Caprice Young's Plan to Break Up the Los Angeles Unified School District

By Caprice Young

LAUSD needs to be broken into 20 or more local school districts. With 750,000 students and 85,000 employees, the district is simply too large.

We can't just break off one region or another. I support thoughtfully and equitably dividing this huge organization into 20 or more neighborhood-sized education communities # new independent school districts. Smaller districts will better meet the needs of individual neighborhoods and students.

The truth about breaking up the district is that it will take time. The State Board of Education denied a Valley breakup petition two years ago because our assets, particularly magnet schools and facilities, are not equitably distributed across communities.

Here's my plan to break up the L.A. Unified School District: · Create a Commission on Neighborhood School Districts, to be appointed by the LAUSD Board Members, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the City of Los Angeles, and the other overlapping cities and the State Superintendent of Schools

· The Commission will develop a proposal to divide the entire district into 20 or more independent school districts.

· The Commission could decide to break up the school districts using our existing 11 mini-districts, or break it up into smaller parts.

· The proposal must ensure equity and fairness for all children.

· Once the Commission has completed its public process and plan development, it will first present it to the neighborhoods for the mandatory signatures, then to the State Board of Education for approval, and ultimately to the voters.

Here's why I think breaking up the district will serve parents and students better:

· I believe ALL children can learn. They deserve high expectations, encouragement, outstanding teaching, standards based curriculum and materials, fair assessment and supplemental services in a safe, well-equipped school environment.

· I believe parents are critical to our students' success. School leaders should inform parents about how they can help their students be successful and consult with them on a regular basis. Parents have a right and a responsibility to be actively engaged in their children's education.

· I believe schools should be the centers of our community. Neighborhoods should actively engage in school programs, from mentoring to football games, and should feel welcome to use school facilities for meetings, recreation and other neighborhood purposes.

· I believe that the faculty and leaders of our school sites must be meaningfully engaged in devising strategies that fit our children's individual learning needs.

· I believe education should be personal, enabling each student to acquire the skills and knowledge to pursue his or her individual aspirations successfully. Our schools and students should be supported by parents and community.

All of those principles require education to happen on a scale in which people know each other and participate in decision making directly. That cannot happen effectively in an organization of three-quarters of a million students, 85,000 employees and 4.5 million residents.

This year there will be 80 new schools under construction and 40 additional schools are being planned. We can add new magnet programs in the next several years as these new schools open and as space allows.

In the meantime, we must engage in an inclusive community process to develop a breakup plan that will enable all neighborhoods to have great schools. Voters in every neighborhood deserve the opportunity to vote on how their local schools will be governed.