Mayor misses the Valley

Today, Mayor Villariagosa announced his team to help reform the three LAUSD clusters he'll oversee come January 1st. He has assembled a 5-member team that "brings nearly 100 years of experience in the area of education." Additionally, and wisely, the Mayor will be working with local universities to look at ways of furthering achievement in the LAUSD. Quoted from the press release (via LA Observed):

"In addition to the new team, the Mayor’s office announced that it work with California State University Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University, University of California Los Angeles, and University of Southern California to improve education and reduce the achievement gap in the LAUSD. The purpose of this partnership is to work collaboratively with educators, parents, and the community to ensure that we meet the needs of students and families within the Mayor’s School Partnership for Excellence."

It's interesting that the Mayor seems to have selected 5 leading Los Angeles universities, but fails to select CSUN, whose mission is teacher education and is the largest teacher training institution in the State University System. From their website:

"Cal State Northridge is considered a leading producer of teachers among public institutions in California. It was one of only four universities nationwide recently tapped by the Carnegie Corporation of New York to take part in a landmark initiative designed to strengthen K–12 teaching by developing state-of-the-art programs at schools of education."

Maybe the Mayor's office missed something? Perhaps looking at teachers training should be a part of comprehensive school reform?