School Board OKs Criteria for Council

The Los Angeles Board of Education has approved guidelines for selecting district representatives to a new central committee that will oversee decentralization efforts.

Under the teachers’ contract ratified last month, the district agreed to establish a 24-member council that would supervise the district’s move into new forms of school governance that give teachers and parents a larger role in running schools. The committee will oversee new neighborhood school “shared decision-making councils,” which were among the most controversial features of the contract.

According to guidelines adopted Monday, five of the district’s 12 appointees will be named by Supt. Leonard Britton and will include Deputy Supt. Sidney Thompson, a parent or community member and two principals. The other seven appointments will be made by board members and must be parents or community representatives. Under terms of the contract, the district must name its appointees by July 31.

The remaining 12 council seats will be filled by members of United Teachers-Los Angeles.