Low Performing

For years, Synergy Charter Academy couldn't get the time of day from the Los Angeles Unified School District, at least not when it came to its most urgent need. Synergy, which rented space from a church in a battered neighborhood in Historic South-Central, needed a new campus -- badly. The L.A. Unified School District was building a stunning new elementary school just a block away. State law says charter schools are entitled to a share of district facilities. But every time Synergy founders Randy and Meg Palisoc asked if they could have at least a portion of the new facility, they were told, "Check back with us next year."

Foster Washington knows the odds are against him. The Los Angeles Southwest College student is a 20-year-old from a tough neighborhood in Watts where, he says, there was little encouragement or preparation for college. Recent studies suggest that students such as Washington are the least likely to stay in school, get a degree or transfer to a four-year university, hampering their future job prospects. But Washington is determined to be the first college graduate in his family of 12 siblings.

Concepciona Manuel-Flores couldn't answer many of the questions on a standardized English test in December, even though she says she's a straight-A student. "I had six or seven substitute teachers," the Markham Middle School seventh-grader said. "All we did in English was silent reading or the same assignments, over and over." Concepciona is one of the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of students at three of the city's worst-performing middle schools.

Nick Lowe focuses on continuing to hone his skills, the results of which are evident on his wryly (as usual) titled new album, "The Old Magic," which comes out as he embarks on a string of North American shows opening for Wilco. After that, he'll do a handful of solo shows, including Friday at Largo. As with his previous studio collection, 2007's "At My Age," the new album is a collection of elegantly mature, astutely sophisticated pop songs from an artist who clearly is no longer one of the new kids on the block — and utterly pleased not to be. Largo, 366 N. La Cienega Blvd., L.A. 8:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

So you think you can run a Los Angeles school? Make your case. You've got 10 minutes. Would-be school operators are taking part in a kind of Los Angeles Unified School District reality contest, presenting proposals this month at forums on campuses across the district. It's the next step in an unfolding process through which groups inside and outside the system are bidding to operate 12 low-performing schools and 18 new campuses, serving some 40,000 students. The Board of Education approved the strategy in August, and the winners for each school will be chosen before March.

There have been two features that regularly mark the history of U.S. public schools. Over the last century, our education system has been regularly captivated by a Big Idea -- a savant or an organization that promised a simple solution to the problems of our schools. The second is that there are no simple solutions, no miracle cures to those problems. Education is a slow, arduous process that requires the work of willing students, dedicated teachers and supportive families, as well as a coherent curriculum.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called on legislators Thursday to adopt sweeping education reforms that would dramatically reshape California's public education system and qualify the state for competitive federal school funding. The governor's proposed legislation, to be considered during a special session that ends by Oct. 5, was met almost immediately by criticism from the powerful state teacher unions, which called Schwarzenegger's plans rushed and unnecessary. While Schwarzenegger's goal is to boost California's chances to qualify for $4.35 billion in federal grants, known as "Race to the Top," many of his proposals go far beyond those needed for eligibility, and embrace the Obama administration's key education reform proposals.

Re "Education's Division Problem," Commentary, Nov. 13: What is the difference between a high-performing school and a low-performing school? I believe that both low- and high-performing schools have dedicated teachers and staff, sound educational programs and adequate facilities. In fact, low-performing schools have access to federal and state funds that can provide computers, supplementary materials and extra tutoring to their students. I believe the difference between low- and high-performing schools is the community and environment that surrounds them.

Re "Hooked on Phonics? We Should Lose This Addiction," by Mary Lee Griffin, Commentary, Oct. 22: Structured reading programs have helped more students than they've hurt. In California, we went through a decades-long phonics alternative, the whole-language reading instruction program and found it lacking. There seemed to be a strong causal relationship between lack of structure in the reading program at induction and the lack of interest in reading found in older students at the "low-performing schools."

Re Brian Stecher's Sept. 27 commentary on new state rewards for schools and teachers: Bonuses are just part of a long-term, multi-pronged reform effort that has already begun to turn around California's schools. Schools and teachers will be rewarded each year they meet academic achievement goals. Students who achieve in the top 10% of their class in every high school will receive scholarships. Other financial incentives will direct extra help and better teachers to low-performing schools.

The Los Angeles Board of Education made a major change in its controversial, 2-year-old policy allowing charter groups and other outsiders to take over new campuses. The board unanimously agreed Tuesday to give teachers and administrators first chance at those schools. If inside groups' plans are unacceptable, then charter operators, who mostly run schools that are nonunion, and others can apply. The rules remain the same, however, for existing, low-performing schools; any group can compete for those campuses.

In the eyes of Wall Street, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch's Achilles' heel has always been his unabashed love of newspapers. Now with Murdoch and son James scheduled to testify before Britain's Parliament on Tuesday, media analysts are hoping the phone-hacking scandal at the company's now-closed News of the World tabloid will finally convince the 80-year-old mogul that it is time to stop the presses that threaten the family empire. "Investors hate everything to do with the newspaper business," said Rich Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG.

In a bizarre game of musical chairs, nearly 1,000 Los Angeles teachers — who are guaranteed jobs somewhere in the school system — have been hunting for a school that wants them. And hundreds of them have to counter a stigma that they are undesirable castoffs, because they previously worked at low-performing schools that are being restructured. These teachers are from eight schools that are undergoing shakeups intended to bring in new talent, shed previous instructors and administrators and fundamentally change the academic culture.

Right now California's so-called parent trigger law, which allows parents at low-performing schools to force a change in their school's institutional structure via petition, is stuck in a sort of limbo. The one petition that has been delivered, at McKinley Elementary School in Compton, is delayed by legal wrangling. Meanwhile, the state Board of Education is going back and forth on how to implement the law and a legislator has introduced a bill that could render the trigger toothless. Blame the legislation that created the trigger.

Major charter-school organizations won the right Tuesday to operate at seven of 13 schools under a policy that allows bidders inside and outside the Los Angeles Unified School District to take control of new and academically struggling campuses. Charter schools got most of what they wanted by the end of a 51/2-hour meeting in which the Board of Education divvied up or relinquished 10 new campuses, including seven new high schools, and three low-performing schools. About 20,000 students will be attending those schools next year.

The state Board of Education, in its first full meeting with a majority of members appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown, moved Wednesday to put the brakes on a landmark law that gives parents the right to force major reforms at low-performing schools. The board took no action on proposed regulations to implement the law but instead will set up a working group to help determine the procedures. The panel will include those who had complained that the previous board was rushing the process without sufficiently considering their input.

California was disqualified Thursday from receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in school reform funds when federal education leaders announced that 15 other states and Washington, D.C., are in the running for billions in federal grants. The money at stake is the first round of $4.35 billion that the Obama administration plans to give states to spur reforms. California officials plan to apply for a second round of funding but were unsure exactly how to improve their chances.

I found "Vital Jobs Priced Out of Housing" (Oct. 7) by Lew Sichelman, regarding affordable housing, quite intriguing and appropriate. As a registered nurse in Los Angeles and a prospective home buyer, I am more than aware of the obstacles faced when trying to buy a home on my present salary. It has been frustrating that I cannot find a decent home at an affordable price within a short commuting distance from my job. One benefit nurses, teachers and police officers have is that if it is necessary to move outside of the area, they may easily change job locations.

It was billed as a radical transfer of power from the educational establishment to parents. It survived a furious opposition campaign. And after squeaking through the state Legislature by one vote last year, the "parent trigger" law made California history as the first successful effort to empower parents to force sweeping changes at low-performing schools. But now the fight has shifted to implementing the law, making its passage look almost easy. After months of debate and reams of revisions, state education officials were expected to vote last week to finalize details laying out how the law is supposed to work.

Los Angeles school district leaders announced Wednesday that they will split low-performing Jordan High School into three small schools that will be run by outside groups. All current employees will have to reapply for their jobs or work elsewhere. It marks the second time the Los Angeles Unified School District has targeted a campus for such a forced makeover. Fremont High School, located in Florence south of downtown, was also "restructured" last year, a move that drew fierce criticism from the teachers union and resulted in the departure of most teachers.