Just a single San Fernando Valley school is in the running to participate in two key reform efforts widely touted by the mayor and schools chief as a key to boosting performance at Los Angeles Unified.
Superintendent David Brewer III said Thursday that he has cut five of the six Valley schools named in his original reform effort targeting 44 low-performing sites.
And Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has 34 confirmed meetings with LAUSD schools through November to determine which two high schools and their related elementary and middle schools he'll manage - but none of them are in the Valley.
While some say Valley schools are being unfairly left out of the reform efforts, others note the schools have specifically asked to be excluded.
Whatever the reason, however, exclusion of Valley schools in reform efforts could be politically risky for both the mayor and the superintendent.

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The schools that were removed from what is planned as a separate
district that would operate under a different governance structure are
Reseda, Franklin, Hollywood, Monroe, Fairfax, Polytechnic, Arleta,
Panorama, Santee and Miguel Contreras.

The schools that remain are: Audubon MS, Bell SH, Belmont SH, Bethune
MS, Carver MS, Clay MS, Cochran MS, Crenshaw SH, Dorsey SH, Drew MS,
Edison MS, Fremont SH, Gage MS, Garfield SH, Gompers MS, Harte MS,
Hollenbeck MS, Huntington Park SH, Jefferson SH, Jordan SH, L.A.
Academy MS, Lincoln SH, Los Angeles SH, Mann MS, Manual Arts SH,
Markham MS, Muir MS, Roosevelt SH, Sylmar SH, South Gate SH, Stevenson
MS, Virgil MS, Washington SH and Wilson SH.

Brewer plans to implement his mini-district beginning in the 2008-09
school year--the same time the district will roll out the two families
of schools that will be managed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The mayor is in the process of meeting with school communities to
determine which two high schools, and their feeder elementary and
middle schools, will take part in the partnership.

Interestingly, the two schools widely believed to be the ones the
mayor's most interested in including in his partnership--Roosevelt and
Crenshaw--are both already named in Brewer's pilot project.

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent David Brewer said Thursday that he
had reduced his proposed district of 44 "high-priority schools" from
44 to 34 schools. He said those that didn't meet the criteria for
being low-performing, were on the cusp, had shown improvement or had
just opened their campuses, were taken out.

The schools that were removed from what is planned as a separate
district that would operate under a different governance structure are
Reseda, Franklin, Hollywood, Monroe, Fairfax, Polytechnic, Arleta,
Panorama, Santee and Miguel Contreras.

The schools that remain are: Audubon MS, Bell SH, Belmont SH, Bethune
MS, Carver MS, Clay MS, Cochran MS, Crenshaw SH, Dorsey SH, Drew MS,
Edison MS, Fremont SH, Gage MS, Garfield SH, Gompers MS, Harte MS,
Hollenbeck MS, Huntington Park SH, Jefferson SH, Jordan SH, L.A.
Academy MS, Lincoln SH, Los Angeles SH, Mann MS, Manual Arts SH,
Markham MS, Muir MS, Roosevelt SH, Sylmar SH, South Gate SH, Stevenson
MS, Virgil MS, Washington SH and Wilson SH.

Brewer plans to implement his mini-district beginning in the 2008-09
school year--the same time the district will roll out the two families
of schools that will be managed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The mayor is in the process of meeting with school communities to
determine which two high schools, and their feeder elementary and
middle schools, will take part in the partnership.

Interestingly, the two schools widely believed to be the ones the
mayor's most interested in including in his partnership--Roosevelt and
Crenshaw--are both already named in Brewer's pilot project.