Jon's Emergency Plan to Save Our Schools

By Jon M. Lauritzen

The following are the steps I would introduce upon my election to the LAUSD School Board.

Teaching is a proud tradition in my family and has been my life - and my passion - for the past 35 years. I am running for the Los Angeles Unified School Board because it is time we had a teacher in a position to shape the policies that deeply affect our lives and our children's future.

Having worked in the classroom for the majority of my lifetime, I know that class sizes must be decreased, bureaucratic bloat must be decreased, more well trained teachers must be in the classrooms, and students must be the number one priority of this school district. It really is time for a change.

No one person can turn the Los Angeles public school system around. I will not promise that if you elect me all our troubles will disappear. What I can offer you is a series of specific initiatives that constitute my emergency plan to shift budget priorities away from downtown and put the money where the kids are, in the schools.

Please take the time to read my plan and feel free to call me personally to discuss it. I welcome the opportunity to share your insights for a change. The Election on March 4th is a unique opportunity to send a message to the millionaires and bureaucrats that our schools are not for sale. I urge you to join me in this cause. Our future depends on it.

Step 1: Easing the Crisis of Overcrowding Now

Our ship of schools is sinking in a sea of overcrowding and misplaced priorities. It's time we put out the call - "All hands on deck!"

Of course we need new construction, but we must take immediate action to improve our children's classroom experience TODAY - not five years from now. That means making better, smarter use of our current financial and human resources and drastically redefining district priorities to put our tax dollars back into the classroom so our children can learn.

• I will introduce a proposal to effectively reduce class size by moving credentialed teachers out of the district offices and placing them I the most crowded classrooms to "double-up" and give personal attention to students. This will immediately cut the student per teacher ratio.

• I plan to call for an immediate audit of all available district owned facilities to identify vacant or underutilized space which might be immediately pressed into service as classrooms at far less cost than new construction. Any necessary improvements to these facilities would be fast-tracked, under strict fiscal management, so that they may be put on line ASAP.

• I want to establish an elite corps of retired teachers who are ready, willing, and able to step back into the classroom to ease the crisis of overcrowding.

• I will work to improve teacher moral and raise teacher salaries to recruit and retain qualified teachers and to keep good teachers from leaving.

Unfortunately many of our students are living in communities where guns, gangs, and drug dealing are far too prevalent. It is hard enough for students to learn given the crisis of overcrowding, but imagine trying to concentrate on your book report when you look out the window and see gang members near the fence. Most serious crimes occur outside of our campuses but they can still invade our sites. We must take immediate action to improve the safety and security of all of our students.

• As your new school board member I will make school safety a top priority so children can learn in safe schools free from gangs, drugs, and violence.

• I strongly support expanding after-school programs and keeping school campuses open until 6:00 P.M. We must provide safe and constructive alternatives to gangs, drugs, alcohol, and violence. I will work to develop partnerships with local universities and community colleges to pay college students interested in teaching careers to help students after school in math and reading labs.

• I believe that we need to expand the district's early childhood education programs that help kids start school ready to learn.

• I support quality vocational and technical training and school-to-career programs for students who do not go directly on to college. Many students who currently drop out of school before graduation would stay in school if they could see job opportunities available to them upon graduation.

• As your school board representative, I will insist on the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct by prohibiting board members from voting to award contracts to firms who have donated to their political campaigns. This prohibition would extend to lobbyists, attorneys, and subcontractors who represent or work for these firms. (Politicians often avoid the "appearance" of a conflict because the campaign contributions are funneled through their attorneys or subcontractors. I will stop that!)

• I will be a full time board member. The problems facing our district are so severe that they require our full attention.

• I plan to preserve funding for the classroom by requiring that no more than 5% of the district's budget be spent on non-school administration. I want to end the district's out-of-control spending on outside consultants so more money goes to where it is needed most - the classroom.

• I believe that we must stop the Belmont Project because too much money is being wasted on a site that is not safe for our children to use as a school.

• I will be an independent voice for our children, not a rubber stamp for the superintendent.

Its time that parents and teachers form a real partnership to save our schools. We can't wait for the bureaucracy to do it for us. Remember, they're part of the problem. Parental responsibility starts in the voting booth, by electing leaders who will put the needs of our children first.

• As your school board representative, I will work to increase local control. We need campus-based management and parental and teacher participation in the governance of local schools. I will provide opportunities to involve teachers and parents in all district policies affecting their classrooms and students.

• I want to help parents promote the value of education at home with their children. I support a "Parent-Teacher partnership" to improve literacy, helping parents to encourage reading at home. We need to help parents with limited English skills learn to help their children at home.

• I plan to create a "Valley Education Congress" for neighborhood councils to work together to find ways to improve learning and safety in local schools.

• I support teaching that character is important and promoting trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship in our schools.

It's time for change. It's time we put a teacher on the school board who understands firsthand the challenges students and teachers face in the classroom. It's time we put someone on the board who will put the money where our kids are - in the classrooms - not the boardrooms.

I believe that the issues we face are simply too complicated and too important to be solved with slogans and sound bites. We have serious problems and we deserve serious leadership with a detailed plan to address these issues.

You may not like everything I have proposed in this plan. That's okay. That's the chance I have to take. The point is that I am available and accessible. I want to hear from you about your ideas for our schools. I am not running to use the school board as a springboard for higher office because I believe there is no higher calling than improving the quality of education for our children so that they might grow up with the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

Thank you for taking the time to read this plan. I would be honored to have your support.

Jon Lauritzen