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Abstract
This dissertation investigates the Los Angeles Unified School District and the intersection of its school board, charter schools, and threats to district fiscal and political sustainability. The purpose of this study is to provide greater insight into the complex nuances of charter school proliferation in LAUSD, effects on the school board, and the increasing influence of intermediary organizations in educational policy and politics. This research builds upon decades of scholarship on LAUSD, its locally elected school board, institutional change, external actors, and local political dynamics. This study aims to begin to fill the gap of research on district sustainability, particularly in relation to the relatively newer role of charters in educating students. Using a qualitative case study approach, collected data included from interviews, observations, and documents. Qualitative coding methodology was employed for analysis. Findings provide greater insight into challenges felt by LAUSD school board members, district officials, and external actors. The perspectives of district and local leaders on the fiscal and political sustainability of LAUSD are central to the findings, and provide evidence that charter schools have challenged the fiscal and political sustainability of LAUSD, but other factors, such as ballooning pension and healthcare benefits and declining student enrollment, present more dire fiscal threats. Finally, this study develops an emerging framework including three key principles for fiscal and political sustainability in LAUSD: 1) long-term solutions; 2) leadership stability; and 3) transparency. Implications of more contested factors of sustainability are also explored. The research questions guiding this study are:
1. How has the California Charter School Act of 1992 changed over time through the legislative amendment process?
2. Which amendments to the California Charter School Act from 1992 through 2019 affect the sustainability of traditional public schools (specifically the Los Angeles Unified School District)? How does the California charter law relate to district sustainability from the perspective of LAUSD school board members? From the perspective of intermediary organizations and their backers involved with the board?
3. How can data from this study contribute to the development of an emerging active sustainability framework for traditional public school districts and their decision makers?