Longer days, Saturday sessions considered for LA schools
Ana Beatriz Cholo
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - More students in the Los Angeles Unified School District may end up with longer school days and have to go to class on Saturdays, new Superintendent David L. Brewer III said Wednesday after a meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The district's bureaucracy will also be trimmed down, resulting in more money for students, Brewer promised.
It was the second formal meeting for Brewer and the mayor, who has been given some authority in the nation's second-largest school district. Brewer, a former Navy admiral, assumed the role of superintendent two weeks ago after former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer stepped down.
"Saturday academies is one thing we are looking at right away," Brewer said in an interview after the meeting.
"We have to look at the ones that we have and improve those. That's one change we can do right away and then we have to look at longer school days."
Last year, about 61,000 students participated in Saturday schools. District officials say getting them to class on their off day is a struggle.
A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said some teachers may welcome the opportunity to help students after school for reasonable pay, but it should be up to them.
"These things need to be negotiated," Duffy said.
Villaraigosa said that, like their first meeting several weeks ago, his talk with Brewer was marked by their compatibility. Both men have agreed to meet weekly.
"It was funny because we were almost completing each other's sentences today when we talked about what we wanted to do in partnership," the mayor said.
Brewer said he plans to order an outside agency to conduct a comprehensive performance and management review of district employees. He said he conducted a similar audit during his time in the military in which departments were restructured, redundancy was eliminated and millions of dollars were saved.
Bad teachers were also a topic of discussion during Wednesday's meeting.
Although Brewer denied it, he appeared to back away from earlier statements he made to the press regarding his desire to fire incompetent instructors.
"I am going to support having the best teachers in the classroom period," Brewer said. He said three days of professional development training per year is not enough.
Teachers may end up being transferred to schools they are better-suited for, he said.
"After you have done all of that and some people are not performing then you gotta do what you gotta do," Brewer said, alluding to possibly terminating teachers.
During the hour-long meeting, the men also discussed providing safe passage for students in violent neighborhoods and making visits to Washington, D.C., and Sacramento to pursue more funding for schools.
In two weeks, the constitutionality of a state law that gives the mayor a measure of authority in the school district and the superintendent more power, will be decided in court. The lawsuit, filed Oct. 10, challenges the law, which is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.
Villaraigosa, who said he has not been allowed into schools since the bill was passed, was also promised better access to schools by Brewer.
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Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - More students in the Los Angeles Unified School District may end up with longer school days and have to go to class on Saturdays, new Superintendent David L. Brewer III said Wednesday after a meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The district's bureaucracy will also be trimmed down, resulting in more money for students, Brewer promised.
It was the second formal meeting for Brewer and the mayor, who has been given some authority in the nation's second-largest school district. Brewer, a former Navy admiral, assumed the role of superintendent two weeks ago after former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer stepped down.
"Saturday academies is one thing we are looking at right away," Brewer said in an interview after the meeting.
"We have to look at the ones that we have and improve those. That's one change we can do right away and then we have to look at longer school days."
Last year, about 61,000 students participated in Saturday schools. District officials say getting them to class on their off day is a struggle.
A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said some teachers may welcome the opportunity to help students after school for reasonable pay, but it should be up to them.
"These things need to be negotiated," Duffy said.
Villaraigosa said that, like their first meeting several weeks ago, his talk with Brewer was marked by their compatibility. Both men have agreed to meet weekly.
"It was funny because we were almost completing each other's sentences today when we talked about what we wanted to do in partnership," the mayor said.
Brewer said he plans to order an outside agency to conduct a comprehensive performance and management review of district employees. He said he conducted a similar audit during his time in the military in which departments were restructured, redundancy was eliminated and millions of dollars were saved.
Bad teachers were also a topic of discussion during Wednesday's meeting.
Although Brewer denied it, he appeared to back away from earlier statements he made to the press regarding his desire to fire incompetent instructors.
"I am going to support having the best teachers in the classroom period," Brewer said. He said three days of professional development training per year is not enough.
Teachers may end up being transferred to schools they are better-suited for, he said.
"After you have done all of that and some people are not performing then you gotta do what you gotta do," Brewer said, alluding to possibly terminating teachers.
During the hour-long meeting, the men also discussed providing safe passage for students in violent neighborhoods and making visits to Washington, D.C., and Sacramento to pursue more funding for schools.
In two weeks, the constitutionality of a state law that gives the mayor a measure of authority in the school district and the superintendent more power, will be decided in court. The lawsuit, filed Oct. 10, challenges the law, which is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.
Villaraigosa, who said he has not been allowed into schools since the bill was passed, was also promised better access to schools by Brewer.
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