UTLA statement on results of LAUSD Public School Choice advisory vote

February 9, 2010 - Results of the LAUSD Public School Choice advisory votes were released today, and parents, students, staff, and community members overwhelmingly chose the school plans developed by local teachers, parents, and LAUSD staff over proposals by outside groups.

The local school plans won every vote of parents, students, and staff, and all but four of the community votes. Overall, 87% of parents voted for the local school plans over the outside plans. (Results are posted at lausd.net.) The votes are advisory, but together they clearly are a community mandate for the local plans. The School Board will make the final decisions on who will run the 30 Public School Choice schools on February 23.

Statement from UTLA President A.J. Duffy:

The votes are in, and the verdict is clear: Parents want teachers to drive change at their schools, not outside organizations. Overwhelmingly, parents, students, and community members picked the customized proposals developed by local teachers who know the students best. The results are even more impressive considering the process was heavily tilted in favor of charter groups, which paid for fleets of buses to ferry people to the polls.

Clearly this is a mandate for bottom-up, collaboratively developed school plans and against giving away schools to outside operators. When making the final decision on who will run these schools, LAUSD Superintendent Cortines and the School Board must listen to the parents and respect their choice, regardless of political pressure from outside operators.

UTLA strongly supports the democratic process to give parents and community members a voice in the future of our schools. This was truly a victory of substance over style. Our teachers did not have teams of specialists and reams of slick handouts like the charter organizations, but they had something much more important: comprehensive plans for academic improvement that address all students’ needs from A to Z.

These votes are the most important endorsement of all, because they come from parents, the teachers’ true partners in educating students. We will continue to build on this partnership to improve our schools.