As the Experts See It . . .

I want to thank the Los Angeles Times for its comprehensive report on public education in California. The series did justice to the complexity of issues facing educators without excusing us from our responsibilities to the public and our students.

Most of what was contained in the articles is not news to educators. Changing demographics, language differences, the lack of qualified teachers, insufficient funding, textbook shortages and run-down facilities are day-to-day problems faced by every urban school district in this state. They have been especially noticeable and prevalent in Los Angeles.

Since becoming superintendent last July, I have undertaken a number of initiatives to improve conditions within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The first, and perhaps most highly visible, was to identify the district’s 100 lowest performing schools as determined by test scores. In working with these schools individually, I have personally seen the challenges brought forth so clearly in your series of articles.

A critical ingredient to success will be accountability--real accountability. We have discussed it. But in the past, we have never gotten specific about our goals, nor about the rewards for success or consequences for failure. By not doing so, we have sheltered the adults who work in education from the very real consequences that affect the lives of our children.

Times are changing, however. In the last round of salary raises, for the first time in this school district’s history, a portion of top management’s compensation was tied to indicators of student achievement. We also wrote accountability language into our union contracts, although the details still need to be negotiated.

The idea that employees must be accountable for their performance as it affects students is just common sense. But, as The Times has shown, education is an extremely complex endeavor. Thus, defining the specifics of such a comprehensive system of accountability with our unions is our next major hurdle.

To help us take this next important step, I have convened the Superintendent’s Task Force on Accountability. It meets for the first time Thursday. The combined expertise of this group will bring us information about what is working and what is not in major school systems across the country, including those in Texas, Kentucky and Chicago. The group also brings expertise in fields beyond education. We have also invited parents to join us in order to better understand their views on the subject.

Each member of this task force will conduct independent research on best practices in accountability. For example, one member will look at alternative methods of structuring employee compensation, another will examine how best to measure student achievement, another will analyze our technological capability to measure our goals. I look forward to receiving the reports by the end of summer, and to implementing many of the ideas they introduce.

Accountability may not be the magic bullet. But its absence has been a contributing factor to the current state of public education in California. By insisting that accountability be specific and aligned with our educational standards and measures of student achievement, I am confident that we will see positive changes.