The deadline for the fourth round of school proposals for Public School Choice (PSC) is due next week, on October 31.
LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has identified 13 low-performing schools to participate in what is called PSC 4.0. This is a decrease from the previous year, when 33 schools were part of the process.
Only in-district planning teams, made up of union-certified current or former LAUSD employees, are allowed to compete to manage a school turnaround.
PSC began in 2009 as an initiative to reform failing schools by opening up management to alterative operators, such as charter groups or teacher-led groups. The idea behind PSC was that whichever team submitted the best plan to transform a failing school would be awarded the chance to operate it.
According to this recent LA Times editorial (New schools = better student performance), PSC may have been a part of the academic improvements in LAUSD.
But as of last year, non-union operators were prohibited from participating in the PSC process after the teachers union won that as a key stipulation in its labor negotiations with LAUSD. (See also KPCC: LAUSD & UTLA Reach Agreement Granting Wider Autonomy to All Schools on Teacher Placement and Budgets, and LAT: Individual Los Angeles Schools Gain New Autonomy.)
New plans for four additional schools will be submitted because Superintendent Deasy rejected last years’ proposals. Click here for a list of schools that have participated in PSC over its history.