(LOS ANGELES) — April 13, 2006 — Green Dot Public Schools announced today an innovative plan to reform the Los Angeles Unified School District over the next ten years. The plan calls for restructuring LAUSD’s 46 high schools into 500 safe, high-performing, small schools that have high expectations for all students. The plan was revealed by Steve Barr, CEO of Green Dot Public Schools and Russ Hagey, managing partner of Bain & Company's Los Angeles office. Bain, a global business consulting firm, worked hand-in-hand with Green Dot to shape this revolutionary plan.
Green Dot’s “The School Transformation Plan: A Strategy to Create Small, High-Performing College-Preparatory Schools in Every Neighborhood of Los Angeles” proposes creating 500 autonomous small schools that follow the “Six Tenets of High-Performing Schools.” The Six Tenets are: 1) Small, safe schools with 500 students each; 2) High expectations and a college-preparatory curriculum for all students; 3) Local control with extensive professional development and accountability; 4) More dollars directed into the classroom; 5) Parent participation; and 6) Keeping schools open later for community use.
The Transformation Plan goes on to advocate for LAUSD to utilize its $19 billion of construction bond funds to accomplish this dramatic restructuring. The plan notes that with $19 billion in funding, the potential for mayoral control over LAUSD, as well as the potential for four new LAUSD Board of Education members in 2007, Los Angeles has an unprecedented opportunity to lead the nation in effective public school reform.
“The high school dropout issue is the number one concern for Los Angeles residents and it is becoming a national scandal,” said Barr. “With this plan, Los Angeles Unified can dramatically transform all of its high schools so that all children receive the education they deserve to be successful in life. There are 19 billion reasons why Los Angeles should lead the nation in school reform – with the School Transformation Plan there is now a vision and strategy to accomplish it. It is our hope that Mayor Villaraigosa will adopt and implement this plan that we’ve been developing and validating with our successful public schools for the past five years”
Green Dot operates five high schools that serve Los Angeles’ highest need communities. The success of its schools, which score on average 113 points higher than Los Angeles Unified high schools on the state of California’s Academic Performance Index, validate the Six Tenets school model. Recently, Green Dot secured approval from the LAUSD board of education to create six more public high schools in the attendance area of the lowest-performing high school in the City of Los Angeles, Jefferson High School. The victory came after a massive grassroots effort lead by the Small Schools Alliance - a collaboration of Los Angeles-based community groups, parents and students who were frustrated with violence, sub-standard educational opportunities, and abysmal graduation rates. With the Jefferson project underway, Green Dot has begun implementing the School Transformation Plan.
“The U.S. public school system is in dire straits, while other countries such as China and India are getting smarter about innovating education programs to graduate better and worldlier students capable of resolving tomorrow’s global challenges,” said Bain & Company’s Russ Hagey. “The Transformation Plan is a blueprint to reinvigorate our ailing schools.”
Green Dot Public Schools is headquartered in Los Angeles. For more information visit www.greendot.org
About Green Dot Public Schools
Green Dot Public Schools is the leading public school operator in Los Angeles and is dedicated to changing public education in Los Angeles so that all children receive the educations they need to reach their dreams. It currently operates five public charter high schools in Los Angeles’ highest-need communities. Each Green Dot school (branded “Animo” schools) vastly outperforms comparable traditional public high schools. For more information visit: www.greendot.org
About Bain & Company, Inc.
Bain & Company, a leading global business consulting firm, serves clients on issues of strategy, operations, technology, organization and mergers and acquisitions. The firm was founded in 1973 on the principle that Bain consultants must measure their success by their clients' financial results. Bain clients have out performed the stock market 4 to 1. With offices in all major cities, Bain has worked with over 2,700 major multinational, private equity and other corporations across every economic sector. For more information visit: www.bain.com
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