A newly constituted Los Angeles school board took its first action Wednesday by giving up control of its largest campus, allowing Birmingham High to convert itself into a charter.
The action, which took place after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for a "revolution" in city schools, followed months of bitter infighting at the school in the Lake Balboa section of the San Fernando Valley, and was a blow to teachers union leaders and others who had advocated the simultaneous creation of a union-sponsored school on the Birmingham campus. The charter will begin its first school year Aug. 19.
New board members Steve Zimmer and Nury Martinez admitted being unprepared to vote on the issue, which stirred deep passions among teachers, parents and students. Zimmer said he felt as though he were "on my Star Trek maiden voyage," and Martinez complained that she had been briefed about the months-long saga only the day before. Zimmer ultimately abstained, while Martinez joined four other board members in voting for the charter.
Trustee Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte dissented, saying she supported the concept but wanted more time to heal the wounds on the campus and prepare plans for the union-backed school.
"I do not think more time is going to heal the wounds on that campus," said board member Tamar Galatzan, a graduate of the school who represents the Birmingham area. She said it was important to act quickly.
"My community is crying out for choices," she said. "My community is crying out for innovation."
She added that she was deeply frustrated that the district can't encourage greater innovation in its non-charter schools.
"We tell schools, 'Sorry, you have to leave to innovate.' " She turned to Supt. Ramon C. Cortines: "Mr. Superintendent, we have to change that."
Change was the theme of the day. Villaraigosa spoke at a swearing-in ceremony for the two new members and board President Monica Garcia, who was reelected in March (and who won another term as board chairwoman Wednesday). The mayor, whose first term was marked by a failed effort to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District, vowed to work in partnership with the school board in his second term.
"We should all want a revolution," he said. Referring to the new members, who replaced retiring trustees Marlene Canter and Julie Korenstein, Villaraigosa said: "We have a great opportunity with the election of these individuals. There is now a powerful majority for change. Not incremental change, but transformational change."
