Compton Gets Back Control of Schools
The state handed back to Compton Unified School District the reins to 38 local campuses Tuesday, ending an eight-year takeover of the school system, the longest in California history.
With a new superintendent, new school board trustees and improved test scores, the 37,000-student district is rebounding from the financial and academic dysfunction that led the state to strip it of power in 1993, officials said. But they stressed that more work remains.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to do good things for the children in this district,” said Supt. Jesse Gonzales minutes after new school board members were sworn in Tuesday.
Gonzales, a superintendent from Las Cruces, N.M., who was unanimously selected by the previous board, took office in August.
The Compton district is still bound by the terms of a February 2000 consent decree requiring certified teachers in every classroom, appropriate textbooks and graffiti removal. District expenditures will be vetted by Randolph E. Ward, who had been the state-appointed administrator and now will serve in an oversight role.
Before its state takeover, student test scores in Compton were consistently among the lowest in the state and the district had to borrow $20 million in emergency state loans.
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