LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles teachers union is promising to challenge a proposed agreement that would change how teachers are laid off in the nation’s second-largest school district, while education experts hail it as a landmark that could pave the way for changes in urban districts across the nation. The settlement, which must be approved by a judge, would shield up to 45 underperforming schools from teacher layoffs for budget reasons. It also stipulates that vacancies be filled as quickly as possible, and contains a commitment to explore incentives, such as bonuses, to recruit and retain teachers and principals at poorly performing schools, with additional incentives if the school’s academic performance improves. The agreement stems from a lawsuit by American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California over teacher layoffs at three inner-city schools. The group had filed a class-action suit against the Los Angeles Unified School District in February, saying that mandated seniority-driven layoffs led to the three schools shedding some two-thirds of their teachers, which left students largely in the hands of substitutes. The ACLU said students were being denied their state constitutional right to a fair and adequate education. It won a temporary injunction in May that prevented more layoffs of first- and second-year teachers who form the bulk of faculties at these schools in improverished areas, which more experienced teachers tend to avoid. “Any principal wants a mix of new and experienced teachers, you don’t want any schools skewed,” said John Rogers, director of the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access and the University of California, Los Angeles . “You need a set of measures to keep teachers at a school. If they had done this, seniority-based layoffs wouldn’t have been an issue.” With the recession spurring teacher reductions across the nation, the issue of how layoffs are determined has become especially contentious. Teachers’ unions have fiercely opposed most moves to change seniority policies to a system based on performance and other factors. Some education reformers lauded the proposed settlement because it seeks to correct the root problem: a lack of ways to keep more experienced teachers at schools, which leads to high turnover and thus staffs largely new to the profession. “The reform train is moving,” said Emily Cohen, district policy director of National Council of Teacher Quality. “Districts aren’t as afraid of unions anymore.” But the city’s teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, said it would be meeting with the school board and the ACLU to review the terms of the proposed settlement and to voice its objections. “When the district makes a long-term policy that’s detrimental to students, we are obligated to challenge it,” it said. The settlement shields teachers from layoffs at the city’s 25 lowest ranking schools according to the Academic Performance Index, a state score based on standardized tests, and another 20 chronically underperforming schools showing improvement, with the idea being that layoffs would set back advancement at these schools instead of boosting them, said LAUSD Deputy Superintendent John Deasy. Other schools would not be disproportionately affected because layoffs will be capped at the district average for each school. The union said it was concerned that the agreement would leave low-performing schools with a higher concentration of less experienced teachers. It also said “state law already gives schools districts flexibility in layoff procedures to best meet the needs of students” and “the settlement does nothing to solve ongoing staffing problems at hard-to-staff schools.” California is one of a handful of states where seniority-based teacher layoffs are mandated by law. LAUSD’s settlement takes advantage of a loophole that allows seniority to be circumvented to meet special staffing needs and to meet the state constitutional right to a fair and adequate education. Seniority-based layoffs are especially thorny in urban districts, where teachers often burn out early at tough, inner-city schools. In Connecticut, the Hartford Public School System has asked the state board of education to change the seniority-driven layoff mandate because the young teaching staffs at its schools in high-povery areas are being decimated. The teachers union has accused the district of “union-busting.” The issue “focuses the question on whether these students are less deserving of a stable set of teachers than students in a more affluent school,” said Mark Rosenbaum, chief counsel for the ACLU. “It’s about fairness and equality.” The “last hired, first fired” layoff model has long been a sacred cow for the vast majority of teachers’ unions. In a study earlier this year, the National Council on Teacher Quality found that of 100 large school districts, only 25 considered factors other than seniority in teacher layoffs. In 16 districts, performance carries more weight than seniority. Two bills to eliminate seniority-based layoffs in California died in the past year. Moves in other states have succeeded: Arizona approved a law prohibiting seniority-based layoffs, while Rhode Island said layoffs at low-performing schools must be determined by school need, not seniority. Analysts said LAUSD’s settlement is important because it will give other districts a model to follow. “It’s a good compromise,” said Cohen, of the National Council on Teacher Quality in Washington, D.C. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES — In an era of yawning budget deficits and teacher layoffs, schools in the Los Angeles area are looking at a nontraditional source for some extra cash — Hollywood. School districts from Lawndale to Glendale are seeking to earn thousands of dollars a day from renting their campuses as locations for movies, TV shows, commercials, and even truck parking. OUTRAGE: Is 2010 the year of the education documentary? DUNCAN: Congress must act on school funding The money is being used to save teachers’ jobs, upgrade school facilities and replenish districts’ dwindling funds. “Schools have historically been reluctant to make themselves available, but now they’re falling over themselves,” said Scott Graham , leasing director for the sprawling 1,000-school Los Angeles Unified School District . Officials at FilmLA, the Los Angeles film promotion nonprofit, say they’ve had a flurry of inquiries from cash-strapped districts in recent months asking how they can market themselves to production companies. The spike of interest from schools is coming at an opportune time. Youth networks such as the Disney Channel and MTV are moving away from reality shows to scripted programs that often feature kids at school, said Trisha Edgar, FilmLA’s property management manager. To serve the increased demand from both schools and producers, FilmLA recently rolled out a new website featuring photos of campuses and a description to make it easier for location managers to find what they’re looking for, whether a football field, classroom or cafeteria. Hollywood has filmed at some of Los Angeles’ architectural standout schools for decades. Viewers have seen the classic red brick-Ivy League look of El Segundo High School in the 1955 drama ” Blackboard Jungle ,” and the TV sitcom that launched Will Smith , ” The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air .” Torrance High School’s graceful Spanish-style arched walkways served as backdrop for TV shows “90210,” ” Buffy the Vampire Slayer ” and “Medium.” In West LA, University High School starred in the romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day,” released earlier this year, and the 2003 Jim Carrey comedy ” Bruce Almighty .” Not all schools allow movie shoots because of the disruption a crew can bring to campus. But with state education cuts resulting in thousands of teacher layoffs and furloughs for the third year in a row, filming is looking more appealing for Los Angeles-area schools. “Any additional revenue is more critical than ever,” said John Vinke, associate superintendent of Lawndale Unified School District, which has had sporadic productions at its nine schools through the years but is hoping to land more regular gigs through FilmLA. School officials who permit movie shoots say it nets them big bucks. They get paid location fees ranging from Los Angeles Unified’s $3,100 per day to Torrance’s $5,500, plus sundries such as cleanup. With more schools signing up for filming and ramped up promotion through FilmLA, Los Angeles Unified has earned the most it’s ever made from filming this school year — $1.5 million from last July through March. FilmLA takes a 16% commission for arranging the deals, the host school keeps three quarters of the remaining amount and the district takes the rest. With movie money paying for everything from pools to playgrounds to some teacher salaries, some schools go to considerable lengths to accommodate filming. El Segundo High Principal Jim Garza removed the school’s palm trees so the campus would look less “Southern California” and fit a wider location demand. At University High in Los Angeles, interiors and exteriors were painted, floor tiles replaced, landscaping overhauled and classes and lockers moved for ” Drillbit Taylor .” The school earned $90,000 for the 2008 comedy starring Owen Wilson . But allowing film crews on campus is not all glitz and glam. University High students and teachers complained in the school newspaper that the “Drillbit Taylor” crew blocked access to classes and took over the parking lot. They also resented security guards stopping them from moving about campus. Similar complaints about the filming of “90210″ several years ago prompted Torrance High to restrict filming to outside school hours. “It was a distraction to students and the learning environment,” said Mitchell Tabaldo, site supervisor, who now gets three or four inquiries a month but few takers after producers hear the restrictions. At El Segundo High, opposition came from outside the school. Neighbors complained to the City Council about trucks occupying streets, noise from generators and crewmembers running through their yards. Over the school district’s protests, the council last year limited filming at any city location to 20 days per year. Principal Garza said the clampdown has virtually stopped the phones ringing at a time when the school year is being shortened because of lack of money to pay teachers. Still, school administrators say they welcome the money and sometimes they can work in perks, too. As part of a $400,000 deal to lease Hollywood High School’s football field for the summer, Disney hired students to work at a ” Toy Story 3 ” mini-amusement park set up there. “In a terribly difficult environment, it’s wonderful,” said Graham, LA Unified’s leasing director. “They’re going to get almost six teachers funded.” Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES — When state budget cuts imperiled city schools, a group of parents fought back by enlisting Hollywood stars to spread a message targeting one of their own, Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggar . The satirical video featuring actors Megan Fox and fiancee Brian Austin Green highlights how funding shortfalls have killed jobs for librarians, nurses, translators, janitors and teachers. While the video was filmed in the affluent hills above Hollywood where Green’s son attends Wonderland Avenue Elementary School, the cuts are more deeply felt at an inner-city school like Markham Middle School. Both schools have been highlighted as the Los Angeles Unified School District has grappled with $1.5 billion in budget cuts and nearly 3,000 teacher layoffs during the past two years. But comparing the two schools shows a remarkably uneven impact, and just how much depends on factors ranging from income and parent involvement to teacher tenure. The state’s education funding crisis, now entering its third school year, only promises to widen the breech between the haves and have-nots in the nation’s second-largest school district. Nestled in leafy, secluded Laurel Canyon, Wonderland is more than just a top school in the city — it’s one of the best in the state. In addition to the video that has been viewed more than one million times, Wonderland second graders were featured on CNN writing to Schwarzenegger to protest budget cuts. Serving gang-plagued Watts and two of the city’s largest housing projects, Markham is one of the city’s lowest performers with test scores 34% below the acceptable mark. The ACLU sued the school system this spring charging that Markham students weren’t learning from substitutes who replaced laid-off teachers. Schwarzenegger himself held up Markham as an example of how the teacher tenure system backfires because layoffs disproportionately strike younger teachers eager to work in the inner-city. The two schools have been long divided by more than freeways. The year before Tim Sullivan became Markham principal two years ago, 142 students were arrested around the 1,500-pupil campus. The assistant principal went to prison for sexually abusing female students. To keep kids safe on their way to school and maintain Markham free of gang graffiti, Sullivan decided to meet regularly with local gang leaders. “This isn’t the place for the weak and fainthearted,” said the 43-year-old principal. A more basic problem was finding teachers. Sullivan didn’t get a single inquiry at district job fairs so he recruited recent graduates keen for the challenge at annual salaries averaging $45,000. When budget cuts rolled around last year, Markham lost half its teaching staff — 35 teachers — because they hadn’t reached tenure. They were replaced by substitutes at a daily salary of $173 — more than a fulltime probationary teacher earns, but without benefits. In some cases, the subs served as little more than babysitters. Several gave all students a C grade because they didn’t have enough schoolwork to grade adequately, according to the ACLU lawsuit. Another 34 teachers, including 10 long-term subs, got pink slips this year, spurring the ACLU’s successful injunction to halt the layoffs. “A high moral calling can only last so long before you feel like the butt of a joke,” said English teacher Nicholas Melvoin, who was laid off last year but returned as a long-term substitute. The layoffs have stripped the curriculum to basics, without electives. Markham’s plight drew the attention of Schwarzenegger, who used the school as backdrop to announce his support of tenure reform that would allow schools flexibility in layoffs. Across town, Wonderland Principal Don Wilson’s problems are far different. A pile of resumes sits on his desk for a job opening next year. Electives are not subject to district funding whims. The school has full-time art, music and gym teachers, plus teaching assistants for each teacher, paid for by parents through the PTA’s fundraising nonprofit, which raises $350,000 a year. Boosters have paid for elaborate playgrounds, cutting-edge equipment in classrooms, field trips and professional development for teachers. But Wilson must work to keep that revenue flowing. He spent a recent Saturday night in a tent on the playground to help raise $500 per child in a sleepover fundraiser. “You become a developer,” Wilson said. “That’s a huge part of what I do here.” Parents are asked to contribute $700 a year per child and many donate more in cash and other initiatives such as buying mugs embossed with children’s art work. “Parents really value the public school opportunity because they’re not paying the big tuition bill,” said PTA President Terri Levy as she organized an appreciation event to provide breakfast, lunch and a car wash for each teacher. Wilson knows he’s fortunate, although he, too, has lost personnel and is down to having a nurse only one day per week at his 550-pupil school. The principal, who spent much of his career in the sprawling city’s more urban schools, said suburban and inner-city parents want the same for the children. But Wonderland parents possess not only a huge amount of resources, including those to make the slickly produced video opposing cuts, they also have high expectations. That’s the key difference, Wilson said. “They bring expectations as to what an education should be,” he said. “At other schools, parents and teachers come with a limited vision of high expectations.” Markham’s Sullivan doesn’t begrudge more affluent schools in the district. He does wish the system was more equitable. “Just give us an even playing field to show what we can really do,” he said. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.