AUSTIN BEUTNER ADDRESS TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY
AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY – MARCH 23, 2020
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY

Good morning. I’m Austin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified
School District.

I hope everyone watching is safe and taking care of themselves and their loved
ones. These are uncertain, even frightening times – particularly for children. We
can take comfort in knowing that we are in this together, all one community.

At the center of every community is a neighborhood public school. Our lives are
built around schools and the relationships we form in them -- the lifelong friend
you met in kindergarten, in a chemistry lab, or on the JV soccer team, the 10th
grade English teacher who helped you tell your story in a coherent and powerful
way and the bus driver who greeted you every morning with a smile.

Parents also form bonds around school, whether watching their children compete
in a robotics competition or volunteering to help with the PTA. For me, a fifthgrade teacher encouraged me to play the cello – helping me to find a group of
friends and a way to express myself. My wife and I are still close to families we sat
with during circle time at our children’s preschool more than 20 years ago.

 The old saying “you don’t realize how important something is until it’s not there”
has never been more true as we find the essential role schools play in our lives
has been dramatically altered.

I want to share what Los Angeles Unified is doing to support our school
community and all who are part of it – students, families and all who work in our
schools – and how we are trying, as best we can, to restore some sense of
stability.

In ordinary times, our focus is on three things - to help students learn, provide
support to students and families most in need, and take care of all teachers and
staff in schools who make possible the learning and support. Even in these
extraordinary times, these are still our goals.

I wish I could start by telling you it will all be back to normal sometime soon, but
that is not the case. School closures will extend through May 1st. We’ll continue
to listen to State and Local health authorities, and keep the safety of all in our
school community in mind as we consider what is best for students. I’m
particularly mindful of our graduating seniors for whom this spring should be a
culmination of what, for them, has been a lifetime of hard work and commitment.
We will do our best to prepare them for the next chapter and find a way to
celebrate all they have accomplished.

 Let’s review our progress toward our three goals and start with how we’re helping
students continue to learn. On Friday, March 13th, which seems like a long, long
time ago now, every student was sent home with a learning plan for the next two
weeks. High tech, low tech or a combination of both. Many students have
continued with their instructional program using a tablet computer and are
participating in regular online discussions about their studies with their teacher
on various communication platforms. Some took home backpacks with a series of
materials to work on with a pen or pencil, while other students are learning from
shows we created with PBS which are airing on KLCS, KCET and PBS SoCal. These
shows have lesson plans, including questions and assignments for students to
follow. And some students are learning using a blended approach.

But we know we can do better. We estimate about one-half of our students are
continuing to learn at the pace they had been at school; one-quarter are doing
okay, but additional work is needed to make sure students are getting the full
benefit of the learning; and one-quarter aren’t getting the learning opportunity
they should be.

Standing in the way is a great big digital divide – not all of our students can
participate online because they lack needed digital learning devices at home or
access to the internet. And not all students, families and educators have been
provided with enough training to support online learning.

 We’ve authorized an emergency investment of $100 million to close this gap and
make sure every student, regardless of their circumstances, gets the education
they deserve. Los Angeles Unified will provide devices and internet connections
for all students, and training for all students, teachers and families. This is an
unprecedented commitment, but a necessary one. Many of our families are
struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford to do this on their own – but
their children deserve the same opportunity those in more affluent communities
have. I’m pleased to announce the support of Verizon in this effort. We reached
an agreement late last night to provide free wireless internet access for all
students in our schools who do not have it.

We know there is no substitute for great teaching in the classroom, and this
investment in technology cannot supplant the additional training and investment
which is needed in our classrooms. But this action today will pay dividends down
the road in support of classroom learning when we return to school. Meanwhile,
in the weeks and months ahead, we need to make sure all students continue to
learn. All means all including English learners and students with disabilities and
learning differences.

Let me be clear about expectations as we build capability in online learning. Our
focus in elementary school will need to be on the foundation pieces like literacy,
math and critical thinking. Some things we are able to do in a high school setting,
science labs and physical education for example, will need to be different. It’s not
reasonable for students or educators, nor is it sound educational practice, for

 teachers and students to spend six hours a day in online, two-way
communication. And families who are struggling to get by in this crisis may not be
able to spend all day trying to help their children do schoolwork.

To do this right we need to make sure the tools are in place -- each student with a
device connected to the Internet, supported by Schoology (a learning platform
Los Angeles Unified schools use) and communications technologies like Zoom and
Google Meet Up. And then we need to train teachers, students and families so
they are comfortable working with them.

Most important, we need to help educators create and teach instructional plans
using them. We are fortunate to have many teachers who were already doing this
in their classrooms and are now continuing online. The training will be to share
this great practice with all teachers and help them put in place a plan they feel
best suits the unique needs of their students.

Our second goal is to make sure we help students and families we know rely on
the social safety net which schools help provide. On an ordinary school day, we
serve our students more than 1 million meals. These are not ordinary days, but
our students and families still need support, in particular those most in need.

We are operating 60 Grab n Go Food Centers at schools in the communities we
serve to provide meals to those in need. This effort is being led by Los Angeles

 Unified employees and volunteers from the Red Cross. Others have joined to
help, including chef Jose Andres and World Central Kitchen and Snap Inc. Last
Friday, we served almost a quarter of a million meals and helped more people
than any other food bank in the country.

In addition, we have started a charitable fund to support the food efforts as well
as to provide critical supplies and learning materials to students who do not have
them. For those who want to learn more, please visit LA Students Most in
Need.org.

This is just a start. We know more is needed and we are working with City,
County, State and Federal officials to provide additional, much-needed services to
those most in need. This morning we started providing meals at the 8 temporary
homeless shelters set up by the City of Los Angeles.

This health crisis has led to a crisis in our communities. It’s important to recognize
many of the challenges we see in our schools -- children experiencing
homelessness and lacking access to healthcare, families in search of food, adults
without good paying jobs and a gaping digital divide -- are rooted in the
community and are challenges which extend beyond the school house. A great
education may be the best path out of poverty, but much needs to be done to
support the communities we serve.

 During all of this we want to keep our employees safe and provide stability in
their lives, including making sure they continue to get paid, so they can help
students and families in our schools as well as take care of their own children. We
are one of the largest employers in the state and we hope our actions will cause
other employers, large and small, to do the right thing for their employees.

The more than 75,000 people who work at Los Angeles Unified have one mission
– to support the students and families we serve. My position has been clear from
the start, we are going to take care of our employees. Because it’s the right thing
and because it’s the tireless efforts of each and every one of them which allow us
to help students and families.

Here’s what’s ahead. Over the next few weeks, we’ll have days where students
can continue to pursue their learning independently while their teachers are
sharpening their online skills and preparing instruction plans. On other days we
will distribute devices to students who do not have them and have training for
students and families. Along the way, a week of spring break will give all of us
some much-needed time to rest, be with our families and recharge for the work
ahead.

A schedule for each of the days through May 1st has been posted on our website
and we’ll be providing details shortly on how the devices and needed technology
will be distributed to students who do not have them. The effort will start with

 high school students and eventually all the way to elementary school students.
We’ll also be setting up help desks for students, teachers and families to provide
answers to questions ranging from “How does this device work?” to “Where can I
find my child’s homework assignment?” to “What is Zoom?” And, before this
week is out, all students will be provided with an update on the learning plan they
will continue with while we cross the digital divide.

It may sound simple, but it’s not. We’re making sure to include those at schools
in the planning. We surveyed almost 4,000 teachers and 100 school principals to
help develop the plan. We asked questions about how many students lack access
to the internet, how are principals communicating with teachers and teachers
with students, how are teachers providing instruction and feedback to students
and where teachers and principals felt they could use help. We have 1,386
schools and we’re counting on the great leadership in each of them, together with
their teachers, to implement the appropriate plan for their students.

We’re going to continue to explore new ways to keep our school community
connected. Our work with PBS is just one example. The shows provide the
opportunity for a family to watch together, discuss what they learned and escape
from the uncertainty outside. It’s interesting to note the ratings for all 3 PBS
channels improved once we began showing the student-centered shows and by
the end of last week, more than 100,000 people were watching each day.

 We welcome your thoughts on how we can keep our students learning and
provide support to families. We’ve set up a special email address -suggestions@lausd.net -- for you to share your ideas with us. And we will do our
best to keep you informed.

These are truly uncharted waters and there is no map for this. We will try some
things that will work well and others not so well. But everything we try will be
with the best interests of our students and families in mind. You have my
unwavering commitment to do all we can for everyone in our school community –
the students and families we serve and our employees who are committed to
supporting them.

Thank you for your continued patience and your support.
Austin