PARENTS UNION ENTERS LAUSD REFORM DEBATE.

Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN Staff Writer

Stepping into the battle to reform Los Angeles Unified, the founder of Green Dot charter schools announced Thursday he's launched a parents union that will demand small, safe and high-achieving public schools based on the model he created.

The nonprofit Los Angeles Parents Union, founded by Steve Barr, also will actively lobby for proposed legislation that would give Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa greater authority over the school district and the teachers union more control at local schools.

But the main goal of the Parents Union will be to advocate and promote Barr's vision for the LAUSD by implementing the six tenets he used when he created Green Dot campuses. And Villaraigosa, Barr said, has promised to go along with his plan.

``If we're successful, we'll create the best public school system in the country and change the dynamics of the community,'' Barr said at a downtown news conference.

Barr said he became convinced of the need to organize parents after traveling to Sacramento last month to testify in favor of the Los Angeles Unified School District reform bill. He was baffled, he said, when he saw 50 parents who had been bused to the state capital by the LAUSD claiming to represent the views of all district parents.

``I thought, that's a sham being pulled off. Nobody's organized parents in a real way. When I saw the parents, they were not the parents I knew.

``And I don't know what they do,'' he said. ``They seem to speak for I don't know who and I don't know what for. They seemingly speak in unison with those who protect the status quo, like the teachers union and the LAUSD bureaucracy.''

Newly elected to her second term as president of the LAUSD board, Marlene Canter expressed concern that the Parents Union was created solely to organize support for the reform legislation.

``I feel that it's very, very important for parents to be organized, to have a voice. There are many parent groups and organizations that are independent and work on what's in the best interest for parents and families.

``I'm fearful that a parents union that is attached to supporting the legislation is really a politically driven movement.''

Barr, who broke up Jefferson High into six charter schools after organizing its parents, said he already has hundreds of members and will enlist more at organizational meetings to be held throughout the LAUSD.

Parent Ignacio Garcia, whose three children attended Jefferson High, said the Parents Union will ensure that Los Angeles Unified looks out for the best interests of the students.

``I think it's time for parents to say `Enough,' for us to be united, to claim our rights and our benefits,'' said Garcia, who lives in South Los Angeles.

Parent David Wyles of Playa Del Rey said while he's not sure he supports Barr's new group, he does believe in increasing parental involvement.

``Unless the parents are included, children will not make progress,'' he said at the news conference, attended by about 70 other parents.

``Big bureaucracies like LAUSD don't respond to individual parents. They respond to collaborations of parents.''

But starting up such parent organizations has its challenges, said Bill Ring, chairman of the Parent Collaborative at the LAUSD, who tried to start a parents union four years ago.

His group's 101 elected parents and community members represent 750,000 students and their parents in the LAUSD.

``One of the things that was so challenging getting a union started years ago was the funding -- it's important to know where your money is coming from,'' said Ring, who's working on creating an independent association of parents of his own.

Barr said he has not yet accepted any donations, and will be selective about the sources of funding to maintain the group's independence.

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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PARENTAL DEMANDS

Here are the six tenets the Los Angeles Parents Union wants to implement in the LAUSD:

Cap enrollment at 500 students per campus.

Mandate college prep curriculum for all students.

Delegate control over budgets, curriculum and hiring to administrators and teachers at each school.

Allocate more money to the classroom and increase teacher pay.

Increase parental participation.

Keep campuses open later for community.

CAPTION(S):

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PARENTAL DEMANDS (see text)