Partnership for LA Schools
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 1, 2008
MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA KICKS OFF FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL,
BEGINS NEW ERA OF REFORM AT PARTNERSHIP FOR LA SCHOOLS
Laying a foundation for District-wide change, the Partnership begins to break down bureaucracy and put more resources back into classrooms for almost 19,000 students
LOS ANGELES - Marking a new day for close to 19,000 students officially transitioning to the Partnership for LA Schools, Mayor Villaraigosa today kicked off the Partnership’s first day of school by joining 800 9th-graders at Santee Educational Complex on their first day of high school.
“Today we lay the foundation for fundamental change in our public schools,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “Today, we start breaking down the bureaucracy by giving our schools independence from burdensome District rules and moving money back into the classroom.”
Beginning today - when the Mayor’s Partnership for Los Angeles Schools takes responsibility for 10 of the lowest-performing public schools in LA - teachers, parents and students will see real change in how their schools operate.
* Resources: Delivering on a pledge to move more money back into the classroom, schools will receive more resources and support from the Partnership - an about 5-percent boost in their total budget for next year. Also, an effort to lobby the District for per-pupil funding will lead to schools receiving an additional $200,000 to $1 million each from the District.
* Accountability: Schools will deliver easy-to-read scorecards for parents and the community, outlining a school's performance and academic goals. Seven of 10 schools will be led by new, reform-oriented principals.
* Bureaucracy: Beginning with a new contract that gives schools independence from burdensome district rules and regulations, the Partnership is beginning to break down the District’s bureaucracy by returning decision-making authority over budgets and priorities to staff at the schools themselves.
In addition to ensuring students learn in clean and small schools, the Partnership’s key priority for the upcoming year will be to shore up the schools’ fundamentals - notably by focusing on “instructional leadership.”
For the first time, principals at Partnership schools will be in classrooms three hours per day, taking a hands-on leadership role and providing direct feedback to teachers. In addition, all new teachers hired at Partnership schools were selected by hiring committees unique to each school - and not by a remote bureaucracy.
Every incoming freshman at the Partnership’s two high schools - Santee Educational Complex and Roosevelt High School - will now follow an A-G college prep curriculum that qualifies them for the University of California and Cal State systems. Kindergarteners, sixth- and ninth-graders will also take part in an advisory program that focuses on building a new culture for incoming students and raising expectations.
About the Partnership:
Over the past school year, parents and teachers at 10 LAUSD schools voted to join the Partnership for LA Schools' reform movement including: Santee and Roosevelt high schools; Markham, Stevenson, Gompers and Hollenbeck middle schools; and Sunrise, Figueroa, Ritter and 99th Street elementary schools.
While the new school-year begins on July 1 for the two high schools (which are on a year-round calendar), the remaining schools begin the school in September.
For more information on the Partnership, please visit www.partnershipla.org.
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