Public schools in Los Angeles are in desperate need of major changes, but education leaders believe that innovative programs already in place can help bring about the necessary reforms, according to a survey conducted by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.
“The promising part of this study is that the leaders in L.A.’s community of educators believe that the problems facing public schools are not insurmountable, and that some of the needed changes are already under way,” said Fernando Guerra, director of the Leavey Center. “These results show us the areas that education leaders agree on, and what is still up for debate.”
The survey found that the top minds in the education field in Los Angeles see programs such as LAUSD Pilot Schools and public-private partnerships as likely pathways for improving the quality of K-12 education, which they currently give low marks locally and statewide.
Researchers at the Leavey Center sent the survey in February to educational leaders throughout Los Angeles County, including: elected officials, advocates from nonprofit groups, researchers at local universities and think tanks, teachers’ union officials and others identified as leaders in the educational community.
Among the findings:
- Nearly three-quarters (70 percent) believe charter-like Pilot Schools are a “somewhat effective” or “very effective” approach to education reform.
- A vast majority (81 percent) support expanding public-private partnerships for entrepreneurial, financial, and business education in LAUSD schools.
- On the quality of California’s K-12 public schools, 11 percent said “good,” 53 percent said “fair” and 33 percent said “poor.”
- Asked the same question about LAUSD schools, 7 percent said “good,” 27 percent said “fair” and 63 percent said “poor.”
Not surprisingly, respondents were nearly unanimous in seeking more money for schools and better use of it. Eighty-seven percent agreed that better use of existing funds would improve education in California, and 83 percent said boosting quality could be achieved by increasing state funding.
The study was funded by a grant from the Bank of America Foundation to support the education portion of the Leavey Center’s Leadership Initiative – the first in an ambitious, multi-year study to survey 100 leaders in each of 10 sectors: education, health, arts and culture, media and entertainment, politics, business, community, land use and housing, law, and religion and spirituality. The initiative will culminate in a wide-ranging analysis of the top 1,000 leaders in the Los Angeles region.
Full results of the survey can be found online at www.lmu.edu/csla.