Accentuating the Positive

As 2009 comes to an end, I would like to direct your attention away from the never-ending state budget cuts and toward the many successes of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).  As we continue to improve teaching and learning, our scores rose 13 points on the state's Academic Performance Index (API). While the District made double-digit progress for the second consecutive year, scores soared at many of our schools this year.

LAUSD also was honored with multiple 2009 National Blue Ribbon Awards. This designation, made annually by the U.S. Department of Education, is the highest award an American school can receive and recognized only 264 public schools across the nation. We had six.

Too numerous to mention are the many, many achievements of our students; our extraordinary teachers like Roberto Gonzalez, a Virgil Middle School biology teacher, who won a $25,000 Milken Educator Award for his exceptional work in the classroom; and our exemplary leaders like California's 2009 National Distinguished Principal Dr. Angel J. Barrett at Plummer Elementary School. Our non-instructional employees also have been honored in countless categories for pioneering a green schools program, excellence in workers' compensation and disability management, and the use of whole grains in our menus, to name a few.