New Shape, New Faces

The Los Angeles Unified School District embarks this week on a series of make-or-break changes. Ramon C. Cortines, the tough and respected interim superintendent, and Howard Miller, the astute chief operating officer, leave officially on Friday. On July 1 the new schools chief, Roy Romer, takes over just as a major reorganization takes effect. The decentralization is intended to transform a school system known for broad academic failure. Some excellent schools do exist, but they are no longer enough to prop up the ailing district.

Decentralization is the reform upon which most hopes hang. Shifting greater authority to clusters of schools is not a new concept in the 712,000-student school system. This time, however, with breakup proposals looming and a statewide voucher initiative qualified for the November ballot, the pressures on the LAUSD to improve are urgent. Finally.

Sacramento is watching, and few there are fans of what passes for public education in Los Angeles. Gov. Gray Davis and the Legislature are holding students, teachers and school districts to more rigorous standards. They will be measured by Stanford 9 test scores due out in mid-July. Another round of failure or a barely noticeable up-tick in reading and math scores surely will lead to stronger state oversight and more strings on state money. The LAUSD budget is expected to top $8.3 billion for the next school year. Thanks to the good economic times in California and Sacramento’s rekindled interest in education, the usual excuse of not having enough money won’t wash with parents or taxpayers in general.

How some of that money will be spent will be determined by 11 new subdistrict superintendents appointed to lead the reorganization. They will have the autonomy to make some decisions about $30 million in discretionary money, but most funds will go to pay teachers, to finance benefits and for other fixed costs. They also can handpick personnel within the constraints of union protections and a new teacher pool full of inexperienced and uncertified teachers. Real reform will require much more freedom--as well as accountability--in setting budget and personnel priorities. Despite built-in obstacles, the subdistrict superintendents must move boldly to shake things up.

Most of the new senior administrators have spent at least 25 years working in the LAUSD, a troubling fact in view of how poorly the district has been run. However, Cortines--the architect of the reorganization--is confident that time within the district doesn’t necessarily mean these educational leaders are bureaucrats unable to promote a new way of thinking. We have to hope he’s right.

To make a dent in a school district resistant to change, the new administrators will have to become zero-tolerance taskmasters. Zero tolerance for excuses. Zero tolerance for low expectations for students, teachers and principals.

External forces including the voucher campaign, the breakup movement and increased vigilance from Sacramento will not allow the LAUSD much more time to measure up. Supt. Romer and the subdistrict superintendents will need to stay the course set by Cortines. This includes real rewards and sanctions for teachers and principals, strong reading and math instruction, training to ensure better teaching, and minimal meddling from the central office. It also includes substantially increasing the number of students who perform at grade level and doubling the number of students who graduate.

Romer, the 11 subdistrict superintendents and reorganization must achieve significant progress, boost test scores and lift the long-sagging reputation of the district. Time will soon run out on public education as it now exists in Los Angeles--one way or the other.