April 2, 2015
Dr. Ramon Cortines, Superintendent
Los Angeles Unified School District
333 South Beaudry Av, 24th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Dear Mr. Cortines:
This is an official communication from the Steering Committee (SC) of the 20th St. Parents
Union Chapter (PUC). We would like to formally advise you that we will be invoking the
provisions of California’s “Parent Empowerment Act” by launching a petition-gathering
drive of 20th St. parents beginning this Thursday, April 2.
We believe that the current academic situation at our school, where almost 60% of our
students cannot read at grade level, is unacceptable. We have been organizing for over a
year to work towards changes in the school. Based on conversations with other parents
and some of the educators at our school, we have developed a list of formal objectives –
things we believe must be changed in order to have meaningful improvement for our
children. Those objectives are attached – they break down into four main categories.
1) Improved teaching and learning
2) A true partnership with the parents and the community
3) A strong and effective leadership
4) A strong school culture and climate
Unfortunately, after many conversations with educators and district staff, we have not yet
seen urgent and effective action to address these issues. This is why we are launching our
petition campaign. We are still hopeful we can work out a deal with the district that gives
our kids the high quality school they need, but we can no longer afford to “wait and see.”
After doing our research, we currently believe that the LAUSD Pilot School model gives us
the best chance to achieve our Parents Union Objectives for improving the school. The
majority of our students will go on to pilot schools at Nava Middle School and Nava High
School, and those schools seem to be making significant progress towards getting all
students a high quality education. We believe establishing a K-12 pilot school pipeline
would be good for our community. And we think the local autonomy and staffing flexibility
given to Pilot Schools will open the door to the sort of changes and increased accountability
we need at 20th Street Elementary. We are always willing to consider other credible plans
the District might put forward to meet our objectives, but right now the Pilot School seems
like our strongest option to create the type of school our kids need.
We know that a full Pilot School conversion likely couldn’t be completed until the 2016-17
school year but we look forward to working with LAUSD and 20th St staff that want to help
us in creating big positive changes as quickly as possible at our school.
The premise of our petition campaign, however, is that we cannot afford to simply bet our
children’s futures on the hope that the District is able to help us without any backup plan. If
we do not receive an acceptable Pilot School proposal or similarly strong school
turnaround plan by May 1st, 2015, we will be submitting our petitions. This will give us the
ability to open up the process to potential charter school operators. At that point, just as
happened at 24th Street Elementary School two years ago, the District will likely have to
compete against any interested charter school operators to retain control of the school,
with the ultimate decision in the hands of the parents. We have many teachers at the school
that we would like to keep, and we are biased in favor of an agreement with the District,
but at the end of the day we must do whatever it takes to get a better school for our kids.
As you are surely aware, many previous parent organizing campaigns in LAUSD and
elsewhere have been met with a variety of unethical and illegal behavior on the part of
district staff, as part of a broader attempt to intimidate or harass parents away from
exercising their rights. This behavior is not only wrong – it is strictly prohibited by the
regulations for the Parent Empowerment law. We hope and expect that you will do
everything in your power to ensure that no such misconduct is directed towards parents at
20th Street Elementary.
Lastly, we know that the LAUSD Board passed a resolution sponsored by Board Member
Zimmer concerning the Parent Empowerment Act. Although that resolution does not
inhibit our rights under this statewide law in any way, we presume that this notice will give
you the ability to comply with both the letter and spirit of the resolution.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions related to our initiative. LAUSD
has developed a track record of working with Parents Unions at other schools to make
significant changes together – we hope that you will be able to take the urgent action
required in partnership with us for the future of our students. Thank you in advance or
your cooperation in this matter.
Respectfully,
______________________________________
Mrs. Auri Muralles, Coordinator
20th St. Parents Union
______________________________________
Mr. Omar Calvillo, Secretary
20th St. Parents Union
cc: Roberto Martinez, Instructional Superintendent, ESC East
Jorge Posada, Instructional Director, ESC East
Monica Garcia, LAUSD School Board Member, District 2
Attached: 20th Street Parents Union Objectives