News Updates
L.A. Compact Statement on LAUSD 2010 API Double-Digit Gains
September 13, 2010
LOS ANGELES — The L.A. Compact congratulates the Los Angeles Unified School District for its double-digit gains in the state Academic Performance Index (API), which jumped 16 points and exceeded the state average by three points.
Despite increasing challenges — a $640-million deficit, massive cuts and a shortened school year — LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines and key district leaders improved student performance, in part, by leveraging L.A. Compact relationships with the City, business leaders, labor, higher education and community-based organizations.
We are proud of the accomplishments made by the district at a time when many things were not in its favor. The growth is a testament to collaborative community investment efforts, like those of the L.A. Compact, that leverage our individual resources for focused efforts that benefit our youth.
L.A. Compact Wins $5 Million Federal i3 Grant
August 6, 2010
LOS ANGELES — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines; LAUSD Board President Mónica García; L.A. Area Chamber Immediate Past Chair Fran Inman; United Way of Greater Los Angeles President & CEO Elise Buik; and other signatories of the historic L.A. Compact announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Education has identified the Compact proposal, “L.A.'s Bold Competition — Turning Around and Operating Its Low-Performing Schools,” as one of 49 highest-rated applications for the 2010 Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) competition.
The L.A. Compact/LAUSD proposal was selected from a pool of 1,700 applications from all over the country, and will receive a grant for $5 million over three years to support about 60,000 students at some of the district’s lowest achieving schools.
The resources will be used to bolster support mechanisms for design teams and selected teams through the Los Angeles School Development Institute (LASDI), and IDivision (LAUSD), enhance the Public School Choice Selection Process, support the implementation of the instructional plans of the selected teams and implement accountability and continuous improvement measures.
The application received letters of support from a diverse group of stakeholders including the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) with Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), the California Charter Schools Association and the L.A. Higher Education Collaborative.
Signed in February 2010, the L.A. Compact is a commitment by all signors to focus on boosting high school graduation rates, better preparing students for college, and providing students more opportunities and access to meaningful jobs and careers.
Signers of the L.A. Compact include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti; Ramon Cortines, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District; Monica Garcia, Board President of Los Angeles Unified School District; Gary Toebben, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce; Elise Buik, President & CEO of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles; Judith Perez, President of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles; Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor/AFL-CIO; and the top officials from 11 colleges and universities in the Los Angeles area. The funding for the application was provided by California Community Foundation and United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
More information about the L.A. Compact and its signatories can be found at www.lacompact.org or by calling the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce at 213.580.7544. Statements from L.A. Compact signers can be found below.
Jack O’Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
“I am delighted that the L.A. Compact reform plan was selected through this highly competitive process for funding. I look forward to seeing more California students graduate ready for college and careers as a result of the investment in this program, and hope that our public education system will benefit from the lessons learned from the L.A. Compact.”
Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles City Mayor
“The L.A. Compact is an innovative partnership that unites all stakeholders under a common goal: to put our children first and make their education our top priority,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “Today, the L.A. Compact is being recognized for its success in education reform with a $5 million grant through the federal Investing in Innovation (i3) program. The i3 grant program rewards creative, outside-the-box thinking. That is what earned the L.A. Compact this grant, and that is exactly what the grant will help us continue to do: fund new pilot programs and continue to offer more and better choices to LA students and their families through the Public School Choice Program.”
Ramon Cortines, Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District
“Winning this federal grant despite tough competition validates that this district can compete as well as our commitment to reform,” said LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines. “It is also a vote of confidence for the power of collaboration and partnerships of the L.A. Compact. By working together, we will realize our vision of all students graduating from our public schools, college-prepared and career-ready.”
Mónica García, Board President, Los Angeles Unified School District
“We welcome support from the Federal Government to fuel the exciting work that LAUSD and our partners are leading on the ground. The i3 Grant will help us move faster in scaling up “Reform the L.A. Way.”
Elise Buik, President & CEO, United Way of Greater Los Angeles
“We’re very excited to be a part of this work. It’s great to see that the Obama Administration recognizes that we’re serious about education reform in Los Angeles. We got here because of the strong partnerships between business, civic and education leaders and look forward to improving educational outcomes for all students.”
Fran Inman, Immediate Past Chair, L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce
“The Chamber is thrilled to see our city and students benefit from such a significant federal investment in education. We would like to thank President Obama and Secretary Duncan for their commitment to innovation and collaboration. By strengthening partnerships and leveraging resources, we can better prepare our students for the 21st century workforce and the global economy.”
The LA Compact: A Dollop of Hope for Our Schools
The Huffington Post
March 16, 2010
....The LA Compact is worthy of notice and a dollop of hope. Modeled after the Boston Compact, which guided reform there for 20 years, the Los Angeles version tries to create the kind of big issue, unitary politics that gets beyond parochialism and pettiness. It's built around three high sounding goals: Getting all students to graduate from high school, to have access to college and be prepared for it, and to have access and pathways to careers....
Read the complete article: The LA Compact: A Dollop of Hope for Our Schools
Compact for Education
La Opinión
February 19, 2010
The status of public education in Los Angeles demands serious attention from us all. The creation of the LA Compact is a major step in that direction. It will, like most everything, have to ultimately be judged by its results.
City officials, school administrators, and business and union leaders entered into an agreement whose main goal is to improve graduation rates. In total, 18 organizations, including universities and nonprofits, decided to pool their resources to help fund school programs such as enrichment courses, internship opportunities, and more....
Read the complete article: Compact for Education
En Español: Firman compromiso por educación en LA
CBS 2 - Leaders Sign Compact to Improve L.A. Public Schools
CBS 2
February 17, 2010
Leaders from both the public and private sector met to sign an unprecedented agreement aimed at improving education.
Watch video: Leaders Sign Compact to Improve L.A. Public Schools
LAUSD reform effort aims for 100% grad rate
Los Angeles Daily News
February 17, 2010
A coalition of civic, business, labor and education leaders Wednesday signed an ambitious agreement to reform Los Angeles public schools, setting a goal of a 100 percent graduation rate.
Modeled after the Boston Compact signed nearly 30 years ago, the L.A. Compact counts 18 local groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, City Council and the County Federation of Labor, who will lobby together for funding and legislative changes on behalf of local schools.
Addressing some criticism the pact's goals were too lofty, such as aiming to have all graduates prepared to enter college, LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines stressed the compact needs to be more than "words on paper."
“We need more than a bunch of signatures,” Cortines said. “We need to make sure that these groups put into action these words....Then this will be an important document....”
Read the complete article: LAUSD reform effort aims for 100% grad rate
18 Major Los Angeles Institutions Sign Agreement
to Reform Local Public Schools
Collaborators Cite Need to Better Prepare Students for College and
the 21st Century Global Economy and Workplace
Click here for photos from the event.
February 17, 2010
LOS ANGELES — Today leaders representing 18 major Los Angeles institutions from both the public and private sector signed an unprecedented agreement to reform Los Angeles public schools. The ceremony was held at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex in downtown Los Angeles in the presence of school officials, parents and other community partners.
Called the L.A. Compact, the collaborative agreement includes a number of initiatives focused on boosting high school graduation rates, better preparing students for college, and providing students more opportunities and access to meaningful jobs and careers.
Signers of the L.A. Compact include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti; Ray Cortines, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District; Monica Garcia, board president of Los Angeles Unified School District; Gary Toebben, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce; Elise Buik, president & CEO of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles; Judith Perez, president of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles; Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor/AFL-CIO; and the top officials from 11 colleges and universities in the Los Angeles area.
“The L.A. Compact signifies a major step forward for educational reform in Los Angeles,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. “Many students throughout the country are simply not prepared for success in the 21st century global economy. We need to find ways to do things differently, collaborate to improve our educational system and capitalize on President Obama’s vision for our public schools.”
The L.A. Compact represents an unprecedented commitment by key Los Angeles institutions, convened by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, to support significant directional changes that put students first and foremost. The agreement consists of goals, strategies and specific measurements that allow the community at large to track progress and success over time. The L.A. Compact addresses a number of high-profile issues, including further decentralization and more local school site control, increased accountability, leadership development at all levels, and revamping the evaluation process for district, administrator and teachers, among many other items.
An executive summary and more information about the L.A. Compact and its signatories can be found at www.lacompact.org or by calling the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce at 213.580.7591. Additional statements from L.A. Compact signers can be found below.
Speaker Quotes
Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary–Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
“The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor is proud to be part of this new and unprecedented effort to reform our local schools. As a partner in the collaborative, we'll be working together with business, labor, the City of Los Angeles, non-profit organizations and LAUSD to ensure that the voices of working families are heard.The over 800,000 workers of the Los Angeleslabor movementwork hard day in and day out toprovidefor their families, many have children in our public schools and care about the quality of our public education system.Our children are our future leaders. They will be tomorrow's teachers, actors, nurses, fire fighters and electriciansand we must ensure thatwe equip them with the right tools they need to pursue their dreams.”
Ramon Cortines, Superintendent, LAUSD
“This is an historic day for the young people of Los Angeles. The L.A. Compact has been working hard towards outlining a cohesive strategy that will help achieve the goals of graduating all students from high school giving them access and preparing them for success in college and giving them access to sustainable jobs and careers.”
Monica Garcia, Board President, LAUSD
“The L.A. Compact serves as an unprecedented collaboration on the part of the LAUSD, the City of Los Angeles, business and philanthropic communities, unions and institutions of higher learning to create opportunity for all students to receive a quality education. We have already seen some amazing efforts made in the area of advocacy and resources that have had a tremendous impact on LAUSD.”
Eric Garcetti, President, Los Angeles City Council
“For our city to succeed, we need our students to succeed. An effective and thriving public school system is crucial to Los Angeles' future.”
Judy Perez, President, Associated Administrators of Los Angeles
“We recognize that we have a tall task ahead of us, but it’s about collaboration — finding ways to work smarter, and leverage resources and dollars.”
Gene Block, Chancellor, UCLA
“The responsibility to improve our educational system lies with all of us — from the pre-K to the post-secondary level — to ensure that all of our students havethe resources and opportunities they need to succeed.”
Gary Toebben, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
“It has been our honor and privilege to serve as the convener of the L.A. Compact.As the voice of the business sector, we have a huge self interest in seeing the goals of the L.A. Compact realized. We need to do everything possible to prepare our students for the 21st century workforce and the global economy, and to create meaningful and sustainable careers for our students.”
Elise Buik, President & CEO, United Way of Greater Los Angeles
“Education — a quality education — is one of the biggest gifts we can give students so that they don’t languish in poverty but rather, have an opportunity to build and enjoy a successful life. We fully embrace the goals of the L.A. Compact, and have committed to working with all of our partners to achieve these for our students, their families and their futures.”
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
“The L.A. Compact puts our students first. The City of Los Angeles — together with the LAUSD, the private sector, labor, and our local institutions of higher learning — is committed to transforming education so all our students are prepared for college, graduate on time, and are ready to compete in the 21st century global job market.”
“The L.A. Compact signifies a major step forward for educational reform in Los Angeles.”
— Jack O'Connell, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Are you interested in showing your support for the L.A. Compact?
Sign up to be an L.A. Compact supporter or download logos.
Download PDF versions of the Compact on the documents page.
