In September of 1988, the Mayor's office took a bold step to create an innovative after school program that would operate as a true partnership including the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the private sector.
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The dual jurisdiction model housed a President/CEO with administrative staff in City Hall, and a COO/Program Director with program/operations staff in the LAUSD central office. Each is directly accountable to the Mayor and Associate Superintendent of LAUSD's Beyond The Bell branch respectively, and both entities absorb most overhead, equipment, communication, transport and postage costs. A Board of Directors and Advisory Board was established to represent a broad cross-section of the community, and leverage additional expertise and resources. Co-management not only allows LA's BEST to make daily use of pro-bono opportunities directed to the City of Los Angeles and LAUSD, but also to be a reliable and regular influence on education policy.
This unique organizational structure has functioned effectively formore than 18 years. A top priority for LA's BEST is maintaining a high level of public accountability and operating in the most efficient and effective ways possible, listening to and learning from on-site staff as well as families in each of our schools' communities. We invite you to review our Map of Responsibility and Accountability (download as PDF).
