We didn’t set out to make history. We just wanted to save our school and the students who were counting on us.
Sixteen years ago, Pacoima Elementary School ranked as one of the worst schools in California. Our score on the Academic Performance Index, the scorecard the state used for schools, was 398, far below the minimum target of 800. On the statewide measure comparing schools with similar student demographics, we earned a 1 out of 10.
Many of our teachers were on what’s known as the “must-place” list, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s list of teachers who are shuffled from school to school.
I’d joined Pacoima Elementary as a reading coordinator after nine years teaching at another district school. Every morning, as I drove to work, I would get stomach pains. I often cried. When I arrived on campus, I’d find kids fighting in the yard.
The staff, which was supposed to be creating a strong, supportive and healthy school culture, had mostly given up.
Back then, a lot of folks in the community assumed our school was doomed. After all, we were right across the street from the area’s biggest housing project, San Fernando Gardens. Many believed the kids from those homes would never be able to learn.
Today, the same elementary school is among the highest performing in the northeast San Fernando Valley. On the state similar schools ranking, we leaped from 1 to 8. Seventy percent of our students scored proficient or advanced on the most recent state science assessment. With an in-house doctor, psychologist and two social workers, we’re able to care for our kids’ social-emotional needs.
Our teachers and staff are committed. Our kids are learning and thriving.
Yet, we’re in the same buildings. We’ve got the same yard, where fights used to break out almost everyday. We’re still right across from the projects.
So what changed?
We went charter.
It really is that simple — although the process of converting a district school to a charter was anything but easy.
The spark that ignited our transformation was the school’s new principal, Irene Smerigan, who took over in 1999. Irene was petite and feisty and always put children first. When I told her I was ready to quit, she begged me to hang on. She promised she could heal our ailing campus. I didn’t believe her, but she believed in me. She asked me to become assistant principal.
Together, we tried to turn the school around. However, we quickly realized that our hands were tied by L.A. Unified. When we tried to continue a reading program that had been helping students, the district replaced it with a new program that didn’t work. When we tried to let go of the teachers who weren’t cutting it, the district made that all but impossible.
Fed up but still determined, Irene told me something I’ll never forget: We need to take our destiny into our own hands. She said we needed to go charter.
We began asking teachers if they’d support the change. Some did. Some didn’t.
It was a difficult process that created plenty of tension, especially among teachers who worried that converting to a charter would betray United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the powerful union that represents district teachers.
Finally, after three years, a majority of teachers supported the conversion, and Pacoima Elementary Charter School was born.
And guess what? Our teachers are still UTLA members.
That’s right — we’re a charter school and we’re unionized. We’re not the only one. Around one-third of charter schools in California have teachers unions.
But unlike L.A. Unified, whose contract with UTLA is almost as dense as a dictionary, our contract is skinny. And unlike the district’s contract, ours is chock-full of accountability — which is exactly how our teachers want it.
Instead of guaranteeing tenure after two years, we made it three. You’d be surprised how much better you know your staff by the end of that third year. We were thrilled to provide our teachers with raises last year, but we also required them to stay longer after school so they could connect with their students’ parents. Under their old UTLA contract, they could stay only 10 minutes after school.
Our school’s story is special, but it’s not as unique as you might think. Pacoima and the northeast San Fernando Valley are home to a number of campuses that have converted from district to charter schools. Some, like Fenton and Vaughn, were among the first charters in the country. Today, our community of charter schools consistently outperforms local district schools, while serving the same socio-economically disadvantaged community.
On Saturday, more than 2,000 charter school families and teachers planned to gather for the first annual Rally in the Valley, where we’ll call on L.A. Unified to keep supporting our schools and help us grow. We have lots to celebrate.
But I know what I’ll be celebrating: the day I decided to fight, rather than quit, and help transform my school into the kind of place where students and teachers achieve what once seemed impossible.
Sylvia Fajardo is executive director of Pacoima Elementary Charter School.
