LAUSD and UTLA leadership enter into a bold partnership

 L.A. Mayor Eric Garrett, LAUSD Superintendent Michelle King and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) President Alex Caputo-Pearl signed the L.A. Compact, uniting the district, Greater Los Angeles civic leadership and the district's teachers in a groundbreaking partnership that brings together a broad coalition of governmental, business, non-profit and civic organizations.

The L.A. Compact is a bold agreement to break its signatories free from their traditional silos to focus on collaborative and innovative strategies to achieve three system-wide goals for Los Angeles youth: 

 All students graduate from high school 

 All students have access to and are prepared for success in college 

 All students have access to pathways to sustainable jobs and careers 

Los Angeles County Office of Education Superintendent Debra Duardo also joined King and Caputo-Pearl today as a new signer of the Compact at a ceremony held in the library of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools Campus on Wilshire Blvd. where the Ambassador Hotel once stood. 

“Today’s signing of the L.A. Compact affirms a community-wide collaboration to provide Los Angeles students with access to a world-class public education from pre-kindergarten through graduation. We are stronger united, and I am proud to be part of this powerful movement,” said Superintendent King. 

“As a union representing 33,000 educators, and as an organization committed to the struggle for social and educational justice, UTLA is excited to join the LA Compact. Together, we can build towards the vision of high-quality schools serving students of all ages, and acting as hubs in empowered communities,” Caputo-Pearl said. 

“The success and well-being of our children is everyone’s responsibility: the school district and City Hall, business and labor, the private sector and nonprofits, and 

educators at all levels working together,” said Mayor Garcetti. “The L.A. Compact puts our complete collaboration into action — by committing us to giving all of our students the tools and resources they need to maximize their potential, achieve in the classroom, and follow their dreams.” 

"It is a good day when so many of the critical players in education in Los Angeles can stand together, arm in arm, signing on to a plan with clear goals and measures that will ensure that we work together in supporting a new generations of students from the earliest years all the way to sustainable jobs and careers,” said Board President Zimmer. “Through this important Compact we are sending a clear message that here in Los Angeles dreams come true through public education." 

“The Los Angeles County Office of Education shares the L.A. Compact’s commitment to ensure that all our youth are prepared to compete and succeed in a 21st century global workforce,” said Superintendent Dr. Debra Duardo. “Our County Office of Education has collaborated with other County agencies to connect school districts to the Los Angeles Educational Passport System, a shared database that will help ensure an efficient transfer of health and education records of Foster Youth.” 

Also participating in today's event were: 

 Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Dr. Francisco Rodriguez 

 Associated Administrators of Los Angeles President Juan Flecha 

 Cal State L.A. President Dr. William Covino 

 First 5 L.A. Executive Director Kim Belshé 

 UNITE-LA President and Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President, Education & Workforce Development, David Rattray 

"The Chamber is a proud signer of the L.A. Compact because, as the voice of business, we know that providing a quality education for our youth positively impacts the bottom line of our businesses — and the quality of life for the families in our community," said Gary Toebben, President & CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. "Our ability to compete in a global economy is directly tied to the quality of our workforce, and the youth of today represent the talent of tomorrow for our employers.” 

“The L.A. Compact has the synergy to bring together the district, administrators, teachers, institutions of higher education, business and philanthropic partners to leverage financial, human and political capital to effectively serve the families of Los Angeles County — the most populous county in the state,” said Associated Administrators of Los Angeles President Juan Flecha said. 

“When it comes to forging clear pathways for educational access and lifting degree attainment for Los Angeles students, we’re all in. This Compact is a perfect complement to the LA College Promise and our already existing university transfer agreements – both geared to eliminate barriers to college and build a college-going culture,” said LACCD Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez 

"We welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively to transform education in Los Angeles and help students achieve their dreams of a university degree,” said Cal State LA President William A. Covino. 

“Ensuring every child enters kindergarten ready to succeed in school and life is bigger than any one organization,” said Kim Belshé, Executive Director of First 5 LA, a leading early childhood advocacy organization and a signer of the L.A. Compact. “It requires strong collaboration and a bold commitment to large-scale change, especially as we look at how our systems can better support children of today to grow into the skilled, competitive workforce of tomorrow. That’s why we are excited to have these distinguished leaders join the L.A. Compact and partner with us in this critically-important effort to build positive, successful educational pathways from cradle to career.” 

“We know that a quality education breaks the intergenerational cycle of poverty. The goals of L.A. Compact align with our work to ensure every student graduates from high school, prepared for college and for a career,” said Elise Buik, President & CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles. “We are proud to join L.A. Compact and to stand united with these cross-sector partners in our shared vision of providing all students with the resources, access and support they need to achieve successful futures.” 

L.A. Compact partners have driven several collaborative initiatives to improve student success along the cradle to career pipeline:

Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a landmark L.A. College Promise to provide 1 year free community college tuition to LAUSD graduates at LACCD campuses. L.A. Compact partners LACCD, LAUSD, and the L.A. Chamber have been working to launch the initiative for the class of 2017. 

LAUSD and eight university and college Schools of Education formed the Los Angeles Educator Pathways Partnership and signed a landmark MOU to share student, candidate, and teacher data in order to investigate best practices and drive continuous improvement in educator preparation, placement, and induction. 
The L.A. Compact Joint Advocacy Workgroup has represented a united voice in Sacramento and D.C. to advocate for policies in support of public education in Los Angeles, helping secure hundreds of millions in funding from early childhood to higher education. 

The Los Angeles Community Development Department, LAUSD, and the Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board developed a comprehensive dropout recovery system involving 16 YouthSource “dropout recovery” centers with co-located LAUSD student counselors. Older youth may also receive training and subsidized work experience to connect them back to the workforce. In the first seven months, the dropout recovery system reached out to over 5,000 young people, assessed over 3,000, enrolled 2,100 in the Youth WIA program, and returned 800 young people to school. 

L.A. Compact partners jointly submitted a proposal and won a $5 million federal i3 grant to support 60,000 students at some of LAUSD’s lowest achieving schools through the Public School Choice initiative. Through the grant, the L.A. Compact also launched the Los Angeles School Development Institute (LASDI), a partnership between UTLA, AALA, and LAUSD to support schools in developing and implementing school turnaround plans. LASDI provided over 24,000 hours of personalized coaching support to over 100 PSC schools. 

The Aspen Forum for Community Solutions selected Los Angeles as one of 21 communities nationwide to participate in a new Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund. The L.A. Compact launched the LA Opportunity Youth Collaborative to improve pathways to education and employment for transition‐age foster youth. L.A. County designated at least $1 million each year to target foster youth for subsidized work experiences, increasing foster youth participation in the summer jobs program from 225 in 2013 to over 800 in 2015. 

The L.A. Compact launched an effort in partnership with First 5 LA and Children Now to explore the adoption of a common Kindergarten Readiness Assessment across L.A. County schools. 

ABOUT THE L.A. COMPACT: 

The L.A. Compact is a bold commitment by Los Angeles leaders from the education, business, government, labor and nonprofit sectors to transform education outcomes from cradle to career, ensuring that today’s youth have the skills necessary to compete and succeed in a 21st century global workforce, and contribute to and positively shape a global society. The L.A. Compact promotes the continuous improvement of an education system that maximizes the potential of all Los Angeles children and young adults and thereby strengthens our region’s and society’s civic health. The L.A. Compact is convened by UNITE-LA, a non-profit, independent affiliate of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. 

For more information, visit www.lacompact.org. lacompact.org | 350 S. Bixel St. Los Angeles, CA 90017 | 213.580.7591 The L.A. Compact has grown from 19 to 24 signers. Current signatories include: The L.A. Compact is a bold commitment by Los Angeles leaders from the education, business, government, labor and nonprofit sectors to transform education outcomes from cradle to career, ensuring that today’s youth have the skills necessary to compete and succeed in a 21st century global workforce. CONVENED BY: 

The L.A. Compact has grown from 19 to 24 signers. Current signatories include: 

 L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti 

 L.A. City Council President Herb J. Wesson, Jr. 

 L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas 

 Michelle King, LAUSD Superintendent 

 Steve Zimmer, LAUSD Board President 

 Juan A. Flecha, President, Associated Administrators of Los Angeles 

 Alex Caputo-Pearl, President, United Teachers Los Angeles 

 Debra Duardo, LACOE Superintendent 

 Gary Toebben, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce 

 Rusty Hicks, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO 

 Elise Buik, President & CEO, United Way of Greater Los Angeles 

 Kim Belshé, Executive Director, First 5 L.A. 

 Chris Kimball, President, California Lutheran University 

 Soraya M. Coley, President, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 

 Willie J. Hagan, President, California State University, Dominguez Hills 

 William A. Covino, President, California State University, Los Angeles 

 Dianne F. Harrison, President, California State University, Northridge 

 Francisco C. Rodriguez, Chancellor, Los Angeles Community College District 

 Timothy Law Snyder, President, Loyola Marymount University 

 Ann McElaney-Johnson, President, Mount St. Mary's College 

 Andrew K. Benton, President, Pepperdine University 

 Gene D. Block, Chancellor, University of California, Los Angeles 

 C.L. Max Niklas, President, University of Southern California 

 Luis Ma. R. Calingo, Former President, Woodbury University 

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