This report is intended to help us look forward, to identify a path that will enable us to make FUSD a high-performing school district, but it is instructive to spend a moment to understand how we got to where we are so we can learn from our mistakes; to disabuse ourselves of the idea that there is a single major cause that will lend itself to a “silver bullet” solution; and to stop making excuses for ourselves. Understanding the complex causative reasons for our current state of affairs will, hopefully, help us understand that the solutions will also be complex.
Keeping up with the demands and constraints of the State Education Code has certainly not helped FUSD. Stacked on top of each other, the volumes that define the Education Code are over 5 feet high. And the decline in State funding has not helped either. FUSD has had to deal with State cuts in education funding for each of the last three years. Declining enrollment, an affliction that affects most urban schools in the nation, has exacerbated the problems by reducing the funding available to carry out District programs. But, as will be evident in this report, other California Districts have been able to deal with these issues far more effectively than FUSD.
When the Task Force visited the Garden Grove Unified School District, the Superintendent showed a class picture taken at Garden Grove in 1960 and another class picture taken this year. The contrast was stark. The 1960 picture showed a very homogeneous group of Caucasian kids, while the 2004 picture showed a highly diverse group of children. GGUSD today is 52% Hispanic, 28% Asian, 17% Caucasian. As compared to the 60’s, the likelihood that a class picture taken at the beginning of the year will look the same at the end of the year is virtually nil – student transiency is as big an issue in Garden Grove as it is in Fresno. In 1976, 2% of GGUSD students were English Learners, compared to 53% in 2004. What were not shown in the pictures were the underlying socio-economic conditions in which many of the children of 2004 live, compared to those of 1960. Many of Garden Grove’s children lack the most basic preparation for entering school and go home to environments that are not conducive to doing homework.
Readers will recognize that the preceding paragraph describes a demographic and socio-economic change that is very similar to that experienced at FUSD, but the difference is that GGUSD has adjusted in ways that FUSD has not. As shown above, by any measure of academic achievement, GGUSD is materially outperforming FUSD. Last year GGUSD received the Broad Foundation Prize as the best urban district in the nation.
Some would argue that FUSD is too big. Perhaps, but Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) is larger than FUSD, every bit as diverse, and was recognized by the Broad Foundation as the best urban school district in the nation in 2003.
Are FUSD’s class sizes too large? Not really. Both GGUSD and LBUSD have larger average class size.
Is it the unions? Both GGUSD and LBUSD are unionized, and both districts pride themselves on excellent union-management relationships that keep a clear focus on the mission of the district: to give children the best possible education. To the extent that the terms of FUSD’s bargaining agreements are hampering the academic achievement aspirations of the District, it must be recognized that these are agreements signed by two parties.
Well then it must be the Board and/or their choice of Superintendent. But, we elect the board, don’t we? The fact is that we must all assume responsibility for where we are. As will be discussed later in this report, “best practices” schools are characterized by:
- Clear and sustained goals and strategies;
- Academic achievement always at the top of the pyramid of goals;
- All decisions at all levels are focused on the best interest of the kids;
- Stable leadership;
- Understanding and respect of the roles of each stakeholder, from student and parent to board member; from teacher and food service worker to principal.
- Excellent fiscal management;
- A culture of extensive, constructive engagement by all stakeholders;
- Recognition that there are no easy answers – that it takes hard work, every day, to deal with the enormous challenge of bringing the best possible education to our kids; and
- An unrelenting commitment to continuous improvement.
As with any analysis of the kind presented in this report, many of the issues identified in this report are known to FUSD officials, and a good number of them are being addressed. Credit is due to all those who are working hard to effect the necessary changes. What this report aims to do is to bring all components of the picture into a single view in order to create a cohesive and comprehensive path to successful reform. Having said that, time constraints in the preparation of this report have prevented the Task Force from doing in depth analysis of some important topics, such as Special Education and FUSD’s capital projects plan.