MAYOR-LAUSD PARTNERSHIP DETAILED VILLARAIGOSA HAS 5 YEARS TO GET RESULTS AT TROUBLED SCHOOLS.

Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN

Staff Writer

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and L.A. Unified will unveil a partnership today that calls for the mayor to oversee two families of schools under a five-year contract that will not be renewed if the schools don't meet goals for test scores and graduation and dropout rates, according to documents obtained by the Daily News.

The partnership -- which if successful can be expanded to include more low-performing schools -- appears to model charter schools, giving each campus greater control over budget, hiring and curriculum.

The schools in the partnership will report to a nonprofit created by the mayor -- the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools -- rather than the local districts, but the LAUSD board and the superintendent will maintain ultimate control.

"Nowhere in the country will we have this kind of partnership," Villaraigosa said Tuesday, adding that he expects to see improvements by the end of the first year. "We're excited about this effort. It's a long time coming.

LAUSD Superintendent David Brewer said the schools he eventually will propose for the partnership will go to the school board for approval in the coming months.

"Our mutual goal is to work collaboratively to ensure that children in these schools graduate from high school college-prepared and career- ready," he said.

The district plans to contract with Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, which will provide oversight and set policy, but the group's executive director will be empowered with day-to-day management.

The mayor will manage the partnership and appoint the board of directors -- which will include representatives from schools and the community. The draft of the agreement did not include names of appointees.

The plan emphasizes that there must be buy-in from a "significant number" of teachers, administrators, classified staff, parents, students and community members. The draft did not define that number, but the teachers union standard for such agreements is a two-thirds vote.

Interest in joining the partnership schools will be gauged through petitions that could be signed by teachers, administrators, classified staff, parents, students or community members.

By mid-October, Brewer, in collaboration with the board and the mayor, will create a narrow list of schools from which to choose. The chosen schools will be named in September and are expected to open no later than the 2008-09 school year.

The two high schools that will be in the mayor's clusters must have an Academic Performance Index of 1 or 2 -- among the lowest ranked schools in the state.

The families will include the feeder elementary and middle schools of the chosen high schools, but not all the schools in the feeder pattern have to be included in the partnership.

Villaraigosa said they will start with two families of schools -- as was proposed under his failed legislation, Assembly Bill 1381 -- and if successful, expand to include more schools.

There are 20 LAUSD high schools within the city that fit the criteria. Roosevelt and Crenshaw highs are two on the list with whom the Mayor's Office has already had conversations.

Like charters, the mayor's schools will also get freedom from LAUSD policies, except those mandated by state or federal law.

For example, charter school Granada Hills High School can depart from LAUSD policy and create its own requirement that if students have six unexcused absences, they get an F in that class.

The partnership also will work with collective-bargaining units to make existing agreements more flexible for schools so there's more freedom to carry out the reforms.

The district and the partnership also will determine the formula for per- pupil funding, which will likely lead to more dollars reaching the school site rather than being filtered through the LAUSD bureaucracy.

The Mayor's Office will help develop a comprehensive plan for each family of schools and help facilitate services from the county, businesses and other entities to improve social, health, economic and other community services, according to the draft of the plan.

Behind the scenes, the community organizing efforts have already begun.

The Los Angeles Parents Union has already spoken to the mayor about the possibility of involving their parents in organizing for the possible clusters, said Ryan Smith, executive director of the nonprofit group.

And even though the partnership has not officially been announced, resistance to the plan has already begun.

LAUSD parents gathered Tuesday at Breed Street Elementary School -- in Roosevelt's feeder pattern -- to decry the mayor's possible oversight of that cluster of schools.

About 30 parents and 35 students attended the rally to protest the exclusion of parents and teachers so far in the process and to express a lack of confidence in Villaraigosa's ability to operate their schools, organizer Petra Villanueva said.

Villanueva said she doesn't believe the mayor will engage their community over the next few months to determine whether they will be in his clusters.

"I oppose the mayor because he never works with us and the schools and we were never involved in the new plan," said Villanueva, who has a child at Roosevelt and two grandchildren at its feeder, Euclid Elementary.

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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Highlights of the mayor's deal

Five-year agreement.

Benchmark goals on graduation rates, dropout rates and test scores.

If goals are not met, deal will end after five years; if they are met, it can be extended.

Schools in the partnership will have flexibility with their budgets, hiring and curriculum in exchange for increased accountability.

Schools also would have freedom from LAUSD policies, except those mandated by state or federal law.

Schools can choose not to use LAUSD services in areas such as professional development, curriculum development, IT support and purchasing.

Each school will have a governing council comprised of principals, teachers, classified staff, students and parents.

Governing council will be responsible for approving annual budgets and recommending selection of the school leader.

Each school will create goals to increase accountability, student achievement, student safety and parent satisfaction.

Per-pupil funding will be determined by LAUSD and the partnership.

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Highlights of the mayor's deal (see text)