School District’s School-Based Management Plan

As one of the members of the Board of Education who voted to implement the shared decision-making and school-based management plan in the Los Angeles Unified School District, I find your article (Metro, Nov. 8) to be a disservice. By not reporting until the fourth paragraph that the district’s report only related to 10 schools, the article painted a negative broad-brushed picture of the effort.

The purpose of the report in the first place was to take an initial look at the effort as it began to grow out of its seemingly contradictory roots. What I mean is that this effort grew out of a very hostile and acrimonious situation. The longest teachers’ strike in the district’s history was the genesis of shared decision-making and school-based management. But, like the proverbial phoenix that rises out of the ashes, this effort represents hope and renewal for the school district and public education.

School-based management represents a new way of doing business in the district and change is not easy in large institutions. We knew that getting started was not to be perfect. We knew that when the theory was translated into practice there would be many lessons to learn. While understanding that having 27 schools take the critical steps in school-based management does not guarantee districtwide success, we also know that looking at schools which have some waning enthusiasm does not translate into failure.

I know some argue that the report was a waste of time and money. Some say we should not have released it. I believe that keeping a sober eye, not a jaundiced eye, on the progress will serve us well if we continue to build the enthusiasm for the overall effort. I look forward to my district meeting on Dec. 8 with all the newly elected parent/community representatives at Carnegie Junior High School.

Let’s learn from our successes and failures in this “fledgling restructuring program.” Let’s give it a chance to spread its wings and soar.

WARREN T. FURUTANI

Board Member, LAUSD