The new president of the Los Angeles Unified school board is moving aggressively to reshape the panel’s operation and mission, including plans to improve communication, enhance collaboration and take a more decisive stance in setting district policy.
Richard Vladovic of San Pedro will lay out his vision Tuesday, the first board meeting of the school year and the first since a majority of his colleagues chose him as president. Those goals incorporate a host of new committees and a calendar of weekly meetings wherein he wants members to study, discuss and debate complex issues. He also wants members to decide which issues to tackle rather than taking their cues from Superintendent John Deasy, the strong-willed schools chief who has butted heads with Vladovic and his teachers union-backed board allies over efforts to reform the district.
“I want us to be proactive rather than reactive and have very thorough, robust debate,” said Vladovic, a career educator who has been on the board since 2007. “I want to be policy makers rather than problem solvers.”
At the same time, he noted he’s been trying to ease tensions with Deasy, whose job security came into question when Vladovic gained more political clout. “We’re talking more than ever before,” Vladovic said in an interview last week at a coffee shop in San Pedro, shortly before Deasy himself arrived to review Tuesday’s agenda.
“Our priorities don’t always agree, but life is all about compromise, and we’re both working on that,” Vladovic added. “There’s the rule of unintended consequences — the ripple effect — of any decision. We’re exploring the ripples.”
Deasy later confirmed that he and Vladovic are making an effort to overcome their past differences. “He and I are very focused on the work of educating children, and we’re trying to model cooperation,” he said. “We prefer little or no drama.”
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