A panel discussion at Cal State Long Beach moderated by Judy Lin of CALmatters, with former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, Carl Cohn and Marquita Grenot-Scheyer.

Former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who once attempted to take over LA Unified and later founded a public school network, criticized the state’s new accountability system Wednesday at a panel discussion with education experts.

The event, “A for Accountability: A Report Card on California’s New Public-School Assessments,” was sponsored by CALmatters, Southern California News Group and Cal State Long Beach.

About 100 people, many educators, attended the panel discussion in Long Beach.

The State Board of Education last week unanimously approved a new accountability system for schools, replacing the Academic Performance Index, which assigned a single number to schools that was largely based on standardized test scores. The new system will use a number of indicators like academic progress, college and career readiness, school climate and parent engagement to determine how schools are performing. Many details must still be worked out, including how each indicator will be measured. The new system was the topic of the panel discussion.

Since his term as mayor expired three years ago, Villaraigosa has remained in the public eye, stumping for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and making appearances at events like a discussion in June at The Commonwealth Club. He is expected to run for governor in 2018.

Other panelists included state Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, who chairs the Assembly Education Committee, former longtime Long Beach Unified Superintendent Carl Cohn, who is now executive director of California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, and Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, assistant vice chancellor for teacher education and public school programs for California State University’s Office of the Chancellor.

Villaraigosa served as mayor from 2005 to 2013. He won approval from the legislature to take control of LA Unified from the school board but lost the battle in the courts. He founded the nonprofit school turnaround initiative Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a network of 19 schools in Boyle Heights, South LA and Watts. He has also raised millions of dollars for school board candidates he has supported.

“For primary school kids and for middle school kids and for high school kids and when you go to college, you get a grade. Here, you get colors. The colors of the rainbow, and one could argue they roughly represent grades,” Villaraigosa said of the state’s new accountability system.

“If it’s good enough for kids, why isn’t it good enough for schools? Why can’t we have a clearer assessment of how well our schools are doing?

“This measurement mish-mash that we have here, that took three years to implement or at least get a proposal, it doesn’t really tell you how an individual school is doing.”

Grenot-Scheyer said she didn’t mind the color-coded report card, but in order to judge the system, she needed more time to see how it will work.

“I’m holding off on a grade, but I like what I’m looking at,” she said.

O’Donnell said he liked the new system but agreed that three years to get to this point was probably too long.

“We’re going to have a new system that tells how schools are doing different things,” he said.

Cohn said he liked the direction the state board is taking.

CALmatters reporter Judy Lin, who moderated the discussion, asked about Gov. Jerry Brown’s comments that the Local Control Funding Formula he championed shouldn’t be judged by whether schools are able to close the achievement gap under the new funding formula.

Cohn pointed to a study by UC Berkeley’s Rucker Johnson that showed since the 1970s it has become more difficult to close the achievement gap due to federal policies that don’t have anything to do with education.

“I’m fine with talking about the gap as long as we understand the complexities that are involved and how our national policies have not made it any easier to close the gap,” Cohn said, receiving applause from the audience.

Villaraigosa said he agrees that the achievement gap is very difficult to overcome.

“When I hear the excuses and that’s what they are, these kids can’t learn because they’re English language learners, because they’re foster kids, because they’re poor, because x, y, z, I tell people you’re talking about me. I can read and write,” he said. “We do need to have the fierce urgency of now.”

Villaraigosa and O’Donnell had some back and forth exchanges and disagreements on various points, including Vergara vs. California, the landmark lawsuit challenging teacher tenure and other protections.

“I think Vergara was a fraud promulgated by those who wish to get rid of public education,” O’Donnell said.

“I take a different view,” Villaraigosa said. He said he believes the vast majority of teachers are hard-working, but he thinks two years of probation is too short for new teachers.

“I think it’s a broad brush statement, frankly, that it’s an anti-union effort,” he said. “I’ve supported unions my whole life.”

Antonio Villaraigosa

By Judy Lin | CALmatters

As he eyes a run for governor, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is spotlighting the lagging academic performance of Latino and African American students and saying the state should do more to hold schools accountable.

The 63-year-old Democrat says parents have a right to know how their schools are doing, and he doesn’t see a contradiction between supporting teachers and holding schools to higher standards.

Villaraigosa, who got into politics as a union organizer for teachers in Los Angeles, did not want to criticize the governor, but his comments differed sharply from Gov. Jerry Brown’s view that the academic performance gap between African Americans and Latinos to other student groups is likely to persist despite government interventions. Brown told CALmatters recently that he doesn’t want his key education policy, the Local Control Funding Formula, to be judged on whether it closes that gap.

“I hear all the time, ‘Well, that’s just the way it is and that’s the way it’s always been,’” said Villaraigosa, who was kicked out of a Catholic high school and credits public schools for a second chance.

Click here for the full CALmatters story.

Read LA School Report‘s interview with Villaraigosa here.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Two and a half years ago, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa left his office steering the nation’s second-largest city with a legacy of pushing the kind of changes in the school system that education reformers relish.

Trying to make good on a campaign promise to fix the city’s schools, he fought the teachers union in court to limit seniority-protected layoff policies (he won) and supported another court challenge that sought to incorporate student test scores into teacher evaluations (no clear victory yet on that one).

He successfully lobbied lawmakers to wrest control of the school district from its elected school board (the courts turned him down), aggressively expanded choices for parents, including charter schools, founded the non-profit Partnership for Los Angeles Schools to take over the city’s lowest-performing schools and raised a boatload of money to help elect reform-oriented school board members.

Since leaving office Villaraigosa, 63, who drew national attention as the city’s first modern-day Hispanic mayor, has been stumping for Hillary Clinton, teaching at USC and traveling the country giving corporate speeches. Most recently, the man who tried to remake the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District while in office has been singled out as a likely gubernatorial candidate.

In an extensive interview last week, we spoke with the former mayor about the political challenges he faced, what he told Eli Broad about his foundation’s $490 million proposal to dramatically expand charter schools (he’s for it with some caveats) and national education controversies. Take, for example, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case before the Supreme Court in which justices are weighing whether charging mandatory union dues to cover costs for activities like collective bargaining violates teachers’ free speech rights. The justices heard oral arguments in January and will have to issue a decision by the end of their term in June. If the Supreme Court sides with the plaintiffs, their ruling could severely hamper a major fundraising vehicle for teachers unions across the country but also support educators who feel union leaders use their money on political causes they don’t agree with.

Here’s what Villaraigosa had to say about Friedrichs: 

I do not support the appellants in this matter. … In a democratic society, it’s critical that workers have an opportunity to organize and collectively bargain their wages, their hours, their working conditions. … I believe the agency fee issue that is particularly in question is one that is very important. Unions have a duty (to provide) fair representation. I worked for them for eight years. They are, by law, required to represent people, even if they are not union members. I think it’s important that those non-union members pay their dues so that they can be represented fairly. I do not support the plaintiffs in that matter at all. … In fact, I am vehemently against it. … At the same time I am vehemently against the status quo where African-American children and English language learners are relegated to the bottom. … We have to stand up for these kids too. You can be pro-union while at the same time stand up for the civil rights of these kids.

On the Great Public Schools Now initiative, a $490 million proposal by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and other advocates to increase charter schools, a plan Villaraigosa said he is heavily involved with.

Well, I’ve already said I’m open to providing parents and particularly parents of failing and low-performing schools with better options. I support charters, successful charters. But I have also said that I believe that we should include a broader range of schools including traditional public schools that want to set a higher standard. … So what I said to Eli and them is I could support expanding charters, even dramatically. But that effort should be open to a much broader cross section of models (such as) traditional public schools (and) hybrids like my own, not just charter. … I think initially there were some who thought it should just be charters, but I think they have been convinced that in order to be successful we have to work together. We have to collaborate with the union, with parents, with charters (and) traditional public schools to improve the quality of education now in (Los Angeles) Unified. And we can only do that together.

On the perception that education reform is often implemented top-down and engineered by an elite group:

As a general proposition there is no question that most of what’s put forth as public policy priorities and the changes that emanate from them … come from the top down. Historically, that’s true. Actually, I think, with respect to the (education reform) effort, what distinguishes it is that it is more focused on parent empowerment and involvement. They have often been, particularly poor parents, missing in the equation. They have not been given their due as stakeholder. They are the ultimate consumer. … This notion that we drop off our kids and aren’t responsible for their education is misguided and a recipe for failure. We have got to include parents. We have got to engage them.

On what would need to happen politically and policy-wise to improve Los Angeles schools:

I think the Partnership Schools is the model. I think we’ve got to set higher standards. We’ve got to focus on teacher training and (select) principals, who as a first priority are instructional leaders, who are collaborative with parents and teachers. … I think at some point we are going to need more resources, but as I said to many people, “Before the public will give you more resources … they’ve got to see that you are doing more with the money you got.”

On his nonprofit, the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools:

If we were a school district we would be as large as Santa Monica-Malibu (Unified School District). It’s the largest turnaround effort in the country (and) these are traditional public schools. I think some of the elements of success we have (are) we hire educational leaders with a track record of turning failing schools into successful ones. (We hire) people who set high standards for the kids and people who understand that it’s important to collaborate with both parents and teachers while at the same time putting the interest of kids first. …When we started out there was a 44 percent graduation rate (at Los Angeles Unified). By the time I left there was a 72 percent graduation rate. … I’m very proud of what we did. We set a higher bar. … We’ve got to continue. We can’t rest on our laurels. … We should have (a) 100 percent graduation rate for virtually every one of those kids.

Does he have any regrets about the way he handled education issues in the city: 

I initially felt that we needed someone (to be held) accountable for success in our schools. And I do not believe that seven people, a (school) board and less than 10 percent of the (city’s) voters is the best mechanism for accountability and responsibility. I thought that as mayor, the buck should stop with me. I was willing to partner with the school district to improve our schools. Obviously, I was successful in getting the legislature to approve that … and give the mayor a role in LA. But in the end the courts … overturned that legislation so I had to go to a Plan B. Plan B was to help elect a group of school board members that would be more cooperative and set higher standards and give parents more choices. … That was such a radical paradigm shift that it created a furor and a level of conflict that was never my intention to create.

Was he surprised by the pushback he received in response to part of his education agenda:

Yeah, remember I worked for the teachers union. I believe in unions. I am unabashedly a progressive. I didn’t understand why there would be so much pushback. My schools were union, but I also believed in parental choice and, particularly for kids who were in low-performing to failing schools, I believe their parents had a right to a choice and that they had a right to go to a school where their kids could succeed. I was surprised at the pushback.

Why he was willing to engage in political fights over education issues: 

My only motivation was fighting for the civil rights of poor kids. I tell people it’s really simple. I recognize the historical nature of our election, the first (Hispanic to become mayor) in 133 years. I felt that the role of the first is not to bang on your chest and say how great I am. The role of the first is to acknowledge that you are here on the shoulders of others and to open up the door for the rest. I thought the only way you could do that is through education. I don’t think anyone was looking to engage in the kind of … conflict we had for eight years. … I moved ahead (be)cause I believe this issue is the most important issue facing the state and the nation. When you look at the Black Lives Matter movement, and you look at the growing poverty in California and America, you got to ask yourself why. The answer is simple: Too many of our kids aren’t going to graduate from high school and go to college. Communities of color, oftentimes, more of them are going to penal institutes than institutions of higher learning. I just don’t believe that that’s a paradigm that can work for us.

On whether the union was his biggest obstacle to bringing about more change in Los Angeles schools:

I always tell people, it was a city and a state that refused to invest in these kids. … Money does matter. We have failed as a society to make investments in these people, to create a safety net for them, and we wonder why there are so many disaffected people, angry with their circumstances. They have lost hope. I think it’s incumbent on all of us. It wasn’t just the unions. We all say we want better schools, but we haven’t wanted to invest in them in the way that we should.

Who do you listen to on education issues: 

Well, historically it was Ramon Cortines, John Deasy, Marshall Tuck (and) Joan Sullivan … but also parents (and) teachers. I don’t think we can listen to one stakeholder group to the detriment of the rest. Teachers and the unions are important, so are parents. I think the community overall is important.

When will you decide on running for governor:

I would just say that sooner rather than later…I don’t want to talk too much about (the race for) governor.

What advice would you give students about their education: 

I’d give it to the parents. I’d say, “Put your children in the best school you can.”

This article was produced in partnership with The74Million.org.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa with Teach Plus Fellows Bootsie Battle-Holt and Kat Czujko. (Photo: Nick Toren for Teach Plus)

While state teacher unions are spending time, energy and money fighting the landmark Vergara v. California ruling through appeal, one group of teachers in Los Angeles is helping shape what a post-Vergara world could look like.

In a presentation yesterday at the California Community Foundation, former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined L.A.-based teaching policy fellows with the national group, Teach Plus, in presenting ideas for change should the appeal fail.

In a ruling that landed like a bomb on the educational landscape, California Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu struck down five statutes governing teacher tenure, dismissal and layoffs, concluding that they violate the state constitution by denying students access to a quality public education. If the ruling stands, the state legislature has to rewrite the laws, and yesterday’s event was designed as a roadmap.

As the key speaker, Villaraigosa threw his support behind the Vergara ruling —  and the group’s ideas to accommodate it.

“When you take extreme positions, like tenure, that says you can’t ever fire anybody… that’s extreme,” he said. “The other extreme is that we shouldn’t have teacher unions and due process. But what Vergara said was, this is uber–due process; this is way beyond.”

Teach Plus works to elevate the influence of teachers in policy discussions, and yesterday’s forum “is an example of that,” said John Lee, executive director of Teach Plus Los Angeles, referring to 10 Teach Plus fellows, all of them LA classroom teachers, who spent the summer researching Vergara.

The researchers compiled their findings in a policy brief, “Valuing Performance and Honoring Experience: Teacher Solutions for a Post-Vergara Profession.”

First up was tenure, which currently gives teachers extensive due process rights after 18 months. California is only one of five states that awards tenure within two years, according to the Teach Plus presentation.

Teach Plus recommends one short-term and three long-term solutions:

• Extend to four years the time for a teacher to gain “permanent status”; require three consecutive years of evaluations demonstrating effective teaching for a teacher to earn “permanent status.”
• Base tenure decisions solely on performance.
• Require schools to provide evidence of support for teachers who receive an unsatisfactory evaluation if those teachers continue their employment.

Kat Czujko, a teacher at Hollenbeck Middle School in Boyle Heights, helped write the tenure section.

“We want tenure to be a meaningful achievement,” she told LA School Report. “I feel like I got tenure just for showing up. We want tenure to be a case for teachers to showcase their talents and prove that they are effective educators in the classroom.”

On the issue of dismissal, the brief said among 275,000 teachers statewide, only 2.2 teachers, on average, are dismissed each year for unsatisfactory performance, which amounts to just 0.0008 percent of all teachers in the state.

The Teach Plus brief recommends these changes:

• Improve and expand programs that support teachers, particularly those that target new and struggling teachers.
• Connect teacher evaluation to the dismissal process.
• Improve the Commission for Professional Competence hearing process.

Andrea Burke, a teacher at Dr. Owen Lloyd Knox Elementary School in south Los Angeles who helped write the dismissal section, said she had received some blowback from other teachers for participating with Teach Plus in preparing the new ideas.

“There was a lot of hesitation, I will admit,” she said. “They have a hard time understanding how I could get behind something that’s going to wipe out tenure and get rid of teachers. And I had to tell them I’m actually a teacher sitting across from them at the lunch table, that potentially could have a voice in legislation that would be a part of something that affects all of us. And they were like, ‘Oh, I didn’t think of it like that.’ ”

The final part of the presentation regarded layoffs under the “Last-In, First-Out” rule, which requires newer teachers to go first when cuts are required. The Teach Plus brief said: “Instead of using a seniority-based process for layoffs, we recommend an approach that accounts for teacher effectiveness and uses seniority as a secondary criterion.”

Lisa Blackwell, a teacher at John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley, who co-wrote the layoff section, said, layoff decisions “need to be based on effectiveness, but we also need to recognize that if you’ve been teaching a long time, you probably are better at it than the earlier teachers. So that’s what we were shooting for, the balance in-between.”

During a panel discussion after the presentations, Villaraigosa said, “The only reason I got behind Vergara was because of the extremism on the other end. I can live with this. This is rational. I say it everywhere I go. I could be for some seniority, I could be for some tenure. I just can’t be for uber seniority and tenure. Performance has to count for something.”

The next step? Teach Plus officials said they intend to spread the findings throughout the state and get them to leading state lawmakers.

“I know that we are looking at visiting legislatures, to go and talk to them,” Blackwell said. “There are definitely next steps in place.”

Steve Zimmer, with George McKenna to his right.

Endorsements in the District 1 school board race continued to pile up today as two LA Unified board members jumped on the George McKenna bandwagon, and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa weighed in for Alex Johnson.

Steve Zimmer and Bennett Kayser appeared at a news conference outside City Hall this morning to offer their strong support for McKenna, the former administrator who won the June primary.

Villaraigosa announced his endorsement through a campaign release from Johnson, the education aide to LA Country Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas who finished second.

The candidates are now facing each other in an Aug. 12 runoff election.

Calling McKenna “one of the most esteemed public educators in recent LA history,” Zimmer said he was disturbed at campaign mailers from Johnson that called into question McKenna’s effectiveness as an administrator.

“I couldn’t stand idly by and let it happen,” he told LA School Report at the gathering. “So I’m getting involved.”

Kayser said he, too, was motivated by the fliers, saying, “I was going to stay out of the campaign. Then I saw the fliers sent out. attacking him. I felt I can’t stand back.”

In his remarks, McKenna emphasized his decades of experience as an administrator, telling the crowd, “All I’m trying to do is continue my commitment for all of these years. Somebody else might think they are in a contest, trying to win something. I’m just trying to continue my commitment in this process in this journey. I made a commitment along time ago to be a teacher and an educator and to serve our teachers and administrators and get everything they need.”

McKenna has been resistant to answering questions about his positions on specific issues, but in a brief interview after the event, he said, “I’m not running on issues or against anyone. Do teachers deserve raises? Yes. Should teachers be evaluated? Yes. Do they deserve tenure? Yes. But in that yes, there’s a whole lot of nuances.”

Among other notables at the event were UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl and City Council Members Tom LaBonge, Gil Cedillo, Bernard Parks and Paul Koretz.

In a statement from his campaign, Johnson said, “I’m proud to have Mayor Villaraigosa’s support for my campaign in this very important election for the future of our schools and educational opportunities for our children.”

Zimmer and Kayser became the latest members of the board to endorse in the race, joining joining Monica Ratliff, who also endorsed McKenna, and Monica Garcia, who is supporting Johnson.

The breakdown is not surprising. Just as McKenna is receiving strong support from UTLA, Zimmer, Kayser and Ratliff are the union’s strongest advocates on the board. Garcia is a leading voice for reform policies, and the PAC affiliated with the California Charter Schools Association has spent more than $77,000 on Johnson’s behalf.

The board member endorsements leave only President Richard Vladovic and Tamar Galatzan as board members who have not publicly expressed support for either candidate. Galatzan’s office said she was out of town and unreachable; Vladovic was said to be unavailable for comment.

Previous Posts: Johnson holding money lead over McKenna; Vladovic has donors; PAC spending for Johnson gives him $200,000 advantage; Johnson campaign goes negative, citing the ‘myth’ of McKenna

Former Mayor Villaraigosa

Former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has thrown himself into the District 1 special election race by endorsing Genethia Hudley-Hayes, one of 13 candidates running to join the LA Unified School Board.

Hudley-Hayes, who served as school board president until she lost her seat to the late Marguerite LaMotte in 2003, released a list of endorsers this morning.

The election is scheduled for June, with a runoff, if needed, on August 12.

In addition to Villariagosa, the list includes Mayor Richard Riordan, U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass, California State Senator Holly Mitchell, civil rights activist Connie Rice, former LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, retired pastor of First AME Church, Cecil Murray and Carolynn Martin, a regional leader of the National Council of Negro Woman and member of the board of Parent Revolution.

Bass’ support is notable in that she had been an early backer of George McKenna, who is also running for the seat.

Previous Post: 13 candidates for LAUSD special election.

Antonio Villaraigosa, in support of Vergara plaintiffs

Legal battles aren’t only waged in the courtroom; they’re also hard fought in the court of public opinion.

As testimony in the landmark case, Vegara vs. California, resumed today inside a state superior court, another star witness took the stand — more accurately, the mic — outside the courtroom. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a press conference, expressing his support for the nine student plaintiffs challenging state statutes they contend violate their constitutionally protected right to a quality education.

The defendants — California Teachers Association (CTA) and California Federation of Teachers (CFT) and the state — are arguing that they do not.

The former mayor said he felt compelled to address the important issues in the lawsuit. He stated emphatically that every student has a fundamental right to a quality education. Adding a personal note, he said his success in life came in large part from effective teachers, who motivated him.

Villaraigosa suggested that the current seniority and tenure rules are undermining the state’s public educational system.

“There is virtually no profession where almost every employment decision is based on seniority or how long you’ve been on the job and not how effective you are,” he said, adding, “The American dream is held up for everyone and the path to that dream has always been a great public school education and many of our kids just don’t have that.”

Back inside, it was more charts, exhibits and documents as the plaintiffs’ key expert, Harvard economics professor, Raj Chetty, continued to drive home the point that effective teachers have a measurable impact on student learning, long-term success and ultimate earning capacity.

When questioned by plaintiffs’ attorney Ted Boutrous about the current tenure and seniority laws, Chetty testified that they impose a harmful impact on students, saying, “We should be doing everything we can to keep superstar teachers in the classroom.”

On cross examination, the defense relentlessly tried to undercut the plaintiff’s case by pointing out weaknesses in Chetty’s findings. But going up against the formidable witness, and making sense of the avalanche of empirical evidence, was no easy task. At times, defense attorney James Finberg left both the court and witness confused.

The defense tried to recover by showing that Chetty’s own research suggested that large school districts across California ranked in top quarter across the nation, which showed that students’ fundamental right to a quality education — the heart of the case — has not been violated.

From the theoretical to the practical, plaintiffs’ lawyers next examined Larrisa Adam, a 20-year veteran of the Oakland school system as a teacher and administrator and now principal of Ascend Elementary School, an Oakland charter school. She testified that an ineffective teacher is harmful, and even more so in low income communities where students don’t have access to resources out of school.

She echoed previous testimony from LA Superintendent John Deasy and Chetty, that the seniority does not necessarily reflect effectiveness, and that the tenure laws don’t provide enough time to fairly judge a teacher’s potential.

“I honestly have doubt about all second-year teachers,” Adam said, adding, “I would much rather have more time to decide if someone will be an effective teacher.”

Previous Posts: Vergara trial expert witness: ineffective teachers hurt students; In Vergara testimony, Deasy aims at “grossly ineffective” teachers; Vergara suit on teacher dismissal opens, courtroom packed

John Deasy, Former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2011

LA School Report has learned the deal to extend the contract of LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy might not have been possible without the involvement of former LA mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa.

According to three people with knowledge of events, none of whom would speak for attribution, Villaraigosa made a flurry of calls to both Deasy and Board President Richard Vladovic to help broker a deal. The calls continued through yesterday, just before the board went into a closed-door session that ended with the announcement that Deasy’s contract would extend to mid-2016.

Meanwhile, Villaraigosa’s successor, Eric Garcetti told reporters today that he had spoken to all the parties and discussed the matter with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who said on Monday he believed Deasy and the board should continue to work together.

Garcetti said he had also spoken to “almost all the board members” in an effort to help Deasy remain in his job. He said he told Deasy he supported him and would “do everything I can” to help resolve the situation.

“I was hopeful he’d stay,” Garcetti said.

But it was the former mayor, who has deep ties with both Deasy and Vladovic and made education a hallmark of his years in office, who pushed harder for a resolution, two of the sources said. Villaraigosa helped elect Vladovic when he first ran for school board in 2007 against teachers union-backed opponents. He was also instrumental in Deasy’s rise to superintendent’s in 2011.

In anticipation of yesterday’s meeting in which the board also discussed Deasy’s evaluation, sources said that Villaraigosa, among other things, sought to learn how board members regarded his performance and whether Vladovic, who has moved from supporting Deasy’s policies to challenging them, could find a way to work with him.

Villaraigosa also spent time talking with Deasy about his frustrations with the a school board majority that has shifted this year from embracing Deasy’s vision to favoring policies more closely aligned with the teachers union.

Another source who spoke to both Deasy and Vladovic over the weekend told LA School Report that, ‘Dr. V needs Dr. D right now; he wanted him to stay.”

The possibility of a deal began to emerge on Monday, three days after reports began circulating that Deasy had offered to resign. By yesterday morning, still hours before the meeting, Deasy and Vladovic had agreed in principle that he would stay on, according to one of the sources.

When reached by phone last night, Villaraigosa declined to comment, and efforts to reach Vladovic and Deasy today for comment were unsuccessful.

Vanessa Romo and Michael Janofsky contributed to this story

Previous Posts: Deasy Staying; Board Extends Contract through June 2016*; Is the Tide Turning? Scorecard Favors Deasy; LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy Set to Resign

Abigail Marquez

When the LA Unified board meets in open session today, only one agenda item is listed for discussion: Abigail Marquez as Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nominee to the 15-member district Bond Oversight Committee.

If approved, which is expected, she would replace former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s representative on the board, Joan Sullivan, who also served as deputy mayor of education.

Marquez’s full time position with the city is as a member of Garcetti’s Education and Workforce team, working with his chief education appointment, Thelma Melendez.

The function of the committee, an all-volunteer group, is to advise the school board on how to spend voter-approved construction bonds. Usually that’s been limited to building projects, repairs, and modernization, but the committee recently approved $30 million for 47 schools in Phase 1 of the district’s iPad program.

A committee consultant, Tom Rubin, said Marquez’s appointment should go through without a hitch; candidates are thoroughly vetted by the district’s ethics committee before they come before the school board for approval.

Once Marquez is approved, Rubin said, he’ll get her up to speed on the issues before the bond committee, including the budget proposal for Phase 2 of the iPad program. The bond committee meets next on Oct. 30, when it will consider spending about $250 million in Phase 2, which would distribute iPads to another 300 LA Unified schools.

“She will definitely have the opportunity to weigh in on the final decision, if she so choses,” Rubin told LA School Report. “We have a lot of key questions, primarily about finance, that we have asked of the district that we are expecting to get answers next week.”

Previous Posts: The Buzz: Thelma Melendez Likely to Run Garcetti’s Education Team; Garcetti Makes First Education Appointment (updated)

Marshall Tuck

Marshall Tuck was 33 when Mayor Antonio VIllaraigosa asked him to leave his position at Green Dot Public Charter Schools to become the first CEO of a new entity called the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.

Six and a half years later — just a few weeks before Eric Garcetti takes over as the new Mayor of LA — Tuck is stepping down from the position and considering his options.

Tuck told LA School Report the timing of the decision had nothing to do with Villaraigosa leaving office or with Garcetti’s arrival.

“This was a hundred percent personal decision by me,” said Tuck. “The timing has to do with my belief that the organization is in a really strong place… We’re out of the start up-phase. I felt that it’s a good opportunity.”

Tuck doesn’t have any specific job lined up — at least not one that he’ll share with us — although he said he wants to work on making changes to education policy at the state level. He’s also “exploring” the idea of running for public office.

“There’s a lot of talent focused on school systems, but we need more talent focus on driving policy change… in Sacramento,” he said.

Taking Tuck’s place as head of the Partnership will be former Deputy Mayor for Education Joan Sullivan.

Previous posts: Joan Sullivan to Head LA Partnership Schools;  Garcetti’s Education Staffing Plans Unclear; Garcetti Praises Partnership School

Zimmer, Villaraigosa, and Sullivan

It was perhaps no surprise that District 4 School Board member Steve Zimmer was visibly upset when he happened to run into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Deputy Mayor for Education, Joan Sullivan, at today’s United Way education event.

“RFK, Joan? Really?” said Zimmer as the two rode the escalator together. “That’s just wrong.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Steve,” responded Sullivan.

The exchange, followed by harsh remarks from Mayor Villaraigosa about Zimmer later in the day, reveals just how antagonistic things have gotten between City Hall and the District 4 incumbent who was once considered something of an ally.

The bad blood between District 4 Board Member Steve Zimmer and Mayor Villaraigosa’s allies goes back to 2009, when Zimmer was endorsed by Villaraigosa in his initial race for School Board as part of a cease-fire with UTLA. The two men even stumped together, as you can see from this 2009 Daily Bruin clip.

But then Zimmer failed to show sufficient support for Villaraigosa’s views about school reform once he was in office. Four years later, Villaraigosa’s Coalition for School Reform has spent over $900,000 supporting District 4 challenger Kate Anderson and opposing Zimmer — much of it in the form of  television ads and direct mail flyers attacking Zimmer for laying off teachers and approving the construction of the $500 million Robert Kennedy School.

In total, over $1.7 million has been spent by the Coalition, SEIU and UTLA on the District 4 race alone, with more than $550,000 of it going to negative ads.

“There are very legitimate things to come after me about,” Zimmer told LA School Report. “Layoffs shouldn’t be politicized.”

Both the layoffs and the building of RFK were approved by School Board President Monica Garcia as well as Zimmer, who is being supported by the Coalition for School Reform.

“That’s the height of hypocritical cynicism,” said Zimmer’s campaign consultant, Mike Shimpock. “Monica Garcia was the driving force behind getting that school approved.”

But if Mayor Villaraigosa is feeling any remorse over the attacks, it isn’t showing. Talking to reporters later in the day, the termed-out Mayor took credit for raising what he claims to be $3.7 million for the Coalition thus far.

“I’m the one raising it,” he said. “If we lose Los Angeles and New York, we lose the heart and soul of the education reform movement. And the reason I’ve raised as much money across the country is because people get that.”

And he also took time to lambaste Zimmer.

“He was a very good teacher, but he’s been an absolutely abysmal School Board member,” said the Mayor. “I’ve known him for years, and it’s not personal… He’s equivocated on virtually every one of the reforms that we have.”

There was perhaps one good thing that happened for Zimmer at today’s event.  Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti endorsed him.

Previous posts: Zimmer Volunteers Focus on Reaching District 4 Voters, Jewish Journal Returns to Steve Zimmer, Coalition TV Ad Attacks Zimmer over Robert Kennedy School

However, the five leading candidates are now beginning to stake out positions on education in order to attract voters, endorsements, and campaign funding.  Candidate Eric Garcetti won an endorsement from UTLA on Wednesday night, thanks largely to his comments in defense of teachers.

Kevin James, the gay Republican former talk show host, City Hall critic and dark horse candidate (pictured), has proposed the creation of a trade-tech diploma within LAUSD (see his Huffington Post commentary about it). The diploma would give high school students the option to get a technical training degree instead of getting a normal diploma.

According to James, a trade-tech diploma isn’t lowering expectations for kids to go to college, it’s “increasing options for students” rather than “setting some up” for failure. “Not every kid is college bound or wants to be,” he said.”We need plumbers and electricians and construction-type jobs. We need them every day.”

James was opposed to Mayor Villaraigosa’s attempt to take over LAUSD.  But he approves of the “parent trigger,” which Villaraigosa also supports, and he gives the Mayor credit for making education a priority and for “shining a light on the need for reform.”

Previous posts:  Mayoral Candidates’ Education Views, Who Will Follow Mayor’s Ed. Lead?