Some people lament term limits, saying that it means that some of the best and brightest legislators are forced to leave office too soon. Personally I am a fan of term-limits, for a number of reasons. But that is the topic for another day. But I did want to say that one of the advantages of term-limits is that we get to bring new talent into the legislature. In the case of the voters of California’ 38th Assembly District in Northern Los Angeles County, they elected Cameron Smyth. Smyth is shaping up to be an outstanding legislator, and I know that he will make a tremendous impact during his time in Sacramento.
There are a number of issues about which Smyth is passionate, but certainly seeing that kids are able to receive a quality education ranks right up there. It is because of this passion for the well-being of young people that he has taken on the challenge of trying to deal with the Los Angeles Unified School District. When I say "deal with" — what it means is that Smyth realizes that the district is too vast and too bureacratic. Anyways, I will let him tell you all about the problems of the LAUSD, and his proposal to help the children who are caught up in that huge district… – Flash
For anyone unfamiliar with the many challenges facing Los Angeles Unified School District, let me briefly review the situation. LAUSD is enormous, consisting of over 700,000 students – nearly as many constituents that reside in each of our state Senate districts! To give you an idea of how large this is relative to other school districts, currently only 2% of the school districts in the nation have more than 25,000 students. In fact, the Superintendent would not be able to hold a staff meeting in Dodger Stadium because it would be too small to accommodate everyone!
This size has bred many problems. A recent Harvard study reported that more than half of the students in LAUSD were dropping out. LAUSD contends that figure is closer to 30%, but either way this is clearly unacceptable. An audit of the school district in 1993 revealed astoundingly low performance in the areas of management, organization, and accountability. In 2006 a similar audit was conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools, who found that LAUSD has a lack of accountability at seemingly all levels.
Attempting to correct the LAUSD dilemma, Mayor Villaraigosa successfully sponsored legislation to give him control of the District. While I opposed this tactic, I applauded the Mayor for recognizing the dire need for action. However, the fatal flaw with this plan from the beginning was its apparent lack of constitutional standing, casting doubt on whether this idea would actually solve the crisis. As predicted, a court recently ruled that the plan was in fact unconstitutional.
Now that the courts have ruled against Mayoral control of LAUSD, it is time to seriously consider alternative solutions to address this mammoth problem. That is why I have introduced legislation, along with my colleague Senator George Runner, to break up the district into much smaller, more manageable districts. A recent RAND corporation report listed this remedy as the optimal choice for making a positive change to the District.
My measure, Assembly Bill 146, is similar to last year’s AB 2071, introduced by Assemblyman Dr. Keith Richman. Specifically, AB 146 will reorganize LAUSD into several small school districts with enrollments of no more than 50,000 pupils each. According to a report by the Joint Committee on Reorganization of Large Urban School Districts, a district size of 45,000-60,000 pupils is considered optimal.
The creation of smaller districts will serve a number of advantageous purposes. First and foremost, there will be a greater level of accountability and improved local control, which is clearly lacking in the present District. Thus, it will make it much easier for school board members to clearly communicate with, and be responsive to parents and members of the community.
Another benefit is that smaller, more manageable districts will be more cost effective. The current bloated bureaucracy fosters wasteful and inefficient uses of funds. For example, LAUSD was recently shown to have $10 billion in unfunded health care obligations.
In addition, there will be more parental involvement. Disposing of the bureaucracy will lead to a much more user friendly system, where parents will have greater control over their child’s education. A free flow of communication and community involvement will become the norm. In the future, if problems arise, swift action will be taken benefiting all.
After all, California has gone to great lengths to reduce class sizes in order to improve the quality of our children’s education. Simply put, smaller is better. Does it not make sense, then, that smaller more responsive school districts would better serve our children? If a child can get lost in a class with 40 other students, what chance do they have in a district with 700,000 students?
Admittedly, my proposal offers many challenges. There are currently naysayers complaining about “possible lawsuits” and saying it could be “an administrative nightmare”. My response to them is that meaningful change is always difficult. But the difficulty is worth the pain when educational welfare of our children is at stake.
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Brief Biography of Assemblyman Smyth
Elected in 2006, Assemblyman Cameron Smyth is honored to represent the 38th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and Glendale.
Prior to being elected to the state legislature, Assemblyman Smyth served on the Santa Clarita City Council. During his time on the City Council, Assemblyman Smyth twice served as Mayor, first in 2003 and again in 2005. Assemblyman Smyth began his career as a Field Representative for the California Republican Party. In 1994 he was hired by the late state Assemblyman "Pete" Knight. In 1996, Smyth served as campaign manager for Knight’s successful state Senate campaign; the youngest on site manager for any state legislative race in California at that time. Upon winning the election, Senator Knight promoted Assemblyman Smyth to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff. In 2000, the Assemblyman moved to the private sector and currently operates his own consulting business.
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