The Los Angeles public school landscape is undergoing an unmistakable shift, with schools adopting new models that ultimately will result in students getting more choices. In a review of non-traditional public schools, LA School Report has found they make up almost one third of all schools in the District. A combination of funding pressures, a push by Superintendent John Deasy to find innovative ways raise academic achievement and a desire by local school sites to gain more control has led to a big jump this year in schools adopting new ‘autonomy’ models. The number of so-called Pilot Schools, for example (see below), has risen 41 percent this year. As a result schools are popping up all over LA Unified with a focus on everything from gaming to applied medicine to entrepreneurship to social justice. Will this have an impact on student achievement or teacher job satisfaction?
That remains to be seen. In the meantime, here is a rundown of the options.

Independent Charters
First permitted by the California legislature in 1992, Independent Charter schools are public schools run by non-profit organizations. Typically, they receive funding directly from the state but are authorized by the LAUSD Board of Education, which oversees their performance and has the ability to renew or deny their charter every five years. Charter schools are open to students district-wide with enrollment conducted by lottery. Unlike other models, charters must pay for their own school facility – but increasingly are sharing space with other public schools, thanks to the enforcement of a ballot measure. Most LAUSD charter schools operate without unionized labor and are exempt from most District policy.  For a list of Independent Charters, click here.

Pilot Schools
First launched at 10 LA school sites in 2007 with the support of UTLA and modeled after namesake schools in Boston, the Pilot School model is based on granting local sites autonomy in terms of budget, staffing, governance and curriculum. The school leadership operates with broad local control, exemptions from District policies and some waivers from the teachers union contract, including the unique ability to replace staff at the end of each school year. Considered the most flexible model, pilot schools are typically small (around 500 students) and are most often adopted at newly-minted school sites. The number of schools was capped in 2009, but as part of District negotiations in 2011 with the teachers union, the cap was lifted, leading to 14 new pilots just this year. For a list of Pilot schools click here.

Local Initiative Schools (LIS)
This new model was the result of the 2011 labor agreements between UTLA and LAUSD and has the potential for significant collaboration between teachers, parents and administrators. LIS schools have broad local control and exemptions from District policy. But they are unique one key respect: the concept of “mutual consent” hiring is contractually embedded in the LIS model. This requires that both the school and teacher agree to placement at the school site, a departure from traditional LAUSD schools, where placement is decided by the central office. LIS schools may elect to waive some union contract provisions if there is agreement at the school site to do so. Click here for a list of LIS schools.

Affiliated Charters
Affiliated charters are existing, traditional LAUSD schools that opt to convert to charter school status. These schools resemble traditional schools more than charters: LAUSD, not an independent nonprofit board, retains governing control of the school; all employees are paid by LAUSD and subject to union agreements; and the schools’ funding flows through LAUSD rather than from the state as with most Independent Charters. Affiliated Charters have become popular with non-Title 1 LAUSD schools as a mechanism to retain greater funding on campus and for branding purposes. Otherwise, Affiliated Charters offer similar levels of flexibility as LIS and ESBMM schools. For a list of Affiliated Charters, click here.

Expanded School-Based Management Model
The ESBMM model is based on a teacher-led approach formulated in 2005 when Woodland Hills Academy Middle School almost converted to a Charter school. ESBMM provides school sites with autonomy from certain District policies and emphasizes shared decision-making, with greater teacher input. All provisions of labor agreements continue to apply. With the strong support of union leadership, the number of schools has expanded rapidly, even as the flagship school in Woodland Hills has bowed out. For a list of ESBMM schools, click here.

Network Partner Schools
These are LAUSD schools run as collaborations between the District and non-profit organizations, which serve as the day-to-day managers of the school. Network Partner schools have waivers from some District policies and operate under existing union contracts. They include former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Partnership for Los Angeles Schools,  launched in 2007; L.A.’s Promise, which has focused on a neighborhood-based turnaround model in South LA; and the troubled Greater Crenshaw Educational Partnership, which once oversaw Crenshaw High. The LAUSD school board voted unanimously early this year to break up Crenshaw into three smaller magnet schools.

Previous posts: Charter & District School Alternatives,Teachers Flocking to “Pilot” School Model,Public School Choice 4.0

Sun Valley’s Francis Polytechnic High to Convert to Innovative Pilot School
Francis Polytechnic High in Sun Valley will become the first LAUSD campus to convert to a pilot school, which offers greater freedom in scheduling and instruction but also requires teachers to commit annually to the reforms taking place. LA Daily News

LAUSD Teams up With Other Districts to Serve Cheaper, Healthier Lunches
The Los Angeles Unified School District has teamed up with five other large school districts to save money and serve a higher quality menu to students. CBS LA

California Teacher Fund Needs $4.5 Billion Yearly Boost
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s $73 billion unfunded liability may be the state’s “most difficult fiscal challenge” and lawmakers should increase funding for the second-largest U.S. pension, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said. Bloomberg
See also: AP

LAUSD Preschools to Get $7 Million in Security Upgrades
More than six dozen Los Angeles Unified preschools will get safety upgrades, including security gates equipped with video cameras, under a $7 million plan approved Tuesday by the school board. LA Daily News

More States Consider ‘Parent Trigger’ Laws
So far, outside of California, no school has been the subject of a parent-trigger petition in any state. (In California, a bill is under consideration to expand the number of schools eligible for the parent trigger.) EdWeek

New Teacher Assessment: Much Promise, Many Questions
Even if you follow education issues closely, you may have missed the rapid rise of this new assessment to evaluate prospective teachers. EdSource Commentary

New California Public School Reading List Includes LGBT-Friendly Books
The California Department of Education this week released its latest list of recommended reading for K-12 students, including some newly published works that address immigration and sexual identity issues. LA Daily News

Ed Committee Backs Crackdown on Interest-Deferred Bonds
Despite opposition from several education organizations, the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday voted 6-0 for a bill that would severely restrict school districts’ ability to float construction bonds that would saddle future taxpayers with huge balloon payments. EdSource

The swing vote in the 4-3 decision was none other than recently re-elected Board member Steve Zimmer, who had supported Board member Monica Garcia’s continued Presidency just last year.

Last time, Zimmer joined a four-member majority to reelect Garcia over Dr. Richard Vladovic. This time around, Zimmer voted against her.

“I do feel [two] years is a healthy term for a Board presidency,” Zimmer told LA School Report after the meeting*.

The Board typically votes on a president each year in July.  Monica Garcia has held the post for over six years — almost as long as Antonio Villaraigosa has been Mayor and longer than any President in recent memory.

The term limits measure was originally introduced in the January Board meeting by members Marguerite LaMotte and Bennett Kayser, but wasn’t voted on at the time.

During the Tuesday meeting, LaMotte said the new rule was aimed at  promoting “geographical diversity” on the Board. She pointed out that traditionally, the Board presidency rotated among different members.

Board member Tamar Galatzan blasted the term limits proposal. “To take away my right to vote my conscience is really insulting to me,” she said. “To make that seat rotate among people who may not do a good job is shortsighted.”

As this was the first Board meeting since the March 5 election, observers were watching to see what effect, if any, the bitter primary campaign had on Zimmer. The incumbent District 4 Board member was attacked relentlessly by the Coalition for School Reform, which supported Garcia in a separate race.

Zimmer insisted that the election had no effect on him.  “I’m not changed… You’ll still see more hand-wringing from me.”

Asked to explain his change of vote, Zimmer said that, “Since the position has become so powerful, [two] years is a good time to moderate that power.”*

Then — in a classic case of middle-ground-grasping — Zimmer added that he “would consider waiving [the term limits] for the next Board election.”

While the rule is intended to take effect at the end of Garcia’s term in July, the Board can vote at any time, with a simple majority, to waive its own rule, just as it can vote to replace the President.

For her part, Garcia said she would not try to convince the Board to wave the term limits rule in July.

“That’s not the point,” she said. “The Board is always gonna do whatever the Board is gonna do.”

Garcia was already talking about her successor — whomever that might be.  “My only expectation for the next Board president is that the graduation rate goes up.”

The LA Times’ Howard Blume wrote that the vote symbolizes Villaraigosa’s “waning influence” on the School Board.

Speculation has already begun as to who — including Zimmer or Vladovic — might replace Garcia as President.

At four and a half hours, this was a relatively tame and brief Board meeting compared to many previous outings.

There were, however, a few flashpoints, including the proposal for a new pilot school to be co-located on the campus of Venice High.

“We have been given no opportunity to know anything about it,” said Sara Roos, a Venice High parent. “We are not opposed to innovation… It’s a complaint about the process.”

“We have plenty of choices in our area,” said Kristin Duerr, another parent. “If someone would fix our water fountain, that would be great.”

Even Superintendent John Deasy was forced to admit that although “conversations did take place [about the co-location proposal]… they could have wider.”

In the face of such public comment, Zimmer, whose district includes Venice High, proposed that the Board approve the new school — but not its new location.

“I really believe that there’s a win-win to be had here,” he said. “I feel with this amendment, if we send it back to community to be placed, it will be embraced.”

Deasy reminded the board that the new school was the product of an initiative led by teachers and UTLA members.

“Any time we can see design work by UTLA teachers, we should embrace that,” he argued. And he cautioned that thanks to Proposition 39, unused space by a school can be turned over to a Charter school. Co-location of some kind, in other words, might be an inevitability.

“I would prefer to give the space to a UTLA design team” rather than a Charter school, Deasy said.

Nevertheless, the Board coalesced around Zimmer’s compromise and approved the plan, 6-1. The one dissenting vote came from LaMotte, who said she was voting no when she found out that Steve Barr was involved.

“I want to move forward but honestly and transparently,” she said. “Steve Barr’s name didn’t come up but it’s coming up now.”

According to the LA Times, there are now 49 such schools approved by the Board.

Charters

More than 20 charter schools were either granted permission to open or renewed for another five years, though not without objection. Bennett Kayser voted against some of them, insisted that many of them report back to the Board in one year with a progress report, and at one point unleashed a mini rant against charter schools in general.

“I’ve yet to see anything in them that’s a culture change,” he said. “I see creativity in terms if raising money… I haven’t seen a bright light to get our students to be better thinkers.”

“Wow,” said Garcia, disagreeing politely.

Budget

There was also some unequivocally good news. Superintendent Deasy boasted that LAUSD was the first district in California to “rescind every furlough,” but warned that federal sequestration cuts would affect next year’s budget, creating what he called a “structural hole.” He said he is hopeful that Governor Jerry Brown’s new “weighted funding” proposal will, starting in a few years, help the district balance its budget and begin to actually add services.

(For more, see the Daily News)

*Note: A previous version of this post indicated that the President’s term would be limited to two consecutive two-year terms. A President’s term is one year long. Additionally, Steve Zimmer was quoted as saying “four years is a healthy term for a Board presidency.” He was presumably misspeaking.

Previous posts: Follow the LAUSD Board Meeting Live, Familiar & New Items on Tomorrow’s Agenda, Board Preview: Kayser’s New Magnet Proposal

Senator Proposes Pushing Back Teacher Layoff Deadlines
Huff said that moving the March 15th deadline for preliminary notices and May 15 deadline for final notices would save school districts millions. SacBee

Steve Barr’s Quest to Save a New Orleans High School (and Create Pilots in Los Angeles)
Barr is working in a behind-the-scenes manner in Los Angeles (not his usual modus operandi) to get approval for “pilot schools” that he supports in the district. EdWeek

What Makes a Good L.A. Mayor
Being a good politician is essential for winning a mayoral election. But the qualities that make a good politician are not necessarily those that make a good mayor. LA Times Editorial

Black Students’ Learning Gaps Start Early, Report Says
African-American public school students in Los Angeles County demonstrate significant learning gaps by second grade; those gaps widen with age and lead to the highest school dropout rate among all races, according to a report released Monday. LA Times

A Push Toward More Computer Science Education
The first step in solving a problem is to recognize it needs to be solved. Today only 2% of students study computer programming. If we triple that to 6%, we’d close the gap between students and jobs, driving $500 billion in economic value to our country. This is a giant opportunity, impacting every industry (70% of these jobs are outside the tech sector). USA Today Column

High School Graduation Rate up Sharply, but Red Flags Abound
For the first time in decades, the United States is making steady gains in the number of high school students earning diplomas, putting it on pace to reach a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020, according to a new analysis released Monday.  But the good news comes with a big asterisk. Reuters

Rebranding Public Schools as New Charter Schools
Charter schools are a silver bullet for urban education. But not for any of the reasons you might think. EdWeek Commentary

Pediatricians Oppose School Suspension, Expulsion
A group representing pediatricians says disciplining students with out-of-school suspension or expulsion is counterproductive to school goals and should only be used on case by case basis. LA Daily News

Glendale Schools Increasing Security
After several recent incidents, the school board moves to equip all schools with security cameras and panic buttons, among other measures. LA Times

Donations From Independent Groups Shaping City, LAUSD Elections
Independent expenditures continue to dominate the school board election, with reform- and union-backed organizations battling to guide the future of the nation’s second-largest school district. LA Daily News
See also: LA School Report

In Their Words: L.A. Mayor Candidates Answer the Times’ Questions
Readers will find that some answers are clear and emphatic, and some are carefully hedged. A couple of candidates left questions unanswered. But in a race where the competitors are scrambling to break away from the pack, voters can find a few revealing contrasts. LA Times

California Trails Nation in Reading, Math and Science, Report Finds
California has largely trailed the rest of the country in reading, mathematics and science in the last decade, according to an analysis released Thursday of test results from the five most populous states. LA Times
See also: SI&A Cabinet Report

Charter Discipline: A Tale of Two Students
Does penalizing students for a laundry list of common infractions—both minor and more serious—train students to be self-disciplined, or lead some to become disaffected from school?  At one Chicago charter school, the school community’s verdict is mixed. EdWeek

Fathers Read to Children at South L.A. School
Many 99th Street Elementary students don’t have fathers at home, so police and California Highway Patrol officers fill in at the Donuts With Dads event. LA Times

LAUSD Considers Carpenter for Pilot Program to Combat Enrollment Fraud
More than 200 present, past and future parents of students at Carpenter Community Charter School in Studio City came to meet seven of the top Los Angeles Unified School District officials to answer questions about the future of their school, and how they can combat fraudulent enrollment. Sherman Oaks Patch

Study Compliments and Questions Brown’s Funding Formula
An analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California, released Wednesday, praises Gov. Jerry Brown’s overall plan for school finance reform, while raising questions about elements of the formula that would steer substantially more money to disadvantaged students. EdSource

Pilot schools are the most flexible of three “autonomy models” agreed to under a 2011 agreement between the district and the teachers union — a relatively new alternative to both semi-autonomous charter schools (that usually lack a collective bargaining agreement for teachers) and also to the parent trigger process (through which parents petition the district to implement changes).

Pilot schools aren’t generally the model favored by the teachers union, notes LAUSD’s Rachel Bonkovsky, who is helping to oversee implementation of the various autonomy models. “The union is pretty staunch in not favoring pilots,” she said.

But the school-level interest in creating pilots has been higher than expected. “Sometimes you hear the union central message, and you don’t hear what individual, local schools are saying,” Bonkovsky says.

A Hard-Fought Compromise

The three autonomy models are the result of a hard-fought agreement negotiated in late 2011 between LAUSD and the teachers union.

As a part of negotiations, Superintendent John Deasy modified the original Public School Choice (PSC) program, which had allowed outside operators like charters to submit bids to turn around failing LAUSD schools.

In return, the teachers union agreed to lift a previously negotiated 30-school cap on the expansion of “pilot schools” and signed off on the Local School Stabilization and Empowerment Initiative (LSSEI) agreement.

There are three different kinds of autonomy models as established by the LSSEI agreement: pilot schools, which offer the most flexibility as compared to a traditional district school; Local Initiative Schools (LIS), which offer moderate flexibility; and Expanded School-Based Model Management (ESBMM) schools, which differ somewhat from regular district schools, but in less dramatic ways.

Pilot schools

Of the three autonomy models, pilots are the most flexible option because their teachers, though still represented by UTLA, must sign an “elect-to-work” contract that requires them to put in more hours on the job and participate in supplementary career training.

In addition to the 12 pilots approved in February, four more new pilots are also poised to go before the Board for approval in March.

LIS schools have the power to customize their budgets, teaching methods, curriculum and testing, bell schedules, school organization, discipline rules, and health and safety plans.

While a LIS school can ask its teachers to sign a “commitment to the plan” that expects them to put in extra work and participate in professional development, the agreement doesn’t have the same enforcement power that pilot school elect-to-work agreements have.

Anywhere between five to 10 LIS proposals are expected to be submitted for approval to the district; the final tally depends on how many schools are able to get a 60 percent approval vote from their teachers union-represented staff.

Expanded School-Based Model Management (ESBMM Schools)

ESBMM schools have a more limited set of options they can customize, which include their budgets, staff selection and professional development expectations, curriculum, and bell schedule.

Three applications for ESBMM schools are currently being considered for final approval by Superintendent Deasy; he’s expected to reach a decision in the next month.

Of the three models, ESBMM schools have the least potent reform options, according to Bonkovsky. This is the model that is most favored by the union, as demonstrated by the recent joint press conference UTLA hosted with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) at Woodland Hills Academy, the first school in LAUSD to transform into an ESBMM school, back in 2006.

Teacher Preferences

Pilot proposals outnumber LIS and ESBMM proposals because teachers recognize the perks the pilot model offers, Bonkovsky says: “Even though a teacher has to sign an elect to work agreement, they have a lot of power over it; they get to vote on what goes in [the agreement] each year. And on the site, teachers have a lot of say in their evaluations. So it’s a nice check and balance system.”

Greg Fisher, a teacher at Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of LA, is one of the leaders of his Small Learning Community’s plan to transform into a pilot school this year. He says the tradeoff of a thinner union contract was worth it because it gives teachers “flexibility and autonomy where the district won’t have much say. Within parameters, we have a lot more control than ever before.”

Fisher concedes, however, that the pilot school model isn’t for everyone: “If there’s a teacher who wants to hide behind the LAUSD-UTLA contract, or if there are teachers who want to do as little as possible, a pilot is not for them.”

Previous posts: Public School Choice 4.0; Beyond Charters; Charter & District School Alternatives

Steve Barr

There was a time when Green Dot Public Schools founder Steve Barr — the man responsible for the 2008 hostile takeover of Locke High School and a frequent critic of the teachers union and the Board — was seen by many as the barbarian at the gate.

Now, Barr has a daughter in 2nd grade at Ivanhoe Elementary, one of the better public schools in the city, and it seems as if he and LAUSD have met halfway. He and a small group of UTLA teachers will partner with the district to start one or more pilot schools – schools that will have more autonomy than normal public schools but remain within the district.

“My theory of change was that charter schools could be good research and development for what a district could be,” Barr said in an interview earlier this week. “It was always about changing LAUSD– not just creating a bunch of charter schools.”

Kathy Haggerman teaches AP World History and health at Fairfax High. She and another teacher are working with Barr to put a new pilot school on the Fairfax campus.

“I come from insurance industry,” Haggerman told me the other day. “I look at teaching, and I’m horrified. It’s not necessarily a model that rewards excellence.”

At first, Haggerman started talking to Barr about turning Fairfax High into a Charter, just like he did with Locke. But then she decided she’d rather work within LAUSD.

Her shcool would hire UTLA teachers, but under a different contract, one that would have to be renewed every year. There would be no tenure.

“We don’t have to keep anyone that is ineffective,” said Haggerman. “Most teachers are great, but the ones that are terrible can wreck a school.”

There are two other groups like Haggerman’s that are working with Barr to start new schools– one on the Eastside (Silver Lake or Los Feliz, near Ivanhoe), and one on the Westside (Venice or Mar Vista). They are still in the early design phases, meeting with teachers and community members, but Barr hopes that one or more of them will open in the Fall of next year.

Sujata Bhatt, a teacher at Grand View Elementary, is on the design team for the Westside school. She wants to design a school with an entirely different approach to curriculum.

“I think it’s time to rethink our schools,” she told me. “Traditional textbook-based instruction isn’t really serving our kids. Kids are growing up in a video game world They need to be engaged in a different way.”

Teachers like Bhatt and Haggerman see no reason why charters should be the only schools doing the innovating.

Placing the new schools in middle class neighborhoods is something of a new strategy for Barr, who placed most of his Green Dot schools in lower-income areas. He pointed to his own neighborhood, where parents love Ivanhoe (housing prices are famously at a premium near the school) but don’t have any comparable choices when it comes to middle school and high school– unless you count charters or private schools.

“People can’t afford private,” he said. “The district has got to be more proactive or else theyr’e going to be swallowed up by charters.”

There are already a handful of charter schools– Larchmont, Citizens of the World, and Los Feliz– that attract middle-class parents.

But Barr has a more ambitious goal: to make sure the middle class has an incentive to invest in public education.

“We’re looking at tax initiatives to turn the system around,” he said, “if you don’t have the middle class involved, I don’t know how you’re gonna get public buy-in. I don’t know how the system changes without the middle class.”