30 Principals Get Warning to Improve Schools

Supt. Ruben Zacarias put 30 Los Angeles school principals on notice Wednesday that they could be stripped of their authority, and ultimately removed, if their schools’ test scores don’t improve.

Those principals were singled out because their schools failed to make gains in the year since they were placed on Zacarias’ list of the district’s 100 lowest performing schools.

Zacarias stopped short of saying the principals would be fired, but warned that he would take over decision-making at their schools if they fail to meet his challenge by the end of the coming school year. If the schools fail to improve in following years, he said, he will review the entire staff and demote anyone not measuring up.

At the same time, Zacarias praised 68 schools whose scores improved and gave those principals $5,000 bonuses. “I have to commend their efforts,” Zacarias said. “They are the models for the rest of the district.”

Two schools were not rated because of problems evaluating their scores.

Zacarias created the list last year in a dramatic effort to focus attention on school performance and accountability. But questions immediately arose over the fairness of the reform measure because the 100 schools on the list almost exclusively serve poor neighborhoods. Studies have shown that income has a significant correlation with test scores.

Acknowledging that criticism, Zacarias said he would no longer issue a list of worst schools.

Instead, he said, he plans to broaden the concept by requiring all schools to show improvement on test scores. He said he is just as concerned about middle-class schools that post higher scores but may still be underperforming.

“This is not about the 100 schools,” he said. “This is about the 660 schools.”

Rewards and Sanctions

Zacarias has not worked out the details of his new plan but said it also will be based on a system of rewards and sanctions. More schools could find themselves on probation in coming years, he said.

The presidents of both unions immediately blasted the superintendent for unilaterally putting 30 schools on probation.

“I don’t think it’s thought out,” said Eli Brent, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents principals.

Brent said he could support reconstitution, the process of revamping an entire school’s staff, but criticized Zacarias for placing the onus on the school principal. He said that will make it harder to find good administrators willing to work at schools in poor neighborhoods.

“I would be nuts to go into a school that doesn’t have 100% going for it,” Brent said. “If we had problems getting people to go into those schools before, now what is going to happen?”

Day Higuchi, president of United Teachers-Los Angeles, dismissed the announcement as “administration by sound bite.” He said Zacarias is ignoring union proposals that would create intervention teams to work with low-performing schools and a teacher accountability system.

Zacarias conceded that the 100 schools plan was imperfect and that he is continuing to refine his efforts to measure school performance, which has relied heavily on test scores.

“We do have kind of a blunt instrument at the moment,” spokesman Brad Sales said.

Although Zacarias won’t issue a new list of 100 worst schools, those that earned the dubious distinction last year will continue to receive special attention. Based on new test scores, more than 30 schools would have climbed off the list.

The district provided about $10 million from federal anti-poverty funds to help those school purchase textbooks and retain private tutoring services, and will repeat the boost this year, even for the schools that improved.

Zacarias demanded an instructional plan from each principal and met with them personally in a process that lasted through December.

But he never said until Wednesday what he intended to do about those schools that failed to improve.

The first step, academic probation, requires only that they prepare a new academic plan and provide quarterly progress reports to the assistant superintendent for instruction.

If performance doesn’t improve at the end of this year, the district will assume control over personnel changes, budget and curriculum.

After three years of no improvement, the school would be placed under receivership, meaning the staff is on notice that it faces reorganization if it again fails to improve.

Although Zacarias did not define “reorganization,” he said it would include “personnel changes.”

Sales said that could mean demotions.

“Every one of those cases would have to be extremely individualized,” Sales said.

Although the plan gives teachers and administrators three years to improve before their jobs are at risk, Sales said, the prospect of being placed on probation is a powerful motivator.

“I can’t imagine any administrator or school who wants to be on academic probation.”

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Schools on Probation

Listed below are the 30 Los Angeles schools placed on academic probation Wednesday for failing to improve test scores. The chart shows the schools’ test performance for 1997, and the change in scores this past spring.

Composite Mean Scores

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School Spring 1997 Change 75th Elementary 22 0 118th Elementary 20 -8 Ambler Elementary 30 0 Audubon Middle 22 0 Banning Senior 27 -2 Barton Hill Elementary 27 0 Bell Senior 26 -1 Belmont Senior 25 -1 Budlong Elementary 25 0 Carver Middle 17 0 Dorsey Senior 20 -1 Franklin Senior 26 -1 Gardena Senior 28 -2 Garfield Senior 26 -1 Graham Elementary 22 0 Jordan Senior 18 0 La Salle Elementary 21 -1 Los Angeles Senior 25 -1 Markham Middle 14 -1 Manual Arts Senior 22 -2 McKinley Elementary 34 -1 Muir Middle 19 -2 Normandie Elementary 24 -2 Olive Vista Middle 22 -1 Pacoima Elementary 25 0 Parmelee Elementary 24 0 Russell Elementary 21 -1 Wadsworth Elementary 28 0 Westminster Elementary 33 -1 Woodcrest Elementary 23 0

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Source: Los Angeles Unified School District