Cortines pulls the trigger on transfer students.
LAUSD TO DENY QUALITY EDUCATION TO STUDENTS.
| Join the Facebook group Stop LAUSD from denying permits |
In a press release announced today, [Daily Breeze story] LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines pulled the trigger on intra-district transfers for families seeking quality schools. No new out of district permits and students on existing permits will have them denied next year. [See Cortines new transfer policy]
Make no mistake about it, this is all about money. Your child’s education takes a back seat to LAUSD’s money woes.
“Just about every school district in the Los Angeles area is experiencing massive budget deficits but ours is the largest at $640 million,” said Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines.
Clearly Ramon Cortines best days are behind him. In his first tenure as LAUSD superintendent he bucked heads with the establishment setting up mini-districts in an effort to decentralize the top heavy districts and bring more autonomy to local schools. For many of us at that time he was a hero. But we were soon disappointed when he walked away from this interim job before he finished the job of reforming the district.
An education reformer? Not anymore. Upon his return, Cortines has not only inherited the problems left by his predecessors Roy Romer and David Brewer, Cortines has become an integral part of the problem. Under Cortines supervision, the school district has amassed a $640 million debt, seen its dropout rates climb hover around 50% and graduation rates fall below 40%. Now he’s ready to throw a tiny segment of the districts student population representing just over 1%, under the bus by forcing them to leave schools that are better managed and offer far more opportunities than their home district. Force them to enroll in schools that have been targeted by the state as having persistently failed to meet state standards.
“It is time to bring our students home to LAUSD where we still have plenty of excellent schools for them to attend and we have great teachers to instruct them.” – Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines
Still have plenty of excellent schools?
This is Ramon Cortines world view of excellent schools:
- 359 of the districts k-12 schools have persistently failed to meet the states academic targets for multiple years. Up from 292 schools in 2008. These Title I schools are designated as “PI” schools and are on the states watch list.
- 56 of his 71 high schools (78%) are “PI” schools and are on the states watch list.
- Another 11 schools (14%) have persistently failed to meet AYP but are not targeted (yet) because they are not Title I schools.
- Only 8 of Cortines 76 high schools are in the upper 50th percentile and 6 of those are in the San Fernando Valley. Only four have earned a state ranking of 7 and above.
- The entire school district is in year 3 as a “PI” district having failed to repeatedly meet state targets. It enters the “corrective action” phase where the California Department of Education must take more aggressive action to turn the district around including abolishing or restructuring the district.
- An average district dropout rate of 49.75%
- 422,654 students in the district are enrolled in “PI” schools and are eligible to transfer to non-PI schools. Up from 364,027 in 2007/08.
- The total number of “PI” schools in the district has increased from 313 to 359 between 2008 and 2009.
Ramon Cortines school district is financially broke. $640 million broke, so he’s looking under the sofa for loose dimes and quarters. It’s highly doubtful he will find enough coins to benefit a district that is in a downward spiral and losing enrollment to charter schools. What he will do is turn kids and their families lives upside down.
Because there are so few schools above the 50th percentile, students that find themselves having school choice taken away from them will soon find letters like this in their mail boxes after they enroll in their “new and improved” school advising them that it has not met the states AYP and they have the option to be bused to a non-PI school, if they can find space for them.
If they do find a seat at a non-PI school it will likely be a long bus ride paid for by the district to a distant community served by the LAUSD, to a school that will be only half as good as the school in the district that once welcomed them.
Simply stated, Cortines does not have enough seats in quality high schools available to him. And what few seats that are available should be going to the students already trapped in his under performing schools.
I just spoke with a lady in the LAUSD permits office. She emphasized that if my permit is denied, I can appeal all the way to the County level. She said the County would have the final say. I wonder if there is something political going on, regarding funding. Maybe if the County approves the permits, the County will be on the hook to provide funding for lost revenue? Is there a measure in the works that would require the county (or parents?) to reimburse districts for letting students go to other schools?
The county would not be on the hook. If parents and their students win permits on appeal all this means is that the money will follow the student to their school of choice. California’s taxpayers stand to come out ahead if students win their appeal because LAUSD is about $1500 more expensive than the schools students are permitting into.
Btw, Charter schools also have to go to the LAUSD to receive operating permits and they are frequently denied. Those schools have to go through a similar appeals process to get their operating permit.
Thanks for your reply, Westchester Dad. I still can’t believe this is happenning. When the issue arose in Beverly Hills, I worried that that El Segundo Schools might do something similar. I did not think the permit denial would come from the LAUSD side.
David, I’m old fashioned and refuse to join Facebook. But I am reading all the posts. I am sending emails out, and will write letters as well.
I’m looking for parents who send their kids to El Segundo Schools. I heard there’s a facebook page or something for us to exchange info about our situation, but can’t find it. Can anyone help me?
El Segundo just announced a parent information meeting for permit students on Monday, Apr 5, 6 p.m.at the high school. I hope to see many parents there!
any parents from Local District 5, or who attend South Pasadena Unified?
Thanks for this site, great information for your residents. The facebook page is Stop LAUSD From Denying Permits For Inter-District Student Transfers!!
We are asking folks to come to a LAUSD board meeting on April 6, 12-2pm at their headquarters, 333 BEAUDRY, LA, CA.
We moved to El Segundo from Westchester years ago because of the school district- maybe you should consider that.
Go to the Magnet school of your choice and get on their waiting list. Each school has one.