RELEASE: DFER & ERNA Release Report Cards on LA Board of Ed Members

Blogs, Letters & Testimonials

February 4, 2013

Contact:
Gloria Romero | 323.379.3450 | California@dfer.org
Devin Boyle | 202.445.0416 | Devin@dfer.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Democrats for Education Reform and Education Reform Now Advocacy Release Report Cards for Two Members of the Los Angeles Board of Education

Los Angeles, Calif. February 14, 2013 – Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) and Education Reform Now Advocacy (ERNA) announced today the release of report cards for Monica Garcia and Steve Zimmer, two members of the Board of Education for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The report cards, paid for by ERNA in collaboration with DFER, mark the first time that individual local school board members have been graded according to their record on education reform.

“It doesn’t make sense to us that, while kids are graded multiple times a year, and there are report cards for legislators and evaluations for teachers, until now there has been no system for evaluating the school board members responsible for the educational policy affecting children in our districts,” said Gloria Romero, California Director of DFER. “School board members are the voice of the people on education. We are crafting these report cards to ensure that Angelinos know where their representatives stand on education reform.”

Each report card grades school board members in four categories: parent choice and quality schools; school district transparency; district leadership; and teacher effectiveness and quality.

LAUSD President Monica Garcia of District 2 in Los Angeles earned top marks in three out of four categories for her consistent support of important measures such as implementing teacher evaluations, hiring a reform-minded school superintendant, and championing teacher evaluations.

Steve Zimmer of District 4 received mixed ratings, with an A for his support of transparency through public school evaluations, but a B and two C’s for his lackluster support of reform-minded district leadership, parent school choice, and measures to ensure teacher quality.

Joe Williams, President of DFER, said, “It is vital that families know in what direction their school board members are taking their kids’ educations. Los Angeles is beginning a trend that we will soon see all over the United States as parents demand insights into the decisions affecting our children’s education.”

Additional report cards from DFER and ERNA are slated to come out later this year and next year to increase transparency of school board decisions.

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See the reports cards here.