Board Members Present:
Ms. Marlene Canter, Chairperson
Mr. Mike Lansing, Member
Mr. Jon Lauritzen, Member
Ms. Marguerite P. LaMotte
Mr. David Tokofsky, Member

External Members Present:
Mr. Mike Dreebin, Elementary Vice President, United Teachers Los Angeles
ïMr. Jon Fullerton, Vice President, Strategy Evaluation Research and Public Policy, Urban Education
Partnership
Mr. Steve Siry, Principal, Nora Sterry Elementary School and the President of Association of
California School Administrators (ACSA)

Staff Present:
Superintendent Roy Romer
Ms. Deborah H. Hirsh, Chief Officer, Human Resources
Ms. Anita Ford, Personnel Director
Ms. Kathleen B. Price, Administrative Coordinator, Certificated Administrative Services Section
Ms. Carolina Pavia, Administrator, Certificated Recruitment Branch
Ms. Bobbi Morris, Assistant Director, Certificated Placement and Assignments
Mr. Ron Marmalefsky, Chief Human Resources Specialist, Classified Recruitment Branch
Dr. Hollie Levy, Human Resources Specialist, Personnel Selection Branch

Ms. Ford advised that new hiring requirements for the No Child Left Behind paraeducators were enacted in January 2002. She called upon Dr. Levy and Ms. Warren to address this issue.

Dr. Levy reported that paraprofessionals hired before January 8, 2002, have until January 8, 2006, to meet the new requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. All paraprofessionals must have a high school diploma or GED. By January 8, 2006, all paraprofessionals must possess an associate degree, have two years of college, or demonstrate through a state or local academic assessment knowledge of, and the ability to assist in instructing, reading, writing, and mathematics. Over 20,000 classified employees in 65 job classifications are affected.

Ms. Robyn Warren, former Chief Human Resources Specialist, described the training program for paraeducators.

Dr. Levy spoke about the testing sites, the number of employees who are in full, partial, and out of compliance, the high school diploma requirement, the utilization of the Student Information System (SIS) to report data from the Personnel Commission, and recommendations to ensure full compliance by 2006.

Speaker

Ms. Alicia Loncar, representing Service Employees International Union Local 99, expressed her concerns on the high school diploma requirement and the math section of the GED exam.

Ms. Ford and Mr. Marmalefsky responded to comments and questions raised by the Committee.

MS. LAMOTTE AND MR. TOKOFSKY'S MOTION‹PROMOTION AND TRANSFER OF PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS

Board Member LaMotte and Committee Member Tokofsky presented the following revised motion:

Whereas, There has been no policy directing the promotion and transfer of principals and teachers from low performing schools (API 1-3) to central district positions after school has officially opened; at the beginning of the school year;

Whereas, One of the goals of this District is to eliminate the achievement gap;

Whereas, Removing teachers and principals for promotions once school has begun disrupts the teaching learning process for the school and adversely affects the academic performance and achievement level of the school;

Whereas, Long-range planning is imperative in effectively operating our schools; and now, therefore, be it

Whereas, If a waiver is granted, the assigned principal will not leave the school until a permanent principal has been assigned; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That assignments, which require the transfer of a principal or teacher, must should be made prior to the opening of school to minimize disruption to the school's learning environment; and be it

Resolved further, Unless there is an emergency situation, principals and teachers will not leave the school until a replacement has been assigned; and be it finally

Resolved further, That this motion may be waived only after an exhaustive search has been done for personnel whose transfer would not negatively impact the instructional or operational environment of the school. Waivers must be approved by the local district and general superintendents and a school community meeting hosted by the local district must be called to communicate the proposed change.

Resolved, that for the good of the District and in very limited cases, the Superintendent may waive this motion before a permanent replacement is assigned.

Mr. Michael O'Sullivan, President of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, expressed his views
on the motion.

Board Member LaMotte, Committee Member Tokofsky, and Superintendent Romer responded to questions raised by the Committee.

The Committee agreed to forward the motion to the Board of Education on January 25, 2005.


MS. LAMOTTE AND MR. TOKOFSKY'S MOTION‹ADHERENCE TO THE PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATION PROCESS

Board Member LaMotte and Committee Member Tokofsky presented the following revised motion:

Resolved, That the Los Angeles Unified School District implement and utilize a merit based promotional examination system transparent hiring process for all certificated promotional administrative classifications with five or more positions, and who are members of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles; and be it finally

Resolved further, That any circumvention of this motion by means of Administrative Regulations 4213 and 4214 receive approval by the majority of the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles;

Resolved further, That the Board directs the Superintendent to bring back within 60 90 days a proposal for an examination process, which would include:

• An assessment center and budget implications

• Confidential tracers

• A ranked list incorporating a rule of five

• A process by which qualified candidates on an existing list would be integrated into newly established lists; and be it finally

• A plan by which out-of-district prospects will be subject to the same process as district personnel to ensure equity;

• A feedback system for people who remain on the eligibility list for longer than one year.

Resolved, That if this proposal is not acceptable, the Superintendent must submit a proposal to the Board to eliminate all promotional examinations and allow local superintendents and the general superintendent to make all administrative assignments.

Mr. Dan Isaacs, representing Associated Administrators of Los Angeles

Mr. Dan Basalone, representing Associated Administrators of Los Angeles

Following a lengthy discussion on the difference between a ranked list and an eligibility list, the rule of five, a transparent hiring process, and the selection of Directors, the Committee agreed to forward the motion to the Board of Education on January 25, 2005.

THE 2003-04 RECRUITMENT SEASON (FOR THE 2004-05 SCHOOL YEAR)

Ms. Pavia presented a number of charts that summarized the number of teachers hired by early entry contracts, the status of new hires over the past five years, a comparison of credentialed new hires by Local District, a comparison of credentialed and subject matter competent new hires by Local District, K-12 teacher status from September 2002 through September 2004, emergency permit history from May 2002 through September 2004, and new hire emergency permits by subject area.

Ms. Morris showed several charts that compared the number of vacancies by subject area for 2003-04 and 2004-05 and the number of displaced teachers and early entry contracts for 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Ms. Hirsch and Ms. Pavia responded to comments and questions raised by the Committee.

CERTIFICATED STAFFING AND VACANCY REPORT

A number of questions were raised by the Committee concerning year-round and traditional school staffing, the number of teacher vacancies at low-performing schools, program improvement identifier, and placement of teacher vacancies on the web site. Ms. Hirsh, Ms. Pavia, and Ms. Morris will respond to the questions at the next meeting.

Mr. Siry requested that staff from the Beyond the Bell Office make a presentation to the Committee on the recruitment of teachers and the budget for the Extended Learning Program.

Chairperson Canter noted that a future agenda topic will be recruiting day-to-day substitutes to become full time teachers.

Committee Members Superintendent's Representatives
Marlene Canter, Chair Tim Buresh, Chief Operating Officer (213.241.4133)
Jon Lauritzen, Board Member Deborah Hirsh, Chief Human Resources Officer
Mike Lansing, Board Member (213).241.6131)
David Tokofsky, Board Member Anita Ford, Personnel Director (213.241.7800)
Mike Dreebin
Jon Fullerton
Joyce Murdock
Steve Siry

2. Board Member Motions

• Ms. LaMotte - Adherence to the Promotional Examination Process

• Ms. LaMotte - Promotion and Transfer of Principals and Teachers

4. Certificated Staffing and Vacancy Report - Receive & File

5. Public Comment
Persons who wish to address the Committee may sign up at the meeting.

The Committees may consider and act upon motions, Board Reports, or other business referred to it by the Board of Education or Committee of the Whole, with respect to any properly posted matter at a meeting immediately preceding this committee meeting, where the time between that meeting and this committee meeting is less than 72 hours. Members of the public are encouraged to review the order of business or agenda for the meetings of the Board of Education or Committee of the Whole.