2007 California Education Code Article 4. The Los Angeles Mayor\'s Community Partnership For School Excellence

CA Codes (edc:35930-35933)

35930.  This article shall be known, and may be cited, as "The Los
Angeles Mayor's Community Partnership for School Excellence."



35930.5.  (a) The community partnership, directed by the Mayor of
the City of Los Angeles and described in Section 35931, may request
that the Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools authorize the
demonstration project described in this article. The demonstration
project shall not proceed without that authorization.
   (b) The county superintendent shall act upon a request received
pursuant to subdivision (a) within 20 days of his or her receipt of
the request. The county superintendent shall grant a request for
authorization unless the county superintendent determines that one or
more of the following conditions exist:
   (1) The mayor and the partnership are demonstrably incapable, and
not likely to gain the capability before the project begins, of
implementing a sound educational program at the schools in the
demonstration project.
   (2) The mayor and the partnership have an irremediable and
significant conflict of interest in undertaking the demonstration
project involving the partners.
   (3) The mayor and the partnership are demonstrably incapable, and
not likely to gain the capability before the project begins, of
providing sufficient financial oversight to ensure that the schools
in the project are financially capable of sustaining a sound
educational program and other operational services.
   (c) After the completion of the progress report described in
Section 35940, the county superintendent may withdraw authorization
of the demonstration project by concluding and certifying that the
progress report demonstrates that one or more of the following
conditions exist:
   (1) The mayor and the partnership are demonstrably incapable of
implementing a sound educational program at the schools in the
demonstration project.
   (2) The mayor and the partnership have an irremediable and
significant conflict of interest in undertaking the demonstration
project involving the partners.
   (3) The mayor and the partnership are demonstrably incapable of
providing sufficient financial oversight to ensure that the schools
in the project are financially capable of sustaining a sound
educational program and other operational services.



35931.  (a) (1) Upon authorization by the county superintendent of
schools pursuant to Section 35930.5, the Mayor of the City of Los
Angeles, in partnership with the LAUSD, parent and community leaders
and organizations, and school personnel and employee organizations,
shall, as part of a demonstration project, exercise the powers set
forth in Section 35932 regarding three clusters of the lowest
performing schools in different geographic areas within the LAUSD
that are located within the City of Los Angeles. Each cluster shall
include a high school that is ranked in decile 1 or 2 on the Academic
Performance Index, pursuant to Section 52056, and its feeder middle
and elementary schools and other programs, including, but not limited
to, early childhood programs and centers, continuation schools, and
adult education programs.
   (2) LAUSD participation in the partnership shall be through a
full-time district employee appointed by the district superintendent
for each of the three clusters. The mayor shall ensure that each of
the clusters is represented in the partnership by at least two
representatives from parent organizations who are not also employees
of the district, at least two community leaders who are not from a
parent or employee organization, and one classroom teacher, one
classified employee, and one school administrator selected from those
nominated by employee organizations of classroom teachers,
classified employees, and school administrators, respectively, who
are employed at a school within the cluster.
   (3) The full-time district employee specified in paragraph (2)
shall perform the functions of the Office of Parent Communication set
forth in subdivision (j) of Section 35911 for the cluster of schools
to which he or she is assigned.
   (b) The high schools for each cluster shall be selected by the
mayor and the district superintendent, in consultation with the other
members of the partnership described in subdivision (a), and shall
take into account the academic status of each school and the
interests of the school community. If the mayor and the district
superintendent do not agree on the high school for the first cluster
on or before February 1, 2007, for the second cluster on or before
March 1, 2007, and for the third cluster on or before September 1,
2007, the county superintendent of schools shall select the high
school for the cluster within 30 days of the applicable deadline.
These deadlines are maximum time periods, but all parties shall act
with diligence to permit achievement of the objective of each cluster
joining the demonstration project in the 2007-08 school year.
   (c) The purpose of the demonstration project is as follows:
   (1) To achieve all of the following pupil learning and academic
achievement expectations:
   (A) Significantly improved pupil learning and academic achievement
based on the academic standards of the state, graduation
requirements, and other standards that may be developed by the
partnership described in subdivision (a), as measured by the
California Standards Tests administered pursuant to Article 4
(commencing with Section 60640) of Chapter 5 of Part 33 and other
valid and reliable assessments of academic achievement.
   (B) Significantly improved graduation rates and significantly
reduced dropout rates.
   (C) A significant reduction in the academic achievement gap among
racial and ethnic groups, between pupils with exceptional needs and
pupils without those needs, and between English language learners and
pupils who are fluent in English, so that all pupils are attaining
similar, acceptable levels of academic achievement.
   (D) Parent involvement and satisfaction with the schools that
their children attend.
   (E) The success of English language learner pupils in developing
English language proficiency and increased redesignation as measured
by the California English Language Development Test.
   (2) To achieve all of the following school expectations:
   (A) All schools are clean and safe places for pupils and school
staff.
   (B) Each pupil has a qualified teacher who has had appropriate
professional development for the grade or grades and subject or
subjects that he or she teaches.
   (C) Each school has a principal who has had appropriate
professional development to improve his or her ability as an
educational leader to assist in improving teaching and learning, in
building strong educational teams, and in promoting parental
involvement and community relations.
   (D) Transparency in the fiscal affairs of the operations of each
school.
   (E) Parents, teachers, and other school staff are full partners in
the decisions that affect the schools.
   (F) Every segment of the school community is held accountable for
the achievement of the goals described in this section.



35932.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, and except
for the authority to negotiate and enforce collective bargaining
agreements, all authority exercised by the board and the district
superintendent with respect to the schools in the demonstration
project shall be transferred to the partnership described in
subdivision (a) of Section 35931, which is directed by the mayor. In
a manner consistent with districtwide collective bargaining
agreements, the partnership may seek waivers, pursuant to Section
35910, from the state board and authority to operate the schools in
the demonstration project with maximum flexibility and efficiency.
   (b) The schools in the demonstration project shall continue to
exist as district schools, and employees at the schools shall be
deemed to be district employees with all the rights of district
employees.
   (c) Schools in the demonstration project shall continue to be
funded with district resources, including average daily attendance
revenue and state or federal categorical or other targeted funding
generated by, or granted based on, the pupils in the schools in each
cluster. That funding may also be supplemented by private funds,
recorded and accounted for by the partnership. The LAUSD shall
provide funds and may assess costs to partnership schools, provided
that these schools shall receive the same benefit from any new or
increased local, state, or federal funding that these schools would
receive if they were not partnership schools.
   (d) The partnership schools and the LAUSD shall develop a budget
and cost system that carries out the provisions of this section.
   (e) The LAUSD shall not take actions that have negative fiscal
consequences for partnership schools due to their participation in
the partnership.



35933.  For purposes of Section 8 of Article XVI of the California
Constitution, the schools included in the demonstration project
pursuant to this article remain public schools and remain part of a
school district. The establishment of the demonstration project
pursuant to this article does not create an obligation of the state
to provide additional funds to the LAUSD or to the schools in the
demonstration project.