MEMBERS OF THE BOARD LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

MONICA GARCIA, PRESIDENT Administrative Office

YOLIE FLORES AGUILAR 333 South Beaudry Avenue, 24th Floor
TAMAR GALATZAN Los Angeles, California 90017
MARGUERITE POINDEXTER LAMOTTE Telephone: (213) 241-7000
NURY MARTINEZ Fax: (213) 241-8442
RICHARD A. VLADOVIC
STEVEN ZIMMER RAMON C. CORTINES
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

September 25, 2009

To the LAUSD Staff and Community:

I appreciate your feedback this week regarding the criteria we should use to select our focus schools for the
year. Many of you indicated that schools demonstrating growth this past year should have the opportunity to
continue implementing their improvement plans (with the appropriate level of support). Therefore, I have
revised one element of the selection criteria for focus schools to only include schools that have shown zero or
negative growth in Academic Performance Index (API) this past year.

Final Criteria Used to Select Focus Schools for 2009-10

Schools must meet all of the following characteristics in order to be selected as a focus school:
• Program Improvement Status of 3+ years
• Zero or negative growth in Academic Performance Index (API) for the 2008-09 year
• Less than 21% proficiency in either Math or ELA
• Greater than 10% dropout rates (for High Schools only)

I received several phone calls and emails expressing concerns about being a potential “focus school” or being
“taken over by private operators.” I want to reassure everyone this process is about providing our schools with
the appropriate supports to develop and implement plans that meet the needs of our students. Being classified
as a “focus school” should not be viewed as a negative term. Instead, I want us to work together to identify
strategies that can help our schools overcome the challenges that they are facing. It will take all of us working
together to help our students reach their highest potential.

Dr. Sharon Robinson from the Superintendent’s office will be working directly with the Local District
Superintendents and school communities to develop and implement comprehensive plans that help raise
student achievement levels for our focus schools. This will not be a top-down approach, but rather, a local
school-led effort that involves parents, students, educators and staff. Schools will work with their families of
schools (feeder schools) so that we can support our children from early childhood to graduation.

I do not support the concept of handing over schools to outside providers or hostile takeovers – our students
need collaborative partnerships in order to be successful. If an organization has an innovative strategy and a
proven track record, it should bring the plan to the table for all of us to learn from it and then I can decide which
organization has the capacity to implement it most effectively. We have many successes and challenges in our
district, and there are plenty of opportunities for us to work together. The artificial walls between union and
management, district and charter, etc. need to be torn down.

Levels of Support
The attached presentation illustrates the different levels of supports and expectations for our schools this
upcoming year.
• All Schools (856 schools, including charters): will continue to focus on ensuring all students are
college prepared and career ready and ensure standards are being covered in all classes
• Program Improvement (PI) 3+ schools (260 schools, including charters & iDesign): will focus on
revising their Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA). The focus is not on compliance, but on
raising the bar for all students.
 • Increased Support & Service – Schools that are PI 3+, with zero or negative growth (68 schools,
including charters and iDesign): Local District Superintendents and their staff will be held
accountable to work with their school communities to identify specific instructional interventions
• iDesign schools: Superintendent will conduct an accountability review per the MOU with the LAUSD.
• Focus Schools – Schools that are PI 3+, with zero or negative growth, and less than 21%
proficiency/advanced in Math or English Language Arts (12 schools): Superintendent Cortines
and Dr. Sharon Robinson will work closely with the Local District Superintendents and staff to develop
plans for these schools. These schools will participate in the Public School Choice process. As
needed, appropriate staffing changes will occur.

In addition, our Local District Superintendent will work with school communities to develop plans for our 24 new
schools (the four schools at the former Ambassador hotel site have already completed a proposal process).
Outside providers will have the opportunity to submit plans to be considered as well.

To see the lists of all schools, please visit

http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,1129253&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP

School Community Led Reforms

I want us all to remind ourselves that students and parents must be at the center of all conversations regarding
our schools. Local District Superintendents and principals will be working with their parents so they understand
the successes and challenges of their schools, allow time to review the draft application process and rubric,
collect feedback on the process, and begin to develop improvement plans for their schools.

In addition, per the language of the Public School Choice resolution we will “develop a process whereby
parents, communities and educators can work with the Superintendent to initiate reforms for any school that is
in Program Improvement 3+ status.”

This process will be developed by October 27, 2009 and you may submit suggestions regarding this process to
superintendent@lausd.net

Next Steps
Based on your feedback I have revised the timeline to allow more time for school communities to develop
thoughtful plans.

• By October 20 (further details will be provided by Local District Superintendents): Local District
Superintendents & Principals will host community engagement sessions with our focus and new school
communities. These meetings will cover two topics:
• School communities will review their school report cards & new student data
• School communities will review the draft application process and rubric to identify any questions
and provide feedback to the Superintendent.
• October 27: Superintendent Cortines will present the final application process and rubric to the LAUSD
School Board
• October 28: School communities will begin development of proposals
• November 15: Deadline to submit Summary Letters
• November 17: The Workforce Stability Taskforce will submit their recommendations to the Board
• January 8: Full Applications Submitted (please note revised deadline)
• January 11-30: Applications will be reviewed
• February – Board review and vote

Finally, I have attached an updated timeline that highlights our work until October 27th.

Thank you,

Ramon C. Cortines
Superintendent of Schools
Appendix: Public School Choice Process Development Timeline

Date Activities
Week of 8/24 - Resolution Adopted by Board 8/25
- Begin working on draft process
- Weekly Update: Superintendent Summary of Process
Week of 8/31 - Distribute draft process and templates
- Weekly Update: Draft process and rubric
Week of 9/7 - Post materials at www.lausd.net
- Continue collecting feedback via email superintendent@lausd.net
- Weekly Update Email: Update on the timeline
Week of 9/14 - API scores released 9/15
- Identify schools that will participate in the process for the 2010-11 school year
(Update: list of schools will be released on 9/25)
- Continue collecting feedback via email superintendent@lausd.net
- Weekly Update Email: Superintendent determines lists of schools that will participate
in RFP process(Update: list of schools will be released on 9/25)
Week of 9/21 - Update at Board of Education Meeting (9/22)
- Workforce Stability Taskforce Kickoff (9/24 from 2:30-4pm)
- Local Districts host community meetings (to be scheduled at specific schools)
(Update: community meetings will not start until focus schools have been identified -
after 9/25)
- Continue collecting feedback via email superintendent@lausd.net
- Weekly Update Email: Updates to Frequently Asked Questions& (Update: list of
schools will be released on 9/25)
Week of 9/28 - Revise process and rubric
- Local Districts host Community Meetings (to be scheduled at specific schools)
- Continue collecting feedback via email superintendent@lausd.net
- Weekly Update Email: Updated document distributed
Week of 10/5 - Workforce Stability Taskforce (10/5 from 1pm-2:30pm)
- Local Districts host Community Meetings (to be scheduled at specific schools)
- Continue collecting feedback via email superintendent@lausd.net
- Weekly Update Email: Updates to Frequently Asked Questions
Week of 10/12 - Local Districts host Community Meetings (to be scheduled at specific schools)
- Continue collecting feedback via email superintendent@lausd.net
- Weekly Update Email: Updates to Frequently Asked Questions
Week of 10/19 - Final revisions
- Workforce Stability Taskforce (10/20 from 1-2:30pm)
- Weekly Update Email: Process and rubric documents distributed
Week of 10/26 - Presentation to the Board (10/27)
- Weekly Update Email: Summarize results from the Board Meeting