LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer wants to strengthen oversight of charter schools - LA Daily News:
by By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer
School board member Steve Zimmer is taking aim at two of the most contentious issues facing Los Angeles Unified, with separate proposals to exclude high-stakes test scores from teacher evaluations and to strengthen the oversight of charter schools.
Both resolutions on Tuesday's board agenda have generated heated debate behind the scenes, with critics worried that the proposals could delay or derail the progress that's been made toward long-awaited reforms.
In an interview Friday, Zimmer insisted that each of the issues has reached a critical stage, and that board members need to decide the direction they want the district to take.
The performance evaluation proposal is especially timely, with LAUSD under a court order to negotiate with union leaders on a system that uses student test scores to help gauge teacher success.
District administrators have long advocated the use of Academic Growth over Time - which uses a complex