2 high schools join LAUSD reform effort

Parents and teachers at two venerable but struggling high schools voted this week to put themselves in charge of crucial academic reforms.

Crenshaw High, south of Leimert Park, and Westchester High, on the Westside, will join the Innovation Division, a new reform initiative of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The results of school elections were obtained early Thursday evening by The Times, minutes after the counting was completed. Under the rules, parents had to approve the move in a simple majority. That election was conducted Wednesday.

Teachers also had to approve in separate balloting that took place over two days.

Parents voted in low numbers, but overwhelmingly in favor of the reform plan. At Crenshaw the count was 95 to 6, a turnout of about 5%. At Westchester, the tally was 100-12, a turnout of about 6%. The parent results surprised no one – most observers assumed that only the motivated parents would vote and they were far more likely to vote yes.

The teachers’ vote required a majority of all who were eligible to vote. In other words, someone who didn’t vote, counted as a no vote. But this hurdle was cleared as well.

Crenshaw has 123 eligible members of the teachers bargaining unit. The tally was 91-23 in favor.

Westchester has 101 eligible voters. They said yes by a margin of 72-24.

In the Innovation Division, the two schools will be expected to control major decisions over budget and curriculum through a committee composed of administrators, teachers, parents and community members. Crenshaw will get additional guidance from the Urban League and The Bradley Foundation, among other outside partners. Westchester’s main outside collaborator will be Loyola Marymount University.

This week’s elections attracted far less media attention than similar elections in December. In the earlier round, six of seven schools decided to join an Innovation Division partnership led by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Also in that earlier election, two Westchester feeder schools voted to partner with Loyola Marymount.

“Now, we’ve got work to do,” said Kathi Littmann, the division’s executive director, who was clearly pleased with the outcome.

Crenshaw is one of the district’s lowest-performing schools. It even suffered a temporary loss of accreditation in 2005. Westchester is doing only somewhat better, and it suffered a decline in its test scores this year. Both schools have seen dramatic drops in enrollment.

Littmann, the school district and the mayor’s office all endured heavy criticism for the December election, which did not run smoothly.

“I think it was a messy and difficult process, but I think it was a clear mandate,” she said of this week’s results. “To have this large a margin is a pretty clear picture that the parents and faculties want to work differently.”

howard.blume@latimes.com