Record Number of Schools Apply to Join LEARN

More than 100 Los Angeles Unified schools applied to join the reform movement known as LEARN as the 1995 deadline arrived Wednesday, a record level of interest since the educational experiment began two years ago.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of applications,” said Mike Roos, a former state assemblyman who crafted LEARN, the Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now, with the help of business, civic and educational leaders.

LEARN seeks to improve student achievement by allowing teachers, parents and principals the autonomy to design their own educational programs and then hold them accountable for the results. Before a school can apply for LEARN status, it must develop a detailed plan of action and obtain a yes vote from 75% of its faculty.

As the 5 p.m. deadline approached Wednesday, Assistant Supt. Judy Burton--who coordinates LEARN implementation--attributed this year’s application increase to extensive networking by the existing 89 LEARN schools, which have offered other schools workshops and on-site visits.

Schools also had the added incentive this year of $53 million in education reform grants from the Annenberg Foundation. In Los Angeles Unified, schools must be part of a LEARN program to receive a share of the money.

If all the applications are accepted by the Board of Education at its April 17 meeting, it would bring the total number of LEARN schools to nearly 200, representing almost a third of the district’s schools.

Burton expressed some concerns that such a large increase might strain the LEARN implementation process.

“We are eager to try to find a way to respond to the incredible interest that we had from schools this year,” Burton said. “But I don’t know how it will work out yet.”

Although complete geographic breakdowns were not yet available, at least five high schools--Norbonne in Harbor City, Lincoln in Lincoln Heights, and Taft, Canoga Park and El Camino in the San Fernando Valley--were among this year’s applicants. High schools have typically been the least likely to apply because the larger size of their faculties makes the 75% vote more difficult to attain.