LAUSD’s Innovation Queen Jumps Ship to Charters – UPDATED

Okay now this is definitely what we call interesting.

But before we get to the interesting part, first let me tell you a little about Kathi Littmann: Until today, Littman has been a respected senior administrator at LAUSD with a varied and impressive background in both management and education.

Most recently, she has been the Executive Director of the district’s iDivision.

In case you’ve never of iDivision…I’ll fill you in.

Last year, after Green Dot won the right to transform Locke High School into a charter complex in September, the Los Angeles Unified School District realized (very, very, very belatedly) that it better start scrambling to keep up if it didn’t want to be left coughing in the dust of the charter movement’s gathering velocity.

So, with Admiral Brewer ostensibly leading the charge the district announced…ta-da! the Innovation Division—AKA iDivision.

It sounded pretty promising: A bunch of underperforming high schools and their feeder schools were invited to join iDivision and, if they agreed to join up they would get a (semi) no-expense spared creative makeover, at least as long as the funds held out. (The makeover was modeled suspiciously on Green Dot’s small schools protocol, but hey, whatever works.)

Eighteen schools said yes….and Kathi Littman was named head of the division that was bannered as the new jewel in the district’s crown. It was to be LAUSD’s answer to education reform and transforming a beleaguered district.

Littman was also one of the district’s main point persons when it came to facilitating the mayor’s own school cluster make-over.

NOW HERE IS WHERE the interesting part comes in:

Late yesterday I heard that Kathi Littman is leaving the district to take a job with……The California Charter Schools Organization.

According to the Charter School folks, she will join as the Senior Vice President of Intergovernmental Affairs. Part of her responsibilities will be to ensure “fair representation of charter schools at the state and national level.”

The official statement about Littman’s new gig talks cheerily about the district and the charters being “true partners.”

Yeah. Sure.

Bottom line: the fact the head of the district’s most innovative schools division has decided to leave and join the organization that LAUSD was most trying to counteract suggests that perhaps Littman was experiencing an teensy, weensy bit of bureaucratic frustration in her role as Innovation Queen…..and that maybe iDivision wasn’t turning out to be as innovative as originally advertised.

So maybe she went to where the heat—and the innovation—was more likely to be found?

“Charter schools,” said Littman, “are the most promising path for public school reform. I’m eager to join Caprice [Young, the organization’s prez] and her talented team during this exciting time when innovative and high quality programs are raising the bar and redefining the public school system here in California.”

More news as I get it.

UPDATE: Ron Kaye also has a very good post on the issue today, complete with musical accompanyment—a funeral dirge for LAUSD by Chopin.