Manual Arts votes for innovation

Antero Garcia, an English teacher at Manual Arts High, writes:

Results from the teacher vote regarding entering LAUSD’s Innovation Division were tallied last week. With 123 of our teachers voting to enter the new LAUSD program, as well as 93% of the parents voting for the program, it looks like Manual Arts will be joining a handful of select schools in creating our own  pathway for the success of our students.

Like the other schools in the Innovation Division, Manual Arts will work hand-in-hand with two network partners to ensure quality change for our students. WestEd and MLA Partnership Schools will help guide student-, teacher-, parent-, and community-centered change over the next five years.

For many of us, the tallied votes yesterday were a much-needed relief after working toward entering the Innovation Division since last August. Though the voting only ushers in much more work for the school’s community in the coming months, the announced results were met with grateful handshakes and enthusiastic hugs from many of Manual Arts’ teachers, students and community partners. For the 123 teachers who took a chance by voting for something new, this school reform feels refreshing, enticing, and exciting. The possibility of truly improving Manual’s students’ equity reaffirms my passion to create change in the classroom.

Comments

[John E. McCue]

The finest teachers I ever had were the adult education teachers in the 1940's at Manual Arts High School.. Not only were the teachers exciting to be with, the students (who spoke with many accents) were thrilled to be there and made great efforts to learn. It was from these teachers and these students that I learned how exciting education can be. As a point of remembereence, the best geometry student was blind.