PLATFORM : Incentive for Reform

The district is a lumbering giant. Here’s the problem: The school board and the teachers union believe that the system is OK and simply needs more money. Instead, we need major reform.

Like Los Angeles, Dade County, Fla., schools face severe financial constraints. However, instead of fighting over wage issues, Dade County has reformed by shifting more decision-making power to the schools.

Meanwhile, reforms in Los Angeles have been marginal. For example, schools in Dade County have the right to keep any money they do not spend and can carry over and use those funds the following year. In Los Angeles, there is no incentive to save because schools have to return savings to the central administration.

Serious reform comes when people are jolted by a crisis. However, even with the threat of insolvency, the actors--the board and the teachers union in Los Angeles--are not coalescing to reform the system.