Group Exploring Ways to Reform L.A. Schools

A group of prominent business and community leaders has begun meeting to explore ways to reform the Los Angeles Unified School District and make its ruling establishment more accountable.

The group, which held its second meeting Tuesday at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce headquarters, was convened by Harold M. Williams, president emeritus of the J. Paul Getty Trust, and Roy A. Anderson, chairman and CEO of the Weingart Foundation.

Williams said he and others are frustrated with the slow pace of reform within the district. Some who have participated in the meetings would like to build on existing reform programs, such as LEARN, which aims to empower parents. Others advocate more radical ideas, such as school vouchers and a district breakup.

Topics of discussion during the group’s two-hour meeting Tuesday included complaints that the nation’s second-largest school district lacks a coherent vision or strong leadership, and that its school board seems more concerned with political turf battles and micro-managing Supt. Ruben Zacarias than with improving student achievement.

“There is so much attention, so much money, so much energy going into these reform movements now--if all these efforts don’t succeed, then what?” Williams said. “Yet, we hear about micro-management, about the influence of special interest groups, about the authority of the superintendent to run the district.”

“These are all issues of great concern,” he said. “Anything that gets in the way of improving student achievement is failing our kids.”

Williams said he expects the group to eventually make recommendations on how governance of the school district could be improved.

“My sense is, we will come out with recommendations in time for them to be discussed in the forthcoming school board elections,” he said. “We will not support or oppose anyone. But while the average voter may be more concerned about lifting reading scores than in something as esoteric as governance, I think the two are not unrelated.”

Zacarias said the group has not conferred with him, but said he was pleased to learn of their interest in the school district.

“I’ve always welcomed and encouraged the participation of all members of our community,” Zacarias said. “After all, improving student achievement and ensuring the future of our children is a collective responsibility.

“And I’m pleased they’ve made it clear that their intentions are not political,” he said.

So far, the group has only begun background work, such as researching reform efforts that have been tried in other districts across the nation. The management consulting firm of McKenzie and Co. has provided the group with research staff on a pro bono basis.

“We are still in an embryonic stage, but we are a group of folks who believe that the school district is dysfunctional,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. “Like most people, we are fed up with that and want to see what role we can play in effecting meaningful changes in the bottom line: student achievement.”

Formation of the group comes two months after Mayor Richard Riordan announced plans to remake the Los Angeles school board by recruiting and supporting candidates to run against incumbents in the April election.

In addition to Williams and Anderson, other members include attorney Virgil Roberts; Bill Ouchi, a UCLA management professor who once served as Riordan’s chief of staff; Monica Lozano, associate publisher and executive editor of the newspaper La Opinion; USC President Steven Sample; and officials from the Magic Johnson Development Corp., Indymac and Arco.

“My fondest desire is for LAUSD to open its doors and invite this group in,” said Maria Casillas, president of the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project, an education reform organization that awards financial grants to school districts. “Our goal is efficient and responsive governance, and creating ways for conversations to be held at every school with the aim of having board members issue policies that promote reforms.”