘Trigger’ Vote
In the latest test of California’s controversial “parent trigger” law, South Los Angeles parents have voted to transform their struggling neighborhood school into a charter school hybrid beginning this fall, organizers announced Wednesday. Hechinger Report
See also: LA Times, LA School Report

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Greuel has argued that her record as controller proves her judgment will not be swayed by campaign contributors. Appearing with school board member Garcia at a high school in Garcetti’s district, the controller contended that it is her former council colleague who is in the thrall of a union — United Teachers Los Angeles — which is supporting his bid for mayor. LA Times

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University Conference Hopes to Rally Southland Education Reformers
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As they kicked off four days of protests at the U.S. Department of Education, organizers of Occupy DOE 2.0 today used inflammatory—and, in one case, racially insulting—rhetoric to rally opposition against high-stakes testing, “corporate” education reform, and the “dismantling of public education.” EdWeek

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LA County Preschool Teachers Honored at Event
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Civil Rights, School Groups Rally to Protect Spanish-Language Testing
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LA for Youth Holds Concert at City Hall
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Encino Crespi Leader a ‘Non-Jock’ Who Knows the Score on Sports
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Under the parent trigger law, a majority of parents at a low-performing school can petition to revamp the school in any number of ways, including by converting it to an independent charter school.

Under the newly recommended governance model, LAUSD would operate grades Kindergarten through 4th grade while Crown Preparatory Academy, an LA-based charter operator, would run grades 5 through 8.

“This is really a ground-breaking partnership between a district and a charter school to do what people have wanted to do all along — share best practices between a very successful charter school and the district,” said Glenn Gritzner, a consultant for Crown Prep.

Meanwhile, the next parent trigger for LAUSD — at Weigand Elementary in Watts — is apparently just around the corner, using a softer kind of trigger that would keep the school within LA Unified and wouldn’t require a changeover of staff.

Taken together, these events may represent something of a shift for the parent trigger movement toward a less combative middle ground, working with school districts and even teachers unions to change schools.

The 24th St. parents received four proposals from organizations seeking to operate their school, two from charter school operators (Crown Prep and Academia Moderna), one from LAUSD, and one from an education management organization called Transition.

The proposal from the selection review committee is scheduled to move to an organization committee on Thursday, April 4, and if that committee approves the”hybrid” recommendation then the 359 parents who signed the original petition will vote next Tuesday on whether or not to ratify the plan.

In the meantime, sources tell LA School Report that parents of Weigand Elementary in Watts have been working with Parent Revolution organizers to gather signatures for a trigger petition there, which would be the second LAUSD school to embark on the process. Reportedly, around 60 percent of parents have signed so far. A formal announcement is still a few weeks away.

The timing, said a source, was to “allow the 24th St. process to run its course, so that parents in both schools get their proper recognition.”

The Weigand petition will be the first-ever “in-district” petition — that is, no one will take over the school and all of the teachers will keep their jobs. This is being called the “transformation” model, as opposed to a “restart” model, where the school is taken over by a new operator and all employees must reapply for their positions.

“My understanding is that Weigand parents didn’t want to go the extreme route,” said the source. “Apparently, the parents have a lot of respect for many of the teachers, so the transformation model allows them to work with the district and with the school in bringing about changes.”

Previous posts: Contrasting Reactions to Parent Trigger, District, Union Face Opportunity from 24th Street Trigger, Parent Trigger Coming to LAUSD,

24th Street parents hand their petition to LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy (via LA Times)

Nearly 100 parents of students attending 24th St. Elementary dropped off a “parent trigger” petition yesterday at LAUSD’s headquarters, demanding drastic reforms and new governance for the school.

At LAUSD, the parents received a “strikingly” different reception than parents received in previous instances of the parent trigger, according to the LA Times‘ Teresa Watanabe.

And the reaction from LAUSD was strikingly different from the reaction from UTLA.

According to the AP’s Christina Hoag, “The parents want the district to install new school leadership, an improved academic program with high expectations for students, and ensure a clean and safe school… If that doesn’t work, parents will move to convert the school into a charter.”

Around 68% of all parents have signed the petition, which was delivered to Superintendent John Deasy.  CBS news has video of the hand-off.

The event was also captured on Twitter, which you can review here.

Some of the parents were frustrated at LAUSD for not having helped the school change quickly enough in the past two years, notes SCPR’s account of the event.

But Deasy welcomed the parents and discussed their frustrations and hopes during a meeting at the Board headquarters.

Superintendent Deasy listens to parents (via Parent Revolution)

On its official Twitter account, the message was much less conciliatory:

The Parent Trigger is not the right tool for school reform. The end result will be that all faculty will be removed from the school.

— UTLA (@UTLAnow) January 17, 2013

 

Using the Parent Trigger to reform schools is like using an axe to perform complex surgery. As a blunt instrument it does not work.

— UTLA (@UTLAnow) January 17, 2013

Deasy will meet with parents again next week once he’s read the petition, which is apparently quite long, since it includes an in-depth plan for the school. In the meantime, his staff will verify the parents’ signatures.

Courtesy of Parent Revolution

Previous posts: Parents Hand Trigger Petition to Deasy, Previewing Tomorrow’s Parent Trigger, Parent Trigger Coming to LAUSD, You Say You Want a Revolution

Charter Schools See Largest Boom Since Their Inception 20 Years Ago
Charter schools across the United States are proliferating and expanding at a record pace, with the trend particularly pronounced in California and Los Angeles County. LA Daily News

California Schools Asked to Put Moratorium on Controversial Bonds
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L.A. County’s Teen Court Aims to Put Kids Back on Right Path
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Green Dot Charter Group to Reorganize Locke High
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See also: LA School Report

Older School Systems Will Support New Computer-Adaptive Testing
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Crush of Education Laws Await Renewal in Congress
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The front entrance at Twenty-Fourth Street Elementary School

LA School Report has learned that parents at 24th Street Elementary School, in concert with Parent Revolution, have been gathering signatures for a so-called “parent trigger” petition to revamp the struggling school and plan on delivering it to LAUSD offices this week.

Mayor Villaraigosa is a vocal proponent of the parent trigger, along with a handful of other big-city mayors.  Teachers unions including UTLA are deeply opposed.  It is unclear what positions LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, the Board, and Board candidates will take on the controversial issue, or whether parents at other LAUSD schools will pursue this option.

In 2010, the California legislature passed a law, introduced by then-assembly speaker Gloria Romero (and passed by a single vote in the House and Senate), granting parents the right to replace the administration or turn the school into a charter or even simply dissolve the school and relocating the students.

The first attempt to use the trigger law was at McKinley Elementary in nearby Compton, where parents successfully gathered enough signatures only to have their effort blocked by Compton Unified. The second effort, at Desert Trails Elementary, was just last week approved by the local school board after an 18-month court battle. (see: High desert charter school first success for parent trigger law).

Parents and activists have been working since mid-November and they now believe they have signatures from at least 60% of all parents in 24th St. Elementary, located in a neighborhood sometimes called Jefferson Park. Out of 5,186 elementary schools in California, the school ranks 5,096th in standardized test scores. Among elementary schools, it has one of the highest suspension rates in the district.  (Interestingly, 24th St. Elementary is a candidate for Public Choice 4.0.)

If successful, this would be the first use of the parent trigger within LA Unified. Even though the process has never been tried in LAUSD before, the district actually passed a parent trigger law before the state did.

Previous posts: Mayor Touts Parent Trigger, Parent Trigger Swirls Around LAUSD, Triggering LAUSD?, You Say You Want a Revolution