The resolution passed, 4-2, along lines that are becoming familiar, with only Tamar Galatzan and Monica Garcia in the minority. On this vote, Marguerite LaMotte, a steady majority voter, had left the meeting by the time the item came to the floor. She missed several other votes, as well. On many of the day’s key decisions, Galatzan and Garcia, once part of a semi-firm majority, were alone in dissent.

A number of public speakers opposed Zimmer’s resolution, including representatives from the CCSA and the Alliance for a Better Community, the CEO of Extera Charter Schools and Reverend K.W. Tulloss of the National Action Network, who said, “It’s time for the entire board to take a stand against anti-charter language and anti-charter intentions.”

Zimmer defended his resolution and his intentions.

“This did not come from a negative or hateful place about charter schools,” he said, adding: “There has been a negative spirit and energy about the issue of co-location. It is my hope that by getting some basic guidelines around what is a parent center or a library that we can move forward. The individual stories of collaboration do exist. They need to become the rule and not the exception.”

LAUSD has long been in a dispute with CCSA over just what kinds of school space are subject to Prop 39. Superintendent John Deasy and his allies on the board, Garcia and Galatzan, have stated that they think the current ruling, which the district has appealed.

Previous posts: Zimmer Seeking State Help with Charter Co-location Rules; More School Space, More Problems; School Board Meeting Wrap Up: More Discussion Than Votes*

Deasy’s chart showing the effects of Prop 30’s passage

Inside the meeting room at Tuesday’s LAUSD school board meeting, four television camera crews were present to watch the board vote unanimously to rescind 10 furlough days (five of which are instructional), thanks to the passage of Proposition 30. The board also voted to adopt a “Good Food Purchasing Policy.”

But the healthy food vote and the restoration of days were only a small part of the Board meeting, which went on for several hours and was dominated by matters related to charter schools.

Outside the meeting, there were so many charter activists (over a thousand, according to the California Charter Schools Association’s Sierra Jenkins) that they had to shut down the entire block. As one observer pointed out, the charter demonstration was the kind of stunt that the teachers union used to be the only ones to pull off.

The extra days will be added to the end of the 2012-2013 school year, marking the first time since 2007-2008 that LAUSD will have a full, 180-day class schedule.

The fiscal news wasn’t all good, however.  Superintendent John Deasy warned that other dangers lie ahead — a possible Federal funding cut that would take $65 million from LAUSD next year alone, and a massive structural deficit of between $400 million and $500 million in the 2013-2014 year due to “declining enrollment, inflation and increased health and welfare costs.”

The Board also had to deal with the increasingly tight quarters at Echo Park’s Logan Street Elementary School, which has been sharing space with Gabriella Charter School for the past five years in accordance with Proposition 39 (See: More School Space, More Problems). Now, Gabriella’s charter was up for renewal. Dozens of parents, students and teachers showed up to praise Gabriella; dozens of parents, students and teachers from Logan showed up to talk about how Logan needed its campus back.

“This is like the Republicans and the Democrats,” quipped school board member Dr. Richard Vladovic, who voted with the majority to approve Gabriella’s charter. Deasy said that his staff would begin to look for a new location for Gabriella.

Last but not least was the vote on Board member Zimmer’s motion to put in place more oversight and strategic thinking around the  growth of charters schools (See: Zimmer Unveils Softer Charter Plan). The Zimmer proposal was the reason all the charter school supporters were there, and why charter advocates had been running a radio ad critical of Zimmer’s proposal (see: Charter Ad Blasts Zimmer).

By the time the motion finally came up, it was 5 PM, and most of the charter activists had left. Zimmer defended his resolution. “This is not about closing a single charter school,” he said, or “limiting a single parent’s choice.” He pointed out that the dispute between Logan and Gabriella was the perfect argument for the district controlling the growth of charter schools more deliberately.

Any suspense over whether or not the motion would pass was put to rest quickly by Dr. Vladovic, who expresses skepticism about adding “another layer of bureaucracy.”

Vladovic asked Deasy what he thought about the Zimmer proposal.

Deasy replied bluntly, “I don’t think this resolution is necessary.”

“Necessary or not,” said Zimmer, “is there anything here that you would be opposed to looking at?”

“I don’t think we should be asking for voluntary delays,” said Deasy.

Nury Martinez and Tamar Galatzan pointed out that the problem was Proposition 39, which forces the district to co-locate certain schools. Throughout the meeting, there had been a number of references to problems caused by Prop 39, over which the district and the charter schools are currently in a court battle. (Later in the day, the Board would approve a resolution by Board member Kayser to charge charter schools money for over-allocation of space. The fines will start next year.)

Surprisingly, the discussion over Zimmer’s resolution didn’t last long. “We continue to have this debate – I feel like we’re leading people on,” said Martinez. “Lets just be done with this, Mr. Zimmer.”

“I appreciate the indulgence of my colleagues,” said Zimmer, as the debate wound down. “This was an attempt to look at this in a complex way, and I’ll continue to make those attempts.”

The motion was voted down, 2-4, with Bennett Kayser joining Zimmer.  Marguerite LaMotte was out of the room when the vote was taken.  (For more, see the Daily News). It was a somewhat anticlimactic end to a long saga.

Mainstream coverage: ABC 7, the LA Times, the Daily News, and KPCC, as well as the LAUSD press release.

Previous posts: School Board Round-Up, Zimmer Postpones His Teacher Evaluation Proposal

Also see stories from the Daily News, Ed Source, City News Service, SI&A Cabinet Report

The Times also reports that two L.A. schools this year were stripped of an API score because of mistakes or misconduct by a teacher.

Overusing Test for Special Ed Students Inflates API Scores
A deeper look at the results shows not only inflation contributing to the gains but also a substantial policy shift toward lower expectations for special education students in California. Ed Source

California’s New School Budget Math
Add 30 and 38, and what do you get? In California, the answer is zero. The ballot propositions are on the verge of cancelling out each other to produce a big, fat zero. Prop Zero

Obama, Romney Have Similar Basic Views on Education
Both candidates want test scores to be part of teacher evaluations, support extra pay for effective instructors and back the growth of charter schools. One difference is Romney’s support for vouchers. LA Times

Charter School Not Entitled to Choose its Location
The Los Angeles Unified School District did not violate the charter schools initiative by offering to locate a charter school in adjoining classrooms at Belmont High School, contrary to the wishes of the charter school’s directors, this district’s Court of Appeal ruled.  Metropolitan News-Enterprise

LAUSD Axes Successful Art to Grow On Program Right After Unanimous Board Vote to Bring Fine Art Back
The program pays artists to train hundreds of parents to take art into elementary classrooms project by project. It was so successful that today it touts having  served 8,000 kindergarten through 8th grade students a year, has 150 volunteers and 17 private and public schools that participate throughout the Harbor area. City Watch

Former LAUSD School Board Member John Greenwood Dies
Former Los Angeles school board member and Coro Foundation President John Greenwood of San Pedro died unexpectedly early Thursday morning. Daily Breeze

It was a slightly less crowded, slightly less emotionally charged LAUSD school board meeting Tuesday — at least compared to the last few, thanks largely to board member Steve Zimmer’s postponed resolutions rejecting the use of student achievement in teacher evaluations and scaling back charter school growth.

That didn’t stop the meeting from lasting more than six hours, though. Here are some of the highlights, which included an arts resolution, some charter renewals, a handful of more magnets, ratification of the deal between the Board and the administrators’ union — and an appearance from actor Cheech Marin.

Kayser’s Postpones Proposal to Charge Charter Schools for Over-Allocation Of Space

Every year, charter schools can apply for classroom space from the district. How much space they get depends on a complicated formula, and just what kind of space up for grabs is currently the subject of a lawsuit (see previous posts here). Kayser’s proposal would have penalized schools who apply for space based on a higher enrollment number than actually materializes.

LAUSD general counsel David Holmquist estimated that this year, 10 charter schools were over-allocated space, and under Kayser’s motion would have been penalized $828,000.

Corri Ravare of the CCSA argued against the proposal, saying it would unfairly penalize who schools whose drop in attendance is sometimes due to the space given to them being outside their attendance area.

“This can be resolved without a financial penalty,” she said.

Judging from the comments of the other school board members, the measure looked like it was heading for a 4-2 defeat (Dr. Richard Vladovic had to leave the meeting early). But Steve Zimmer suggested that Bennett Kayser take a page out Zimmer’s book and postpone the proposal. Kayser reluctantly accepted.

Cheech Marin Shows Up For Arts-Core Vote

Cheech Marin

A number of public speakers were on hand to talk about Nury Martinez’s motion to make arts education part of the core curriculum, including Cheech Marin, one half of the marijuana-loving duo, Cheech and Chong.

“Art makes a student whole, makes them aware of their divine nature,” said Marin. “Art is what a culture leaves behind. I can’t imagine a museum dedicated to the great business deals.”

The resolution, which will prohibit further cuts to arts education, passed unanimously.

For more, see Tami Abdollah’s KPCC blog post, LA Unified makes arts education a ‘core subject.’

Board Approves Deal With Administrators Union Regarding Evaluations

President of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Judith Perez spoke in favor of the deal, which will set up evaluations for principals based on a number of criteria, including Academic Growth Over Time. She took most of her time, however, to reiterate AALA’s critique of the principals’ workload, which was recently voiced in their newsletter (as we recently posted).

For more, see Howard Blume’s LA Times blog post: Principals approve new evaluations but object to workload.

UTLA President Warren Fletcher was sitting behind me, and I couldn’t help but turn around and ask him how his negotiations with the district were going.

“Hopefully,” he answered, with a bit of a shrug. “We’re meeting in good faith. We’re doing our best.”

Five New Magnets Approved

Three schools – Thomas Starr King, Washington Irving, and Sun Valley Middle Schools – will be converted to full-time magnets, while two new magnet centers were approved within Verdugo Hills High School and Venice High School. Tamar Galatzan objected to both measures, which she said the district can’t afford.

Board Approves 5-Year Memorandum of Understanding with Partnership for LA Schools

Students from the Partnership schools, wearing shirts that read “I AM THE FUTURE,” at the meeting in support of the MOU.

Even though the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] does nothing more than set up a review process for each individual school, board member Marguerite LaMotte expressed skepticism about the Partnership LA schools, which were set up by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

“I wonder how many of us would put our kids in some of these schools,” she said. “Some of this stuff is political. I don’t want my kids to be political pawns.”

The board approved the MOU, 5-2, with LaMotte and Kayser voting against.

In addition, Board member Bennett Kayser will introduce a motion that deals with space “over-allocated” to charter schools via Proposition 39 (I’ve written about how charters get space via Prop 39 here). The proposal would have the district “collect reimbursement amounts owed by each charter school that is over-allocated space during part or all of any school year.”

Kayser will also announce a resolution called “Buy and Use LAUSD First,” which would set up “an online directory of services and products available within the Los Angeles Unified School District, make their use and purchase easily obtainable, and strongly encourage every school and office to use and/or buy District products and services whenever possible.”

You can see the full agenda for the Tuesday meeting here.

The creation of these new schools is being touted by LAUSD and, according to a new study from UC Berkeley’s Bruce Fuller, has been associated with higher achievement for elementary students.   But with many riches come many problems, and equitable distribution of school space among district and charter schools has been — and continues to be — a major headache for charter proponents and Superintendent Deasy.  Blame it on Prop. 39, passed in 2000, and a judge’s new ruling that has thrown the situation into further disarray and uncertainty.

At the time all those bonds were being passed, the economy was booming and student enrollment was growing. In 1997, there were 680,430 kids attending LAUSD. That number trudged steadily upward, peaking at 747,009 in 2003.

Proposition 39 was something of a double edged sword. Passed by California voters in 2000, it made it easier to pass local school district bonds– a major reason why LA was able to raise $19.5 billion. But that wasn’t all– Prop 39 also included a vaguely written clause, that schools had to share facilities “fairly among all public school pupils, including those in charter schools.”

Of course, not every charter school gets its facilities from the school district. Many of them build or rent their own campuses. Of the 186 Independent Charter Schools, only about 80 of them apply to the district for facilities. After they apply, according to Ricardo Soto, a lawyer for the California Charter Schools Association, there is a back and forth process, based on how many kids and how many in-district kids the charter school plans on enrolling. Many of these charters end up sharing campuses with district schools.

Prop 39 mandated that districts divide up classrooms equally. Last month, a judge ruled that the law applies not only to classroom space, but any space that could be used for instruction. LA Unified will appeal the ruling. In statement, Superintendent John Deasy (himself a champion of the charter school movement) called the decision “a devastating blow to public school students.” He added:

Under the order, students attending District-operated neighborhood schools may be displaced to other locations, through involuntary busing and other means, in order to provide additional space to charter schools.  Further, the District may be forced to eliminate space for essential programs, including Special Education and English Learner.  The consequences would be devastating to our families, especially at a time of severe budget cuts.

But, as Soto told me, “LAUSD is not in position to argue that they don’t have space. Based on enrollment figures, their district space is growing.”

Indeed, attendance started to shrink back down several years ago, largely due to the declining birthrate in Los Angeles (in line with that of California as a whole). As of October 2011, enrollment was back down to 664,000, below even what it was in 1997.

Now, the district looks at student-to-classroom ratios as a whole, and then decides how many classes to give charter schools. But the recent court ruling says that the district must use “comparison schools”– schools in the area that the student may have attended. The ruling also said that the district must include any rooms that could be used as classrooms in calculating the total available classrooms. That would likely not include a teacher’s lounge, but could include, say, a computer lab.

Both parties have agreed that the new rules shouldn’t be applied for at least another year, when the district has had a chance to appeal. While the court system has seen plenty of school reform skirmishes lately, this isn’t really one of them. It’s more of a territorial dispute.