Steve Zimmer on a video asking for superintendent search help.

Sure, they can go to any of the community meetings. Sure, they can fill out a survey online. But, ultimately, outside groups say they want a seat at the table when deciding the next LA Unified school superintendent.

At a special session after a closed session on Tuesday, the school board voted against a proposal to create a separate community panel of seven people, each school board member appointing one. The proposal by Mónica García, who was lobbied heavily by many of the groups, was voted down 5-2.

The board faced a more open proposal by board member Mónica Ratliff that would have allowed the entire community to meet the finalists of the superintendent search. That was voted down by a 4-3 vote.

CLASS (Communities for Los Angeles Student Success) sent a letter that originally asked for wider community participation in the search. Some of the groups had to request to be included to give their input into the search.

Sara Mooney, of United Way LA, said, “The school board made a non-welcoming vote for community involvement. They are against sharing responsibilities for the community to be involved in the choice of the next superintendent. We are disappointed.”

Like some of the other community organizations, Mooney said the United Way had to ask to have a meeting with search firms and was not among the groups picked by the school board members to be involved in the process. Mooney said she has spoken to parents who feel as if they have no say in the process “and feel like they already have a list and what their input is makes no difference.”

A few coalitions of educational groups have appealed to keep the search confidential but include a committee of community groups to help screen the finalists. Several board members said they feared that such a process would diminish responsibilities that the board was elected to carry out.

But what exactly do these scores tell us? It turns out that much depends on which scores one chooses to focus on, what time frame one looks at, and whether one looks at growth in scores rather than at scores at fixed points in time.

For now, the community outreach appears lacking, say some of the groups.

“I have been disappointed in the student turnout for some of these sessions,” said Melanie Kimes, the youth organizer of the Community Coalition. “I was in a group where only 15 students showed up.”

Also speaking before the board after their decision on Tuesday was Konstantin Hatcher, the managing director of outreach for Educators for Excellence, a teacher organization. He said that community groups can reach populations that the search firm may miss.

“There is a middle ground, you can still have confidentiality,” Hatcher told the board. “We hope that you hear us.”

Board member Ref Rodriguez, who is the only member of the seven who voted in favor of García’s proposal, expressed concern that some of the meetings were not well attended. He and board president Steve Zimmer made videos asking that people get involved in the survey and meetings. Some of the other board members voiced robo-calls that went to families in their district.

Zimmer, who has closely controlled the search outreach, extended the availability of the surveys and input to four more days, through Nov. 1. He thought the Halloween celebrations that bring families to the school campuses would help draw more people to participate.

“We want to give busy parents and guardians every opportunity to weigh in with their thoughts on the superintendent search,” Zimmer said. “It’s vital to the integrity of the process that their voice is heard and that we as board members need to hear what they say.”

He said that every school has paper forms in five languages, and the surveys can be taken online until the 11:59 p.m. Sunday deadline.

Anyone can take the survey, either online or on paper. The last public meetings were held yesterday

The board has hired the executive search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates to find candidates; it has also scheduled a series of public meetings this month for people to weigh in on what characteristics the next superintendent should possess. Those meetings are open to the public and include community leaders that board members have suggested. But there has been no plan for a formal committee of community leaders.

The search firm has said it plans have to have a list of candidates for board members to interview by late November or early December, a timeframe that coincides with plans by Superintendent Ramon Cortines to retire by the end of the year.

“It’s critical that LAUSD not make these decisions in a vacuum, without meaningfully incorporating community leaders into that process, ” Elise Buik, President and CEO of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, said in a statement. “In addition to the community input sessions and survey that the Board is leading, we believe the District must also create a search committee that includes representation from key leaders who have a stake in this decision – students, teachers, business leaders, civil rights leaders, union leadership, higher education experts, to name a few. This is an incredibly important decision and it’s crucial that we have the support and guidance of these key leaders.”

CLASS is a coalition of 10 core organizations and other affiliated groups that includes The United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Community Coalition and Inner City Struggle.

In addition to a request for the committee to be formed, CLASS also sent a letter to the board on Oct. 1, outlining the results of several surveys and community input sessions it has held to seek input on what people wanted in a new superintendent and how the search should be conducted. According to CLASS, this included surveys of over 110 civic and community leaders, town halls that involved over 1,200 participants, a dozen focus groups of teachers, students and parents and a student survey of over 450 low-income LA Unified youth.

The desired characteristics “include an individual who works on the ground with educators, students and families, is committed to equity, and can navigate the tough political climate in Los Angeles,” according to CLASS.

The state Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial in the case of a former student at Edison Middle School who was coaxed into sex by her teacher, Elkis Hermida, the Los Angeles Times reported. The girl sued LA Unified, which won the original trial after its lawyer introduced her sexual history and argued that the girl was partly to blame because she concealed the relationship from her parents and school authorities.

But after the controversial legal tactics were reported in the media, the district fell under heavy criticism — to the point that In July, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that bars defendants accused of sexually abusing minors in civil suits from arguing that the sex was consensual.

LA Unified fired lawyer W. Keith Wyatt after be gave an interview where he inartfully explained his legal theories that helped him win the case. But then, somewhat inexplicably, the district hired another lawyer who made the same argument in the appeal.

This very predictably spurred another round of bad headlines for the district. Now, as a result of those arguments, a new trial has been ordered, because introducing that evidence “wrongly portrayed [the victim] in a negative light and was highly prejudicial,” Judge Richard H. Kirschner wrote.

He added, “On appeal, the District continues to maintain that a minor student who is the victim of sexual abuse by a teacher bears responsibility for preventing that abuse. The District was wrong in the trial court and is wrong now. There is no case or statutory authority or persuasive reasoning supporting the notion that students sexually victimized by their teachers can be contributorily responsible for the harm they suffer.”

Time for a third lawyer in the case?

CLASS pulls out the red pen on LAUSD

Earlier this year the Communities for Los Angeles Student Success (CLASS) commissioned a study that concluded LA Unified is not properly spending the money in Local Control Funding Formula money that is supposed to helps students in foster care, English-Language Learners and those living in poverty. In case you missed it the first time, the group has now issued a report card based on the report that grades LA Unified in specific areas of its LCFF implementation.

The ad appears a day before a board meeting when issues of the budget will be a large part of the conversation.

In “An Open Letter to the LAUSD School Board,” the groups who form the coalition known as CLASS – Communities for Los Angeles School Success — call on Superintendent John Deasy and board members to honor the spirit of the state’s new funding mechanism to spend more on students who need it most — English learners, foster youth and students from low-income families.

“As you know,” the ad says, “this year’s budget will set the course for years to come. The community is watching to ensure you support student success first, and we are counting on you to do the right thing.”

Ryan Smith, ‎Director of Education Programs and Policy at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the coalition organizer, said the ad was meant to push members to increase funding and build public support for the effort.

Smith said he did not know how much the full-color ad cost.

The sound of classroom silence.

As part of a rally by parents, education advocates and civil rights groups who represent Communities for Los Angeles Student Success, or CLASS, 375 desks were set up this morning at the LAUSD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

With downtown LA’s skyline as the backdrop, the empty desks represented the number of LAUSD school students who drop out of school each week, organizers said. The desks were placed along Beaudry Ave., which was closed to traffic for the rally, and were clearly visible to those attending today’s school board meeting.

Community Coalition rally, protesting LAUSD budget priorities

With the LA Unified board meeting tomorrow, two rallies are taking place outside district headquarters that seek support for two different educational issues.

Parents, education advocates and civil rights groups, who represent Communities for Los Angeles Student Success, or CLASS, are organizing a “silent protest” on behalf of low-income students, schools and communities by placing 375 empty desks on Beaudry Avenue. The desks represent the 375 LAUSD students who drop out each week, according to organizers.

“We have a historic opportunity to do right for the highest need students 
who have not received their fair share,” Maria Brenes, executive director of Inner City Struggle, a member of CLASS, told LA School Report. “This rally is calling on LAUSD
 officials to be bold by comprehensively directing funds to the highest need
students, schools and communities.”

As LAUSD is preparing to refine its next budget, CLASS is demanding that $1 billion in extra state funding over the next seven years go to help the students it was meant to serve – low-income students, English learners and foster youth.

CLASS is calling attention to the opportunity to provide more resources and more targeted support to the students, schools and communities that need it most. The group will continue to advocate for more resources and more targeted support for English learners, more money to go directly to school sites, and more funding for foster youth.

The rally is scheduled for 7 to 10 am.

A second rally, tomorrow afternoon, is being stage by LA Unified students who are supporting a resolution to put a student seat on the school board. Some of the students – a group of 25 United Way Student Fellows – did the research and proposed the idea to board member Steve Zimmer who agreed to author a resolution. The seat would be an advisory, non-voting seat.

The goal is to make sure students have a voice on the school board, a voice in the policy and funding decisions that profoundly affect them. Dozens of school districts throughout California already have a student advisory member on their school boards.

The students have collected close to 3,000 signatures from their peers to support the creation of a student board member with an advisory position, far exceeding the 500 signatures required.

Students hope and expect that the board will pass the resolution to make student involvement a regular and frequent activity. The board is expected to vote on the resolution during their board meeting tomorrow afternoon.

Another rally was held this afternoon at the Beaudry headquarters.

A city-wide coalition of community groups and civil rights leaders – including 300 students and parents – gathered to call for greater investment in the district’s highest need schools.

Organized by the Community Coalition, the groups presented a comprehensive, data-driven “Student Need Index” that uses environmental, social and academic factors known to impact student achievement – such as poverty and violence – to produce a district-wide ranking of schools based on need.

Communities for Los Angeles Student Success (CLASS) is holding the first of eight “Town Hall” meetings this evening at Community Coalition in south Los Angeles, where officials plan to explain how the recently passed Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) works and how the money is intended to help students with the greatest needs.

“Our message is simple,” said Maria Brenes, Executive Director of InnerCity Struggle, in a CLASS press release. “LCFF is about making sure schools that serve the neediest students get the resources they need to close the achievement and opportunity gaps that exist in neighborhoods.”

In addition to the town hall gatherings, CLASS is circulating a petition, urging the board to support the thrust of the new funding law. CLASS is also planning to hold a rally at the March 4 school board meeting.

The district is also reaching out to the community, with individual school board members holding their own town hall style meetings at school sites. District 4 board member Steve Zimmer recently sent a flyer to principals, highlighting three “conversations” he plans to hold.

LAUSD’s regional Education Service Centers are planning stakeholder meetings throughout the month as well, according to the CLASS town hall calendar.

The district must submit its Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) to the state in July, outlining its efforts to ensure community input on how to best use the new education dollars.

Previous Posts: The right balance; LA Unified is seeking 47 parents to make spending recommendations; LA Unified asking community for ideas on state spending plan

LAUSD Supt. John Deasy, via KPCC

Whatever happens inside an LA Unified board room tomorrow, support for Superintendent John Deasy is building outside of it.

Education advocacy groups unified as Communities for Los Angeles Student Success today announced they are holding a rally tomorrow morning at district headquarters to encourage Deasy not to resign and to call for an end to the politics they claim are obstructing educational justice in the city.

CLASS said in a press release that Deasy’s reported resignation has “galvanized the largest and most diverse education coalition in recent memory in Los Angeles,” and noted that former LA Unified board members Yolie Flores and Caprice Young will attend the rally.

Another group of Deasy supporters — community leaders and business executives — has sent the seven board members a letter, imploring them to keep Deasy in his job.

They write: “Firing Superintendent Deasy, or making his life so miserable that he has no choice but to leave, is not in the best interests of the students of Los Angeles. We urge you to pull the board together and make every effort to retain one of the top Superintendents in the country.”

Yet a third group — this one of educators, philanthropists and people in the entertainment industry — wrote to board members expressing support for Deasy. They said, “While there are legitimate issues to be worked out with the initiatives the Superintendent has launched, one thing is crystal clear, John Deasy is the leadership that the students of LAUSD need.

And Students Matter, a national non-profit that litigates to achieve quality public education, began a petition drive saying, “The politically motivated decision to remove Dr. Deasy as superintendent would cause a devastating loss in momentum for the district, and the students are the ones who would suffer.”

*Adds a second group of supporters have written board members to keep Deasy.

Ryan Smith of United Way

A coalition of community groups known by the acronym, CLASS, finally had a meeting today with LA Unified Board President Richard Vladovic.

The groups’ mission was to press the case for individual schools, rather than district administrators, deciding how to spend money coming into LA Unified from Gov. Jerry Brown‘s new Local Control Funding Formula, with a particular focus on supporting underserved students — English learners, children from foster homes and students from low-income families.

“The meeting was productive and we look forward to ongoing meetings,” Ryan Smith of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles said in an email. “We are also pleased that the Board President has agreed to a January meeting with the 50 organizations in the CLASS partner network regarding LCFF.”

Smith said representatives from the eight founding groups of CLASS — Communities for Los Angeles School Success — spent about an hour with Vladovic at his downtown office. The representatives were from Community Coalition, InnerCity Struggle, Educators4Excellence, Teach Plus Los Angeles, the Urban League, Families in Schools and the Alliance for a Better Community.

The meeting came as a public debate is underway within the district over a spending plan for the 2014-2015 academic year. The budget is about $7 billion, which includes about $230 million in LCFF revenue, generated by Prop 30 taxes. District officials and school board members have held meetings in recent weeks with students, union officials and members of school communities.

Vladovic agreed two weeks to schedule a meeting with CLASS representatives. Smith contended that earlier, the board president had ignored the coalition’s request to meet.

A message seeking comment from Vladovic was not immediately returned.

Previous Posts: Vladovic Willing to Meet with Groups on Spending Plan*; Local Groups to LA Unified Board: Let Schools Decide Spending.

Board President Richard Vladovic

Richard Vladovic, president of the LA Unified School Board, has agreed to meet with a coalition of community groups that claimed Vladovic was ignoring their requests to meet over spending issues.

The meeting has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Oct. 18, and it follows a sequence of events that began with a letter the coalition, known as CLASS, sent to Vladovic last Friday. In an interview with LA School Report on Saturday, Ryan Smith of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, a coalition organizer, elaborated on the group’s concerns, saying Vladovic appeared uninterested in consulting with school communities on spending priorities.

But Mike Trujillo, a spokesman for Vladovic, said the board president responded to Smith the day after receiving the letter, telling Smith to call his chief of staff to set up a meeting.

“Our office is extremely confused,” said Trujillo. “Dr. V responded positively to meeting with CLASS. It may have taken us one business day. Unfortunately, unlike Dominos Pizza, we may not deliver within the first 30 minutes, and for that we sincerely apologize.”

Smith was unavailable for comment today, but his spokesman, Jason Mandell, said Trujillo’s account is accurate, that Smith did receive a message from Vladovic on Saturday — but apparently after the interview. The time and date for the meeting was set today.

The LA Unified board, which is meeting today, has been trying to develop budget priorities for the billions of dollars coming into the district from Gov. Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula.

The teachers union and what appears to be a majority of the school board want to use new money to rehire teachers, counselors and other employees who were laid off during the recession. But Superintendent John Deasy and his allies, including two board members and a number of community groups like United Way, would prefer that any new money be given directly to schools.

When asked which of the two strategies Vladovic prefers, Trujillo said, “With someone like Dr. V, who was a parent of LAUSD students, and teacher at LAUSD, a principal, a local superintendent, and now a school board member, I’d argue that there’s no one more qualified to understand the various stakeholders in this process, and he’s sympathetic to how they want the money spent.”

*This update reflects the time and date a meeting has been set.

Previous posts: Local Groups to LA Unified Board: Let Schools Decide Spending;  LA Unified Budget Wars Return with the Usual Competing Visions; Deasy, Board Plunging Back into Turbulent Budget Waters

As the first of three scheduled meetings this month sponsored by CLASS, a coalition of community based civil rights, parent, and teacher organizations, the meeting gives Deasy a chance to hear how parents, teachers and students would like to spend the money, which is part of Gov. Brown’s new Local Control Funding Formula.

It could also provide Deasy ammunition in negotiations with United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers’ union, which wants to use the money to rehire teachers who were dismissed when the 2008 recession hit.

“One neighborhood might want to use the LCFF to buy back teaching positions,” said Ryan Smith, director of Education Programs and Policy at United Way LA, a member the coalition. “But another might find it more prudent to hire more social workers.”

Smith said that parents, students and teachers know their own schools better than most city officials know them.

Deasy also plans to attend meetings Sept 12 at San Fernando Middle School and Sept. 24 at R.F.K. Community Schools near MacArthur Park.

Jason Mandell, a United Way spokesperson, said that his organization places a high value on any meeting that attracts disparate groups within the community, along with politicians. Board member Monica Garcia is scheduled to attend tonight’s session.

“We’re trying to ensure that the spirit of local control is really carried out in the community,” Mandel said. “Members of the community should decide how this money is spent and we tend to think these types of budget decisions concerning the LCFF dollars should be left to local schools.”

Tom Waldman, the LAUSD spokesman, said in an email the issue of allocating the money will be discussed publicly at the September 10 board meeting.

Previous Posts: Districts to Get First Payment Under Brown’s New Formula, Brown’s New Funding Formula Sets Student Limit for K-3 Classes, Local Groups Join Up for School Improvements 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The bulk of the meeting will focus on the launch of a new education coalition, Communities for Los Angeles Student Success (CLASS), a collaborative of major civil rights, education and advocacy organizations you may recall having read about here before.

United Way and CLASS will also present its findings from an April survey, which questioned over 100 community groups about increased education funding, local control of schools and teacher evaluations that include test scores.

“Our goal is to get a response from the education community what priorities should be for LA moving forward,” said Elmer Roldan of United Way. “We also want to discuss the city’s direction now with new leadership on its school board and in city hall.”

Previous posts: Local Groups Join Up for School Improvements; Summit Could Put Schools in the Spotlight; What Do Ed Leaders Want From LA’s Next Mayor?

“The mayor had a large bully pulpit when it came to education,” said Ryan Smith of United Way. “Obviously, elected officials come and go, but the community is left holding the bag if we don’t make progress with student success.”

“The reason we’re doing the survey is to plan our priorities,” said Smith. “We’re still doing our agenda.” But CLASS’s main focus will be to “advocate for progressive education policy reforms.”

“These organizations, for decades, have been working very hard to increase equitable access to education,” said Smith. “We all value the same thing. It makes sense to come together to have an even larger presence.”

According to Smith, United Way will host the meetings and “create the agenda, help facilitate and guide the group,” which won’t have its own staff or funding stream — yet.

Previous posts: Mayor Wants More Education from Greuel & Garcetti, Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill, Teachers Vote on Deasy Tomorrow, Too