The Los Angeles Unified School District is in crisis. What is needed in response to this crisis is not more of the same but a break from the past. The initiative introduced here will dramatically change the current structure of the District. Under this Multiple District Plan, the majority of functions currently provided by the central office will be transferred to eleven, largely autonomous districts. These eleven local districts will be held accountable for improving student achievement and providing rapid and effective response to local concerns. The central office will exist primarily to provide tactical support and services to the eleven districts. The yardstick for measuring success at all levels - from the classrooms, to the schools, new districts and central office - will be the academic achievement of all students, including those in every ethnic and socio-economically disadvantaged subgroup.

Background for Change

Los Angeles has some excellent schools and a number of indicators show that District students are performing better. Average scores of District students on the SAT 9 have increased 2% in each of the last two years. Student and staff attendance is up. More students are taking Advanced Placement courses. In addition, 168 teachers have achieved the prestigious distinction of certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and they are just a fraction of the District's many dedicated, highly-qualified teachers, administrators and support personnel who are committed to improving student achievement. These achievements need to be celebrated.

At the same time, the District's achievements are overshadowed by some serious problems. Student achievement is still unacceptably low. One-fourth of the District's teachers lack adequate qualifications. The District has been taken to task for its handling of real estate acquisition, environmental safety, budgeting, and other functions. Coverage of the District in the press is almost always negative and on occasion outright hostile.

We need to recognize that these problems are symptoms of a more general problem involving the management of the District. In a 1997 review of the management practices of the District commissioned by the Los Angeles Board of Education, Arthur Anderson Consulting delivered a stinging and harsh indictment of the District. The Anderson Report characterized the District's management in the following manner:

"Years of political in-fighting have left their mark on the District. For example, it has exacerbated the miscommunication and mistrust among the District's senior management resulting in a disparate and fractured organization. Further complicating matters is the District's apparent distaste or inability to hold individuals accountable for their performance, particularly at the senior management level. Unfortunately, it is the students and other employees within the District who are most adversely affected by this situation. "District productivity is hampered by political gamesmanship and the maneuverings of the Board, senior staff and their representatives. The lack of trust and respect among peers is evident through viewing their communications and looking at their actions towards each other. Congenial talk with limited real action and an abundance of protective memos seems to be the modus operandi. This environment is very inefficient and characterized by limited cross-functional collaboration between divisions. The Board, senior staff and divisions work most effectively together in crisis-type situations where they rally for the good of the District, temporarily setting aside their own priorities. Cross-divisional communication and collaboration are not regularly initiated processes, but rather requirements in a crisis, and limited in the everyday work environment."

A Vision for Change

Fortunately, a consensus has emerged around a vision for the new District culture. In general, there is agreement that the new vision should emphasize the following:

• child and family concerns over adult concerns
• results over process
• genuine communication over superficial congeniality
• risk-taking and responsibility over protective memoranda
• teamwork and interdependency over turf-building and in-fighting

• need for better communication between schools and the public
• need to change the culture of the principal as the authority and instructional leader
• more positive reports and recognition for outstanding teachers and students

The Multiple District Plan

The Multiple District Plan will create eleven districts with a superintendent for each who will directly report to the General Superintendent of Schools. Each district will have a thirteen-member parent/community advisory council comprised of no fewer than eight parents with the remaining members divided between community and business leaders. In addition, each district superintendent may appoint up to six ex-officio members to the council consisting of teachers, classified employees, and administrators. Every three months the chairpersons from the eleven district councils will meet with Board Members in a special session to discuss the successes and challenges of the eleven districts. The advisory councils will play a role in the performance reviews of the district superintendents. These reviews are to be made available to the public and posted on the LAUSD website.

This plan is the first step in a process that will dismantle the old District culture and create the basis for lasting educational change. The recommendations in this proposal will shift funds and authority to the newly formed districts while creating a central office that provides tactical support and services to the districts.

Building from the cluster model, we have constructed a District organizational model that has as its primary goal improving student achievement through an emphasis on reading in all core subjects. Granted, this District organizational model alone will not, in and of itself, raise student achievement, but it will lead to greater responsiveness to the children, families, and communities; more collaboration among administrators, teachers and parents; and increased accountability for results.

We are also proposing a new system for staffing the new district offices. Certificated personnel, including teachers and administrators from elementary, middle and senior high schools, will be assigned to either two- or three-year staggered terms at the eleven district offices and then will be returned to their previous school-site assignments. This will allow a greater number of personnel to bring the recency of their classroom or administrative experiences to these offices, thus providing a flow of fresh ideas in the delivery of instructional methodology and management support services. In addition, a core staff with expertise in essential areas will have the opportunity to move from schools, clusters and the central office to serve at the local districts.

Within each district, clear lines of authority and responsibility will be established to ensure appropriate accountability.

· District superintendents report directly to the General Superintendent of Schools and develop strategic plans for their districts collaboratively with stakeholder groups. The evaluations of their effectiveness will be completed by the General Superintendent of Schools based upon achievement of educational goals, effective use of delineated authority, responsiveness to schools' needs, and field and central office staff recommendations. Each district superintendent will respond to the needs of students, parents and the local area community and have the authority to take the appropriate action.

• Principals and teachers bear the main responsibility for achieving a school's educational goals. Principals' evaluations will include the effective use of their decision making authority and leadership roles to achieve measurable improvements in school achievement through standards-based instruction. In addition, principals will be evaluated based on their ability to develop parent and community outreach programs and on the quality of their collaboration with staff and parents. Teachers will be responsible for creating an environment for increasing student achievement through standards- and content-based instruction through an emphasis on instructional practices that develop reading skills and comprehension in all subjects. The quality of collaboration with parents will also be reviewed. The District is committed to finding new ways to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers who will be able to deliver these educational services effectively.
• Student Health and Human Services personnel will effectively provide educational, psychological and medical support to the districts, schools, and communities they serve.
• Children Centers will effectively provide the early childhood K-12 experience. Adult and Career Education will play an integral role in the recruitment, training and instruction of adult learners.
• Classified employees, both directly and indirectly, also play a critical role in the student achievement of the District. Therefore, the ultimate goal of improving student achievement will require a team effort that fully involves all employees.
• Central office staff will provide tactical support to the schools and the district superintendents. Their effectiveness in providing this support and service will be evaluated by the district superintendents and schools. The overall performance evaluation will be made by the General Superintendent of Schools.

Every two years each district will undergo a formal review process by the General Superintendent of Schools; informal reviews will be conducted annually. The goal of these evaluations will be to celebrate and institutionalize the successes achieved and to forcefully address the identified challenges and make the appropriate changes. Of course, obvious problems will be addressed immediately at the district office level.

How Is This Plan Different?

The consolidation of clusters into districts is not a new idea. When discussing his reorganization plan in November 1999, Dr. Zacarias stated his goal to "improve student achievement through a significant management restructuring of the school district using a private sector model." Indeed, for several decades up until the mid-90s, the District had been organized into regions similar to the ones being proposed here.

The District's experience with clusters over the past several years has demonstrated that although the clusters created smaller organizational entities within the District which were often successful, the large number, 27, caused unanswered challenges in:

• student access and equity issues among clusters
• leadership anomalies
• communication disconnect with parents, teachers and administrators
• lack of unity of purpose in resolving defined problems and achieving District goals
• responsibility with little authority

Process of Implementation

The Board of Education will receive the final plan on March 14, 2000. This plan will include organization charts, numbers of personnel, missions, roles, and responsibilities of various offices. We are working on all aspects of the plan and attempting to answer as many questions as possible. However, we may never be able to answer all questions in detail or provide enough specifics. Any effort to create significant organizational changes, such as the ones being initiated here, requires that we be fluid and flexible enough to respond to daily, monthly or annual developments. Therefore, these plans are a beginning, not an end. Given the unpredictability of day-to-day operations and significant events, it is expected that these plans will evolve in response to the challenges and circumstances that lie ahead.

During the past several months, we have been talking to a great number of people who are interested in improving the education of the District's children, including parents, business people, teachers, administrators, community members, union officials, and elected officials. We will continue to have these inclusive discussions over the next several months. In the meantime, the following timeline has been developed to guide this process over the next several months. Our goal is to have the eleven districts operational by July 1, 2000.

Recommended Timeline

Concept Paper to Board of Education and Public at a Special Board of Education Meeting..........January 11

Public Review and Comments on the Concept Paper..................................................... January 11-February 28

Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Begin Planning
and Development to Move Resources Closer to Schools and Districts..............................January 12-June 30

Develop Realignment Proposal to Move Central Office
Functions Closer to Schools and Districts...............................................................................January 12-March 1

Preliminary Identification of New District Office Sites............................................................ January 12-May 26

Meetings with Union Leaders and the Parent Collaborative........................................................... January 17-28

Multiple District Plan Submitted to Special Committee of the Whole................................................... March 14

Central Office Reorganization Plan Submitted to Special Committee of the Whole.............................March 14

Public Review and Comments on the Draft Plans................................................................................ March 14-31

Appropriate Notification Sent to Potentially
Affected Certificated and Classified Employees.........................................................................March 15-June 30

Multiple District and Central Office Reorganization
Plans Submitted to Board of Education for Approval.................................................................................April 11

* Applications Available for Selection of District Superintendents..........................................April 12-May 26

* Applications Available for Positions in the 11 Districts.............................................................April 12-May 5

* Non-School Based Staff Receive Information Regarding Assignments..................................April 12-May 5

* Assignment of Central Office Contract Management Personnel...................................................... April 17-21

* Selection of Personnel for 11Districts.................................................................................................... May 10-19

** Selection of District Superintendents........................................................................................................... July 1

Multiple District and Central Office Reorganization Plans Implemented.......................................................July 1

Performance Evaluation of 11District Superintendents Submitted to the Board of Education........May 1, 2001

* assuming Board of Education approval of the reorganization plan on April 11
** selection made by the incoming General Superintendent of Schools

Conclusion

The success of this plan can have an enormous impact on the more than 710,000 students of the District, both during their time in school and throughout their adult lives. The impact extends beyond the city of Los Angeles since the District's boundaries encompass Cudahy, Gardena, Huntington Park, Lomita, Maywood, San Fernando, Vernon, West Hollywood and nineteen parts of other municipalities. If LAUSD is successful, then the city of Los Angeles and the adjacent areas we serve will also be successful. As people across the country have discovered, their futures are tied inextricably to the quality of their local educational systems.

Whether the need for change is identified by parents, teachers or others, it is obvious that change is necessary to improve student achievement and to restore public trust. Whenever change occurs, there is understandable concern: change is difficult. However, if we truly believe our goal is improving student achievement, then reorganizing central offices to effectively accomplish that goal is paramount. It is the right thing to do.

LAUSD Re-organization Map