Let Parents Choose, So Our Students Can Win

by Webmaster

Let Parents Choose, So Our Students Can Win

Today the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education will vote on a motion critical to the future success of Los Angeles youth. This motion, initiated by Board Member Yolie Flores Aguilar, establishes an open process in which groups such as charters, teachers, parents and others can collaborate with the district to operate one or more 50 new schools and the district's many underperforming, Program Improvement (PI) schools designated by the California Department of Education.

This is an outstanding initiative by the LAUSD Board. Not only will it create more schools of choice and educational options for the District's students and families, it will also bring forward the best school operators to lead the news schools and turn around struggling PI institutions.

The L.A. Area Chamber applauds Board Member Yolie Flores Aguilar for her leadership and the entire Board for the thoughtful process, discussion and amendments that have led to several important improvements in this resolution. These include the addition of PI schools, the guarantee that all children from the school's neighborhood will be served, and a process for school communities and stakeholders to evaluate and comment on the plans submitted to the Board. We have worked with many of the key stakeholders in the past month and have been impressed with their willingness to work through these and other issues in an effort to build on and improve the original motion.

Much work remains to design the bidding process, the framework for community input and how the proposals will be reviewed and evaluated. We are confident that LAUSD Superintendent Ray Cortines will work with the Board and all stakeholders to develop a collaborative approach that will ultimately provide L.A. students the schools they need and deserve.

The Chamber's experience in supporting the opening of the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex and the new schools in the Belmont Zone of Choice has demonstrated that it is possible to open highly effective new schools for students in collaboration with parents, community partners, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and school leaders and staff.

Today is an important day in the future of our community and the lives of every current and future student in LAUSD. Our educational mission as a community must be to prepare our children to succeed in a world that we have not seen. Our success in achieving that goal, as compared to the success of other communities and nations around the world, will determine the future of Los Angeles.

And that's The Business Perspective.