Report Cites Trouble in Plan to Raise Role of Parents, Teachers : Schools: Hostilities and confusion are reported among administrators and faculty in new shared decision-making program. Union officials call study ‘a waste of money.’

Lack of leadership by principals and hostilities between district administrators and union officials have hampered efforts to give teachers and parents more control over schools, according to a Los Angeles Unified School District report.

The report said principals are confused about what role they should take in implementing the new program of shared decision-making and concerned about being criticized. It recommended that the district make it clear that it will stand behind principals who show leadership in motivating parents and teachers.

“Proposals have been developed mostly by teachers . . . because principals are . . . hesitant to assert leadership,” the report by the district’s Independent Analysis Unit concluded.

The report, which offers the first assessment of the fledgling restructuring program, was based on interviews with principals, teachers and parents at 10 schools, none of which were among the first 27 schools whose proposals for reform have been approved.

Councils composed of teachers, parents, administrators and staff have been established at these and other schools to help decide matters normally determined by the principal alone.

In some of the 10 schools, the report found that enthusiasm for shared decision-making is waning as teachers realize there will be no extra pay despite the long hours necessary to implement real change. In other schools, the report found that “strong antagonisms” have surfaced between teachers and administrators. For example, one council decided that reading textbooks should be ordered instead of advanced math textbooks favored by the school’s principal.

The report also found relationships between the union and the district marked by “hostility and distrust.” In only two of the 10 schools were relations between UTLA and school principals described as congenial.

Union officials attacked the findings.

“This whole report was bogus and a waste of taxpayers’ money,” said Helen Bernstein, president of United-Teachers Los Angeles. “It sets a negative tone to what we’re trying to do. Everybody and their mother knows that we went into shared decision-making after an incredible year of acrimony, and everyone and their mother knows how well we’re getting along now. We have open lines of communication.”

District officials did not respond to requests for comments.

The report did cite some positive changes.

Many schools have adopted more strict disciplinary policies, including setting up detention rooms for students who misbehave and locking classroom doors when the bell rings to discourage tardy students. In some cases, the report noted, principals have de-emphasized punitive disciplinary measures and sought to have teachers address the underlying causes of behavioral problems.