ACCOUNTABILITY PANEL TARGETS LAUSD PAY.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

In its first public appearance since its appointment three weeks ago, an LAUSD Accountability Task Force outlined plans Thursday to link employee pay to results in the classroom.

The 18-member task force, comprising parents, educators and researchers from across the country, are expected to present to the school board in July a range of options, rather than a single plan.

One researcher said the Los Angeles Unified School District could learn from Chicago Public Schools, which instituted a series of educational reform laws that are credited with helping boost standardized reading and math test scores to their highest levels in a decade.

``There has been a tremendous amount of achievement in Chicago,'' said task force member Patricia A. Harvey, former chief accountability officer of Chicago Public Schools.

Accountability is ``making sure schools have all the resources they need to do their job and then making sure they do their job,'' Harvey said.

The task force was appointed by Superintendent Ruben Zacarias to examine other school districts and private businesses that have successfully tied pay or promotion to performance. The group, which is made up of paid members and volunteers, also will make recommendations on what constitutes acceptable student achievement.

However, officials from United Teachers Los Angeles said they are upset that the group does not include teachers, principals or students. They passed out cups of chopped liver in protest after the meeting.

``We're concerned about the lack of teachers,'' said John Perez, a UTLA vice president.

Perez said instructors already belong to an LAUSD task force that is recommending new graduation standards. ``If teachers are good enough to help devise graduation standards, aren't they good enough to help devise accountability standards?'' he asked.

Task force member Kathleen Dixon, chairwoman of the district's Parent Collaborative, said she already has met with union representatives and will continue to inform them of the group's discussions.

``We may be the best voice for the teachers,'' Dixon said. ``We're here to look at the whole picture. We're in tune and we're listening.''

Dixon also said she and other task force members will hold six public hearings to gather input from parents districtwide on what they consider to be the most important accountability issues.

Craig Kaplan, a Santa Cruz entrepreneur who has evaluated the performance systems of the U.S. Air Force, Coast Guard and the Department of Energy, said changing an entrenched workplace culture will be the biggest challenge facing the school district.

``A culture change will be needed in order to be successful,'' Kaplan said. ``A new way of thinking is needed and the people driving the change need to stay their course.''

Task force meets in private

During the first meeting of the LAUSD's Accountability Task Force, the members met in private.

District spokesman Shel Erlich said the task force is not required by state law to meet publicly.

``This is like any group of consultants being called together by the superintendent for a specific purpose. There is no Brown Act requirement about it being open to the news media, and we are providing a press briefing,'' Erlich said.

After the meeting, Superintendent Ruben Zacarias said he would not have objected to the public and reporters attending the meeting. ``That would have been fine,'' he said, noting that the group did not discuss any sensitive issues.