Empowering Schools and Communities for 15 Years and Counting

Dear friends,

As we continue to celebrate our 15th anniversary of managing schools, we’d like to share a little more about our founding and progression.

The Partnership was launched in 2007 as a collaboration between Los Angeles Unified School District, our founding donors Richard and Melanie Lundquist, former LA City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and other public and private partners to support LA’s highest-need schools.

Today, our story continues as we strive to accelerate achievement for the students in our schools and across LA Unified and beyond.

In partnership,

Deycy Hernandez

Chief External Officer

Partnership for Los Angeles Schools

2007 - Melanie and Richard Lundquist announce a 10-year, $50 million founding gift to ensure the Partnership’s sustainability, with Marshall Tuck as the founding chief executive officer.

2008 - Partnership launches with ten initial schools in the network.

2009 - Mendez High School, a newly built campus in Boyle Heights, joins the Partnership for the 2009-10 school year.

2010 - Dolores Huerta Elementary and Carver Middle School in South LA, and Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary in Watts, join the Partnership.

Also in 2010, the Partnership worked with ACLU and Public Counsel to file the Reed vs. State of California et al suit in 2010, alleging such budget-based layoffs denied low-income students their fundamental right under the state constitution to equal educational opportunity.

2011 - Jordan High School in Watts joins the Partnership.

2012 - The Partnership’s initial Memorandum of Understanding with LA Unified is renewed, affirming the progress at Partnership schools.

2013 - Joan Sullivan, former LA Deputy Mayor of Education and founding principal of the Bronx Academy of Letters, succeeds Marshall Tuck as Partnership CEO.

2014 - Reed v. California is settled, providing additional support to 36 high-need LA Unified schools, including six Partnership schools. This historic settlement acknowledged and codified the special protections and supports required by high-need, high-poverty schools.

2015 - 107th Street Elementary in Watts joins the Partnership. The same year, we supported Cruz v. State of CA, which won a settlement and led to state legislation (AB 1210) which requires schools to provide enough classes so students are not placed in low-value "service classes." Using the Cruz lawsuit, we persuaded LAUSD to provide Joyner Elementary School with additional staff resources to serve students and additional flexibilities to retain effective teachers that would otherwise have had to leave LAUSD when their temporary contracts expired.

2016 - 20th Street and Grape Street elementary schools in South LA and Watts join the Partnership.

2017 - The Partnership hosts “Believe With Me,” a gala celebrating the Partnership’s 10th year.

2018 - LA Unified’s Board of Education approved a resolution we supported to more accurately identify and fund the district’s highest-need schools.

2019 - LAUSD board realigns $280+ million to schools based on Student Equity Needs Index (SENI) rankings in 2019-20; not disbursing funds equally or per enrollment as in prior years. Partnership advocates for SENI through its membership as part of the Equity Alliance for LA’s Kids.

2020 - Forty-Ninth Street Elementary School in South LA joins the Partnership.

The pandemic highlighted pervasive digital inequities and in 2020, we published two equity alerts about bridging LA’s digital divide, advocating for internet access in low-income communities.

2021 - LA Unified Board votes to distribute $700 million to high-need schools using the SENI.

This year, we continued our advocacy efforts with three additional publications around digital funding and transformation, and piloted our sponsored internet program for 400 families in our network prompting LA Unified to sponsor internet for all students and families.

2022 - Weigand Avenue Elementary School in Watts joins the Partnership.

About the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools

Launched in 2007, the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools’ mission is to transform schools to revolutionize school systems, empowering all students with a high-quality education. The Partnership is a non-profit, in-District partner to LA Unified, not a charter network. As an independent nonprofit organization, the Partnership serves 13,550 students across 20 LA Unified schools in Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, and Watts. The Partnership works within the Los Angeles Unified School District context, which includes honoring all collective bargaining agreements for its teachers and school staff.

partnershipla.org