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Schools

Lobbying Around Leadership at Echo Park's New School Heats Up

Two groups want to run an innovative campus off Sunset using different models. One is an experienced independent operator. Another is affiliated with the school district, but has roots in the community.

Echo Park’s newest school is still under construction, but the debate on who will run Community Regional Elementary School 14 could be settled by next month.

Two plans are under review for the 875-seat facility in the center of Echo Park, just west of Sunset.  The Los Angeles Unified School District’s board could vote on them at a special meeting on March 15, with schools superintendent Ramon Cortines looking over the plans. He is expected to make his recommendation before the meeting.

Also, at the end of this month, the League of Women Voters of Greater Los Angeles will release the results of a nonbinding community vote. The league ran the election for parents, teachers and other interested parties in January.

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Janet Davis, a board member of the United Teachers of Los Angeles, thinks the votes by parents and teachers at schools directly affected will be most critical. Those are Lake Street Primary Center, along with Rosemont and Union Avenue elementary schools.   

Both proposals target a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade population, making CRES #14 Echo Park's first middle school.

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One comes from Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, a nonprofit that runs five schools near downtown Los Angeles, including a high school.  Camino Nuevo has nearly 100 percent graduation rates and sends almost three-quarters of its students to four-year colleges.

Hoa Truong, who directs operations at Camino Nuevo, said the group’s schools usually employ their own teacher. But they get public money and operate under a charter granted by state law. He says the middle school at CRES 14 would work the same way.

Camino Nuevo’s educational program at CRES 14 would feature arts, strong assessment and monitoring, as well as a mandatory dual-language program in Spanish and English.

“It replicates our original program at Burlington K-8, which has gotten good results,” said Ana Ponce, CEO of Camino Nuevo. “We focus on developing kids who are college bound. "

Ponce said Camino Nuevo held numerous meetings in the community and heard that people wanted Spanish as a dual track.

 “But our focus is not the bilingual program,” adds Ponce. “It’s a tool we use, but we have social services and we bring in external resources to expose kids to a wealth of experiences.”

The other plan for  CRES 14 comes from a team of teachers, educators and school district officials calling themselves the LD4 & Echo Park Community Partners.  Many have ties to the LAUSD, as current and former teachers and administrators.

Committee members call it a “pre-pilot” school. Pilot schools, according to a Public Schools Choice document, have flexibility over budget, curriculum and staffing, but their teachers remain LAUSD employees under specially negotiated contracts.

The Community Partners plan emphasizes project-based learning, and partnerships with arts and other community-based organizations. It also would create an elected governing council of parents, teachers, community members and administrators.

Supporters say the pilot will be more inclusive than a Camino Nuevo-run school and will not require students to study Spanish.

A third plan, involving the United Teachers of Los Angeles, was also submitted. But UTLA dropped out just before the advisory vote.

“It seemed foolish to divide our resources, “ said Cheryl Ortega, a former teacher who worked on the UTLA plan and is now supporting the Community Partners plan. “We had a few meetings to work out our differences.”

One big question was whether teachers would continue to work under a traditional union contract. Negotiating an elect-to-work agreement permits longer hours, mixed-grade classes and other flexibility.

 “The teachers who come to our school want to do project-based learning,” said Shannon Corbett, a director at LAUSD Local District Four and team member. “They understand the need to be flexible.”

“Public School Choice is supposed to encourage new, innovative solutions,” said Micki Curtis, who is helping to circulate a petition for the LD4 & Echo Park Community Partners plan.

Curtis has a 4 1/2-year-old daughter and lives near the new school. “Camino Nuevo already has a number of schools in the area," she said.

Gabriella Waterman, whose daughter is almost 3, is also helping with the petition. She added, “The Camino Nuevo plan limits choice.  I want my daughter to learn Spanish but not at the expense of English.”

Curtis and Waterman are also part of community group sponsoring an informational meeting from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Look for location details at www.echoparkcommunityschool.com.

A spokesperson for the LAUSD office in charge of building new schools says maps of the CRES #14 attendance boundaries have gone to principals at Lake, Union and Rosemont schools.

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