Garfield High among 12 schools available to outside bidders

Garfield High, which became nationally known as the real-life setting for the film “Stand and Deliver,” will be among the first group of local schools eligible for takeover because of persistent academic failure, a high-level district source has told The Times.

Garfield’s selection means that the nation’s second-largest school system will invite bidders — from inside and outside of the district — to run the East Los Angeles campus of 4,600 students.  This “request-for-proposal” process could apply to more than 250 schools under a Board of Education resolution passed last month, but the initial set of schools will number 12, sources said.

Included are Jefferson High in Central-Alameda, Lincoln High in Lincoln Heights, Burbank Middle School in Highland Park and Maywood Academy High in the southeast L.A. County city of Maywood.

[UPDATED: In addition to the schools named above, the following schools also are on the list: Gardena High in Gardena, San Pedro High in San Pedro, San Fernando Middle School, Carver Middle School in South Park, Griffith Joyner Elementary in Watts, Hillcrest Elementary in Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw, Hyde Park Elementary in Hyde Park.] 

Sources supplied the information on a confidential basis because they did not have permission to disclose it. In an interview Thursday, district Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said he would release the list today, but only after notifying senior officials of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Garfield High, which for decades has served a largely immigrant population east of downtown, reached its recent high-water mark in the 1980s, when math teacher Jaime Escalante built a famed calculus program that became the subject of a book and subsequent movie. Under his leadership, dozens of students passed the Advanced Placement calculus test every year, a rare feat even at the nation’s elite high schools. 

Last year, only 5% of Garfield students tested as proficient in any math class. The school qualified for possible takeover as one of more than 250 that had consistently failed to meet federal benchmarks and thus was designated as falling into “Program Improvement” status. The board resolution applied to any school with that designation for three or more years.

Cortines later refined the criteria. “Focus” schools, as he called them, would have to meet additional criteria: Less than 21% of students proficient in math or English and schoolwide improvement of less than 10 points on the state’s Academic Performance Index, which is largely based on standardized test scores. In addition, high schools would have a dropout rate greater than 10%.

Garfield qualified easily. Moreover, the school has the lowest rank, 1 of 10, when compared with schools statewide.  But that does not make Garfield’s selection noncontroversial or uncontestable.

When compared with schools that serve similar students, Garfield rates a 6 of 10, which puts it in the upper half of state schools by that yardstick. An independently operated charter school, for example, would be eligible for renewal if it achieved a 4 of 10 in this category. Charter schools are exempt from some rules governing traditional schools, including adherence to the district’s union contracts.

And although Garfield dropped three points on this year’s Academic Performance Index, it had improved by 44 and 25 points the previous two years. That gives the school a three-year average gain of 22 points annually, far surpassing the level of improvement that Cortines sought for just one year.

“It’s hard to have constant progress each year,” said social studies teacher Brian Fritch. “We’re doing our best. People here really care about their jobs and they’re trying to do well.”

These efforts have included a recent intervention program that includes Saturday school and after-school tutoring and faculty collaboration that entails reviewing data to refine teaching strategies, Fritch said.

The expectation that Garfield would be put up for bidding has affected the campus climate, Fritch said.
“The mood is not good,” he said. “There is a lot of fear, uncertainty and anger. We have a lot of teachers confused about what the next step will be. People don’t feel included in the process and feel rushed. Even students talk about it.”

Garfield has been a particular reform battleground in recent weeks. The school has been targeted by The Parents Revolution, a group initiated within the charter-school organization Green Dot Public Schools. Its organizers assert they have signatures from community parents equal in number to more than half the Garfield student body. They say that the district must either improve Garfield or face competition from startup charter schools that would surround the Garfield campus.

The district’s action, in opening Garfield to bidding, means a charter school can now vie to manage Garfield. The school board's school-control resolution, authored by Yolie Flore Aguilar, also applies to 51 new schools set to open over the next four years.

Another organization involved at Garfield has been the local nonprofit InnerCity Struggle. It has pushed the “pilot school” model, under which Garfield would be divided into separate, independent small schools that, unlike charters, would retain a close affiliation with the school district. InnerCity Struggle has especially close ties with school board President Monica Garcia.

On campus, Fritch is trying to organize an internal reform proposal. He was among a delegation of about 20 Garfield teachers Thursday who toured pilot schools already operating within L.A. Unified

-- Howard Blume

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Comments

[Latina Fatale]

This is absolutely RIDICULOUS. Every time I blink the public education system is being systematically dismantled.

[Henry I]

Why do we have a Board of Education??? Let's have parents with school age children pay for there education to private education firms-then we can eliminate the education portion from our taxes.

[sethook]

So what is Cortines' job now? Increase the educational performance of the school system or just act as auctioneer as the system fades away? Seems like he's paid a lot of money for little results by the students. Are any of the mayor's schools being auctioned off for poor performance?

[Sal Valdez]

Perhaps Burger King would like to run Garfield? They couldn't do any worse than Green Dot.

[David Tokofsky]

If these initial announcements are true, empirical data is taking a back seat to politics. So what's new? For example, Maywood Academy has not been open for 5 years and thus is not a PI 5 school under federal law. Maywood has geopolitical tensions. The site is a top management problem above all factors. Next Burbank MS which has safety problems, is only a PI school due to participation rates rather than reading or math results. Two new magnets schools there will help, but perhaps other motives of politics are at play. Lincoln HS is not Jefferson High. Lincoln High has strong academics compared to Jefferson's bottom scores. So why would Jefferson be praised repeatedly by Beaudry and staff promoted when it is ready for the raffle. Lastly Garfield High has been on year round for 30 years but will end year round next year through a new school being built. Why not give the community a chance to improve on traditional calendar with 180 days rather than 163 rather than raffling the school off to mercenaries? What appears to be consistent is that these schools are pushed by politics and politicians rather than instructional issues and data. There are schools whose data is horrible, dead low, low and lower; and they will probably be left off the list because there are not enough politics to put them on the list. And there are LAUSD Charters whose scores justify immediate raffling of them off, but will one charter be on the list? I urge others who have data to post the comparisons with sites so we can see the politics for what it is: non-kid focused; just a facilities fixation.

[Ricardo]

There is an untold story here. Escalante was driven out of Garfield because of "unprofessional" jealousy. He was hated by the other teachers because he wouldn't tow the party line. He was a Republican. He was a Bolivian, not a Chicano. They were relieved when he was gone because then they could go back to filling the teaching slots to fit the needs of the administrators rather than based on who could actually teach the subject. When are the authorities going to get serious about corruption in public education.

[Greg]

"Under his leadership, dozens of students passed the Advanced Placement calculus test every year, a rare feat even at the nation’s elite high schools."

First, there is no passing or failing grade on an AP exam, just scores ranging from 0 to 5. Second, doing well on the AP calculus test is not a rare fest at many good high schools throughout the USA.

[southbaysm]

Henry, in an ideal free market economy that would be nice. I would also like to not pay taxes for raods and freeways I do not use, or fire services for people who live in the foothills, etc.

[LAUSD grad]

Henry I - having parents pay out of pocket for education is a terrible idea. Who can afford it in this economy? Maybe YOU should go back to night school and learn the differences between THERE, THEIR, THEY'RE.

[Johnny G]

Henry: The benefit of public education is a society-wide benefit, and in order for it to function properly, everyone needs to contribute. When everyone contributes, everyone has a stake in making sure the system functions at its best. There is no profit motive when the goal of public education is to have a citizenry that can participate in democracy. Unfortunately, school systems are funded by the property taxes in each locality. Ever since Prop 13 passed, the money that has gone into the public school system has dropped significantly, because property tax was limited to 1% and many properties have not been reassessed since the 1970's. Property value is reassessed when there is a sale of property, but not a transfer of property. Thus, corporations especially get away with keeping their property taxes down to a minimum, because instead of selling property, they just transfer it in a buy out of a company. We should abolish this practice, and furthermore, we should pool together all the money in California from property taxes (after abolishing Prop 13) and distribute it evenly so that we truly can have equal opportunity in the classroom.

[concerned community member]

Now my tax dollars are going to go to an unproven private school charter. Yes the charter can perform and raise scores with students they select. How long will they take to turn Garfield around with all students included? Who will supervise them? Who will have supervision over tax payer money? I agree Garfield needs to improve. UTLA members need to understand theat they are there for student achievement not the other way around. Will parents be held accountable? Students held accountable?

[The Answer]

This IS ridiculous, and outrageous. I attended GHS in the 1980's. It is sad that instead of pouring the district's resources and energy into making these schools better, they're just dumping them. They're consolidating their resources to "focus" on already high performing schools. (Guess who attends these schools!) I believe there are strong racial/ethnic AND class biases here that are motivating these decisions. If the district isn't careful, the lawsuits are sure to come.

[Robert D. Skeels]

Resisting this corporate privatization agenda, especially at the famed Garfield High School, is paramount. Nothing would be sadder than Petruzzi, Barr, Rose, and Austin getting their filthy corporate claws on  Garfield with its storied history including the East Los Angeles blowouts and Jaime Escalante.

LAPU/PR/Green Dot will be sure to teach the corporate values of their benefactors including Broad, Gates, the Waltons, and other right wing ideologues in place of social justice. Green Dot's Locke Charter actually contains language about children being "required to demonstrate a believe in the VALUE OF CAPITALISM. [emphasis mine] This no holds barred school privatization plan warms the hearts of extreme reactionary right wing corporatization advocates like Newt Gingrich, The Hoover Institution, The Hudson Institute, and the Cato Institute. To be sure Petruzzi, Barr, Rose, and Austin's right wing agenda is not unlike the Texas school board wanting to remove César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall from textbooks.

HANDS OFF OUR SCHOOLS! HANDS OFF GARFIELD HS!

Join parents, community activists, and teachers from several of the schools mentioned in the above article tonight (09/25/09) at the Potluck with the Trinational Coalition to Defend Public Education in Highland Park. Email me for information rdsathene@sbcglobal.net

[Tony Shen]

Hey Tony,
I am sure you are probably aware of all this info.
Just in case not....
good day!
Daryl

[Hector Gonzalez]

Public education is the only true equalizing program in our country, it is the foundation of our economy, the key to our competitive edge, and front line solution to many our problems. The abandonment of Garfield High School by the Board of Education and LAUSD shows their lack of courage and integrity when put up against well-organized special interest groups that care more about service contracts than students. Garfield was a school that achieved great success, continues to provide a quality education, and is improving to reestablish its previous academic success.
If the School Board cared about giving parents and the community a voice they would have given parents and stakeholders a decisive vote over the future of their school. Instead parents were just given an “advisory” vote and a politically beholden School Board gets to make the decision. Garfield should be taken off the takeover list, the school board should be recalled, Cortines should be fired, and this resolution should be repealed.

[Jose Q. Public]

...and so the full sub-contracting of education begins. While we fight for a public option in health care we quickly and without question begin to dismantle the public option in education--from K-12 through CSU and UC with extreme and constrictionist free market ideologies that have served to tank our national and global economies. pray for the children.

[AdoptiveFather, Los Angeles CA]

I am baffled why some people are so concerned about individuals having control over school spending - VOUCHERS!

The way the current system works, politicians and teachers unions carve up a huge pile of money. Parents and students are powerless since they don't control the money.

Give control of the money to individual parents and schools will improve dramatically. Giving parents control of the money disperses it which makes it extremely difficult for teachers target other than to improve performance, just like every other business.

Incumbant politicians don't want to give control of the money to parents because they lose the golden goose of campaign contributions.

[SM]

*In this economy we are all worried about our jobs, lucky us that have them but if that's what Mr. Fritch is worried about the most, he should consider a career change. What's gonna happen with the kids? As a teacher, shouldn't that be a priority? Do teachers need to feel threatened about losing their jobs in order to actually do their jobs? *Mr. Tokofsky, in regards to GHS, in two community meetings with Ms. Flores Aguilar in July and August, we begged and pleaded to give us a chance as the school is getting ready to change to a traditional school year and she refused postpone the vote, saying our progress was not good enough. That our community was satisfied with too low a standard. * Greg, for colleges to accept your scores for credit a student must recieve a 3, 4 or 5. Scores 1 and 2 are not accepted and considered Not Passing.
* The Parents Revolution did not clarify the details of the plan in obtaining all these signatures from other parents. Students were offered Starbucks gift cards in exchange for their signatures.

[BW]

Johnny G, stop blaming Prop 13 for the school's problems. Repealing Prop 13 will make the incompetent teachers and administrators more richer. It's not going to improve the schools one bit. You want to throw money at the problem when there is no solution other than to overhaul the school district and make it easier to abolish tenure, the union and the politics that are contributing to the problem.

[SpringHawk]

the problem isn't with the students at Garfield, it's with the negligent parents who think "public education" means "day care center"

[fsl]

Charter schools are mutating into another bureaucracy. Their appeal to the power structure and the parent-politicos is that there is no teacher's union to contend with. Too bad. Teacher empowerment is essential to educational reform.

But sadly there are no good guys in this story. In the recent budgetary bloodletting, the union sacrificed young, fresh, motivated teachers to protect the old crust--administrator's salaries were saved by putting APs back in the classroom. Meanwhile the thugs and bullies in the classroom are winning at the intimidation game. The losers are the good kids who really want to better themselves.

[Luis Estrada]

Good. It's about time the failing L.A.U.S.D. is being replaced. This sad district has far too long thrown away our children's futures with poor management and blame everyone else attitude. I'm just glad I'm alive to see it happen every step of the way.

[Shoe Maker]

This was the final shoe to drop. If you follow the string of events that start all the way back to the Mayor's failed bid to take over schools you will realize the taxpayers of Los Angeles have been duped by a small but powerful group of people whose sole goal was to control schools in LAUSD.

GHS has made great progress the past 3 years, but the staff lost it's focus on the prize. They celebrated the 44 point gain but failed to continue to roll up the sleeves and focus on learning instead of teaching.

Whomever takes over GHS, and I'm sure it will be somehow associated with Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, will be in a prime position to improve the school. Going off year-round will boost scores simply because the faculty will all be on the same page at the same time.

It's funny when Cortines visited GHS last year he commended the school for the gains they had. Funny how he now wants to turn it over to an outside group thus putting the school into chaos.

GHS needs to be reformed but throwing out the baby with the bath water is ill advised.

[GHS class of 2000]

as a former student of GHS, and current teacher within the LAUSD, its a sad day. Stats and data can be minipulated alot, to from any current argument. Alot of Charters dont have to accept special needs students so when u look at there scores its not fair. Garfield problems can be fixed by splitting the school up into two smaller schools housed in the same campus, two principals, two diffrent set of teachers and administrators, those allowing for one principal to control and manage far fewer student and teacher and not the rediculous number that they have to deal with today. Even though the enrollment will go down next year it still will be to crowded and having smaller school in a school will just bring the case load down.

[Justin]

Im 12, what is this?