Guadalupe Guerrero brings over 30 years of experience improving underserved urban public schools. He is the outgoing Superintendent of Portland Public Schools, Oregon’s largest school system.
For Immediate Release
January 18, 2024 (Los Angeles, California) — Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (the Partnership), one of the country’s largest in-district public school transformation efforts, announced Guadalupe Guerrero as its new chief executive officer. He will start on April 2.
“I’m thrilled to join the Partnership and to build on the collective effort focused on achieving educational equity for underserved students of color,” Guerrero said. “I look forward to collaborating with our educators, families, the Partnership’s Board of Directors, staff, and LAUSD leaders to build on the incredible work of the past 15 years to ensure improved outcomes for Black and Latino students in Boyle Heights, South LA, and Watts.”
Guerrero is a highly experienced educational leader with over 30 years of experience in improving the quality of education in underserved urban public schools. He has experience as a bilingual elementary teacher, school principal, and central office administrator in Boston and San Francisco, and most recently, as superintendent of the Portland Public Schools in Oregon.
During his over six-year tenure in Portland, the district strengthened its commitment to ensuring every student an equitable educational opportunity. Guerrero focused resources in underserved school communities to ensure every student experiences joyful and high-quality learning experiences. His efforts included expanding opportunities for students to participate in visual and performing arts, career technical education, and a full range of summer school programming. Under his leadership, the district mitigated the adverse effects of the pandemic on student learning, increased graduation rates, and provided greater access to mental and behavioral health support.
“We are confident that Guadalupe’s leadership will significantly contribute to the continued success of our organization,” said Carolyn Webb de Macias, chair of the Partnership’s Board of Directors. “His particular qualifications and experience make him the right leader to take our 20 Partnership schools to the next level. With Guadalupe as our new CEO, we will remain steadfast on closing the unacceptable opportunity gap for Black and Brown students in our city.”
Guadalupe Guerrero is a respected and nationally recognized educational leader, influential in shaping preK-12 education policy at the local, state, and national levels. He is the chair of the Council of Great City Schools–the leading organization representing America’s largest urban school districts. He was named Superintendent of the Year for 2021 by the National Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents.
Guerrero succeeds Joan Sullivan Anane, who stepped down on December 31, 2023, after serving as CEO for 10 years. Under her leadership, the Partnership became one of the most influential and respected education organizations in Los Angeles. Students at Partnership schools made rapid progress, with the number of scholars reading and doing math at grade level increasing by more than 50% since the introduction of the new Common Core baseline. Many schools experienced dramatic transformation, including 99th Street Elementary School, Hollenbeck Middle School, and Santee Education Complex, going from among the lowest performing schools in the district to exceeding district averages. This progress at Partnership schools was matched by several system change victories, resulting in a more equitable and effective K-12 system across all of Los Angeles. Among the most impactful changes championed by the Partnership include LA Unified’s revision and expansion of the Student Equity Need Index, which resulted in billions of dollars of extra funding at our city’s historically most marginalized schools, and pioneering arrangements with cable providers to provide free high-speed internet to students at scale during the pandemic.
“As we continue our mission to provide quality education to the students in the Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, and Watts communities, we believe that Guadalupe’s leadership will play a pivotal role in driving our goals forward,” said Melanie Lundquist, co-founder of the Partnership. “I look forward to supporting and working with him to achieve our mission.”
Contact: Cadonna Dory | cdory@partnershipla.org
###
Launched in 2007, The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools is an independent nonprofit, in-district partner of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), serving 13,550 students across twenty of the most underserved schools in Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, and Watts communities. The Partnership aims to accelerate student achievement, especially for Black and Latino students, while scaling school transformation successes across its network of schools and the nation’s school districts.