In This Issue:  | | • | AN OPEN LETTER TO PARENTS FOLLOWING THE TRAGEDY IN TUCSON | | | • | FUNDING GAPS LEAVE MANY SCHOOLS LACKING NURSES: Most public schools nationwide do not have a full-time nurse, and one-quarter have no nurse at all | | | • | NewTLA: DISSIDENT L.A. TEACHERS WANT MORE FROM THEIR UNION + FRUSTRATED EDUCATORS FORM NEWTLA + more | | | • | LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD PROMOTES JOHN DEASY TO SUPERINTENDENT -- Without So Much As A Job Interview | | | • | HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources | | | • | EVENTS: Coming up next week... | | | • | What can YOU do? | |
Featured Links: | | | | "SO LET US BEGIN ANEW--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness ...and sincerity is always subject to proof." - JFK Inaugural/50 years ago Thursday
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• "Thursday, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the decision was backed by 90 percent of parents and 60 percent of the school's staff". - KABC News reporting | http://bit.ly/erNai7
• "...a decision by the Los Angeles Unified School District to hand over a school to outside operators without a vote of the teachers, without consulting parents, without an open discussion or an opportunity for existing staff to offer a competing proposal". - from an LA Times editorial | http://lat.ms/g18xqv.
• "Parents were notified in an automated phone message Wednesday evening and will be receiving letters in the mail, officials said". - from a LA Times news report | http://lat.ms/ia1uaz
The above three accounts of the same event - the announcement of the shakeup/restructuring/restart/reconstitution/handover/giveaway of Jordan High School - are sadly mutually incompatible with truth. But truth/civility/sincerity/transparency and accountability quickly vanish in the spin cycle of Los Angeles politics. That game was played this week big-time-and-for-keeps by the adults on the schoolyard .and in the boardroom ...at the unfortunate expense of the children.
AS STATED PREVIOUSLY, 4LAKids has nothing against Superintendent presumptive John Deasy; we wish him well -- ultimately he is accountable TO the Board of Ed, not FOR it.
But the process of his appointment/anointment/coronation this week - a spectacular violation of the Brown Act - with the Board of Ed retiring to the backroom like the College of Cardinals to the Sistine Chapel (but without the colored smoke) leaves much to be desired. Small things like truth, civility, sincerity, transparency and accountability. With no open process, no job interview, no other candidates ...with no job description how does one know if he meets or surpasses the qualifications?
Some might say that Deasy is Mayor Tony's choice '- or maybe Eli Broad's or Bill Gates'. Include 4LAKids among that 'some'.
Boardmember Zimmer is quoted as saying that in 2008, when Superintendent Cortines selected Deasy to be his deputy, he and the board "never, ever" got the impression that "Deasy would be superintendent-in-waiting."
Perhaps Zimmer didn't get that impression - but one suspects that Deasy and Tony and Monica and Eli and Bill did. And ...to factually correct, Deasy was appointed deputy superintendent in August 2010, not 2008.
Altogether now, if you're suspicious and you know it: Clap your hands!
ELSEWHERE IN NEW YORK CITY the billionaire media mogul mayor and the millionaire media mogul heiress fought a War of Charter Schools over their competing visions of Public Schools with Private Agendae.(See 'Spiralling', below) Bringing vision and hubris and the noblesse oblige of the powers-that-be into public conflict and the courts.(and the pages of the New York Times and the New Yorker) ...and almost taking Value Added Teacher Assessments in the lesser 'really-public' schools off the front pages of the Post and Daily News.
"My relationship to power and authority is that I'm all for it. People need somebody to watch over them. Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave."
- Arnold Schwarzenegger. The exiting Gübernator/Kennedy in-law didn't exactly roove his sincerity or pump up his Profile in courage when he he extended the clemency he refused to grant to others to the son of a political colleague.| http://lat.ms/h7lweH But hey,being Gübernator cost Arnold $200 million. | http://bit.ly/eRKIxi And it cost California public education.....
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE is improving school lunches. And so is Jamie Oliver. And LAUSD already far exceeds the USDA standards and wants nothing to do with Jamie's. (OMG:, wasn't he The Naked Chef back in the day?)
All of this brouhaha draws our attention away from the budget mess. And education.
AND PRESIDENT OBAMA REMINDS US OF WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT: "Our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations. "
"Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called 'Faces of Hope.' On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. 'I hope you help those in need,' read one. 'I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles.'"
"I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.
"If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit".
And so it is or forever should be. Onward/Adelante! - smf
AN OPEN LETTER TO PARENTS FOLLOWING THE TRAGEDY IN TUCSON
Posted by First Lady Michelle Obama on The White House Blog | http://bit.ly/ft9zqe
January 13, 2011 at 06:07 PM EST
Dear parents,
Like so many Americans all across the country, Barack and I were shocked and heartbroken by the horrific act of violence committed in Arizona this past weekend. Yesterday, we had the chance to attend a memorial service and meet with some of the families of those who lost their lives, and both of us were deeply moved by their strength and resilience in the face of such unspeakable tragedy.
As parents, an event like this hits home especially hard. It makes our hearts ache for those who lost loved ones. It makes us want to hug our own families a little tighter. And it makes us think about what an event like this says about the world we live in – and the world in which our children will grow up.
In the days and weeks ahead, as we struggle with these issues ourselves, many of us will find that our children are struggling with them as well. The questions my daughters have asked are the same ones that many of your children will have – and they don’t lend themselves to easy answers. But they will provide an opportunity for us as parents to teach some valuable lessons – about the character of our country, about the values we hold dear, and about finding hope at a time when it seems far away.
We can teach our children that here in America, we embrace each other, and support each other, in times of crisis. And we can help them do that in their own small way – whether it’s by sending a letter, or saying a prayer, or just keeping the victims and their families in their thoughts.
We can teach them the value of tolerance – the practice of assuming the best, rather than the worst, about those around us. We can teach them to give others the benefit of the doubt, particularly those with whom they disagree.
We can also teach our children about the tremendous sacrifices made by the men and women who serve our country and by their families. We can explain to them that although we might not always agree with those who represent us, anyone who enters public life does so because they love their country and want to serve it.
Christina Green felt that call. She was just nine years old when she lost her life. But she was at that store that day because she was passionate about serving others. She had just been elected to her school’s student council, and she wanted to meet her Congresswoman and learn more about politics and public life.
And that’s something else we can do for our children – we can tell them about Christina and about how much she wanted to give back. We can tell them about John Roll, a judge with a reputation for fairness; about Dorothy Morris, a devoted wife to her husband, her high school sweetheart, to whom she’d been married for 55 years; about Phyllis Schneck, a great-grandmother who sewed aprons for church fundraisers; about Dorwan Stoddard, a retired construction worker who helped neighbors down on their luck; and about Gabe Zimmerman, who did community outreach for Congresswoman Giffords, working tirelessly to help folks who were struggling, and was engaged to be married next year. We can tell them about the brave men and women who risked their lives that day to save others. And we can work together to honor their legacy by following their example – by embracing our fellow citizens; by standing up for what we believe is right; and by doing our part, however we can, to serve our communities and our country.
Sincerely,
Michelle Obama
FUNDING GAPS LEAVE MANY SCHOOLS LACKING NURSES: Most public schools nationwide do not have a full-time nurse, and one-quarter have no nurse at all
CRITICS SAY THAT PUTS STUDENTS' HEALTH AT RISK — AND POTENTIALLY THEIR LIVES.
By Jessica Pauline Ogilvie, Special to the Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/fK2hsw
January 16, 2011 - The 17-year-old boy who came into Cathy Owens' nursing office at Murrieta Valley High School in Riverside County was gasping for breath. He had no history of health problems. After quickly examining him, Owens' 35 years of experience kicked in.
"He was not able to breathe, and there was no heart rate going," she recalls. "All I could think of was he was suffering from anaphylaxis."
Often the result of a severe food allergy, anaphylaxis can be lethal if not treated within minutes. Owens grabbed a dose of epinephrine — the standard first line of defense — and injected it into his leg, stabilizing the boy until paramedics arrived.
Had Owens not been there for that boy 10 years ago, she says she is certain he would have died. But across the country, more schools are taking that chance as budget cuts leave them with inadequate funds to hire nurses. As a result, healthcare professionals worry that students' lives are being put at risk.
"Kids need services while they are at school," said Nancy Spradling, executive director of the California School Nurses Organization. "Those services are not just to make them feel better, but to allow them to continue to live."
Only 45% of public schools across the country have a full-time nurse, according to a 2007 study conducted by the National Assn. of School Nurses, or NASN. Another 30% rely on a part-time nurse, leaving 25% with no nurse at all.
The situation varies greatly from state to state — and even from school district to school district — because federal guidelines regarding nursing in schools are far from comprehensive. For instance, some states require school nurses to have a master's degree in nursing, while others mandate that they receive a special certification to work in schools, said Amy Garcia, NASN's executive director. Some states don't set any standards for school nurses.
Though 32 states have increased the number of nurses in schools over the last decade, a report issued by NASN in 2009 found that only 12 met the Department of Health and Human Services' recommendation of one nurse for every 750 healthy students.
Vermont had the best ratio, with an average of one nurse for 311 students, and Michigan had the worst — one nurse for 4,836 children. Nationwide, the average is about one nurse for every 1,378 healthy students.
The problem isn't a lack of qualified nurses, Garcia said, but a lack of funded positions.
In some states, the money needed to pay school nurses has been redirected to classrooms to make up for cuts to education budgets. In California, that has been happening since Proposition 13 was passed in 1978.
"The way that schools were funded was drastically changed," Spradling said. As school districts saw their budgets shrink, "nurses were one of the very first things cut."
California, once a leader in student healthcare, now ranks among the 10 worst states in the country, averaging one nurse for every 2,187 students in 2009, according to NASN.
Even in cases in which school officials want to hire more nurses, they often find themselves unable to offer competitive salaries. According to data from the Educational Research Service, a nonprofit organization in Alexandria, Va., that collects information about U.S. schools, the average salary for school nurses in 2009 was $46,476. In the same year, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average salary for registered nurses was $66,530.
In some cities, the pay gap is only part of the problem. Uncertain funding also makes it difficult for schools to recruit the nurses they need.
"In parts of the Bay Area, nurses don't want to work for a school district," Spradling said. "If you're only going to be making $60,000, and there is no job security because the district has a history of letting its nurses go every other year, wouldn't you rather make $110,000 in a hospital setting?"
The dearth of nurses has left many schools struggling to cope with rising rates of childhood illnesses such as asthma, food allergies, diabetes and seizure disorders.
The prevalence of asthma in children under 18 increased from 3.6% in 1980 to 9.6% in 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Food allergies in this age group rose from 3.3% in 1997 to 3.9% in 2007. And though historical data on diabetes in children is thin, the CDC reports that approximately154,000 children now have the disease — a figure which, by most accounts, is on the rise.
"When I first started as a school nurse, we didn't have one insulin-dependant diabetic in the school," said Owens, who is now the lead school nurse in Murrieta Valley Unified School District. "We now have nearly 100 in our district."
To cope, some school districts are training secretaries and teachers to give medications to students. That solution doesn't sit well with the nursing community. Allowing unlicensed, non-medical school staffers to administer drugs like insulin is too dangerous, some say.
"Insulin is something that you have to calculate, and it's easy to make mistakes," Spradling said. "Even in the hospital setting, insulin doses have to be checked twice — if someone gets too much insulin they can go into very low blood sugar and die."
Registered nurse Suzi Shriver works full time in a school district in eastern Idaho, where she shuttles between two schools. As a result, she sometimes finds herself in the uncomfortable position of having to rely on colleagues with no medical training.
"I had a boy from the high school and I thought he had broken his arm, but it was time for me to take care of my diabetics" at another school, Shriver said. She enlisted the help of a secretary to care for the children with diabetes, but added that "it puts me between a rock and a hard place. I ended up delegating something I didn't really want to delegate."
Untrained school staffers also lack the know-how to recognize when children need to be sent home — and when they don't.
"When there is a school nurse," Garcia said, "children aren't sent home because they have a math test stomachache."
Congress isn't likely to do much to increase the ranks of full-time school nurses. A provision that would have addressed the issue was cut from last year's healthcare reform legislation, Garcia said. States also appear ill-equipped to pick up the slack, leaving it up to local communities to find ways to make school nurses a priority.
In the meantime, parents like Brian Wilson are running out of options. Wilson's 9-year-old son, Jake, is diabetic and needs a minimum of five shots of insulin each day, including at least one at school. The elementary school down the street from the Wilson home in Emmett, Idaho, doesn't have a full-time nurse, so Brian drives Jake to another school 15 minutes away that does.
If Jake recognizes that his blood sugar has dipped too low, he can eat something to get back on track, Wilson said. If not, his son — like any diabetic — loses the ability to think clearly. "If nobody else recognizes it, he's going to drop too low and pass out somewhere," he said.
In two years, Jake will enroll in the town's only middle school, which currently has a nurse on campus for five to 10 hours a week. Wilson and his wife, who both work full time, are hoping that will change. If it doesn't, the family will be stuck.
Wilson mentions a friend in Boise who, when faced with the same dilemma, had to quit his job in order to make trips to his child's school every two hours.
"There's no way I would have time to do that — I'd have to close up my business," said Wilson, who owns a computer repair shop about 10 miles from the middle school. "If there's no nurse, there's no nurse. We'll just have to figure out what to do."
NewTLA: DISSIDENT L.A. TEACHERS WANT MORE FROM THEIR UNION + FRUSTRATED EDUCATORS FORM NEWTLA + more
NEWTLA, A PRO-UNION FACTION, WORKS FOR REFORM WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION.
Steve Lopez, LA Times Columnist | http://lat.ms/dXtuFD
January 16, 2011 - Quietly and carefully, a movement of dissident teachers has been taking shape within United Teachers Los Angeles. It began last fall, with e-mails and telephone calls among a group of disaffected and disappointed teachers. By year's end, some 50 of them had volunteered to become official members of UTLA's policy-making body, the House of Representatives.
On Jan. 8, the group held its first strategy session. At the meeting, which I attended, teachers shared their grievances with both UTLA and LAUSD and talked about their plan to lobby for dramatic changes in union leadership and focus.
They've even named their fledgling caucus: NewTLA.
"I think there is a silent majority of teachers who are very frustrated with the status quo," Mike Stryer said in opening remarks at the Jan. 8 meeting, held at Mercado La Paloma south of downtown and attended by 21 NewTLA members.
Stryer, a Fairfax High teacher and former school board candidate, helped establish NewTLA last fall with his friend Jordan Henry, a Santee Education Complex teacher.
Henry had been considering a campaign to succeed outgoing UTLA president A.J. Duffy but pulled out in November after the UTLA board of directors moved up the self-nomination deadline, making it harder for him to officially declare his candidacy.
"As the call for reform in public education has mounted locally and nationally, UTLA leadership has emphatically chosen to double down on existing positions rather than ante up to new conversations," Henry wrote to supporters on Nov. 16 in a letter mapping out a different strategy for change.
"I have conceded," he wrote, "that there is more to be gained aggressively building a base than there is steadily chipping away at a machine."
Henry and Stryer recruited like-minded reform-starved teachers to volunteer to fill vacancies in UTLA's House, and they now occupy about 20% of the House seats. Henry called the uprising "an unprecedented event in our union's history."
At the Jan. 8 meeting, Henry and Stryer told teachers that by merely attending meetings on a regular basis (last Wednesday was their first), they will be able to influence policy discussions, since there may not be another bloc of like-minded members as large as theirs.
With another 90 or so House vacancies coming up over the next several months, the group's goal is to grab as many additional seats as possible by making their agenda known.
So what's the agenda?
Let me list the grievances I heard laid out Jan. 8
:
Randy Grant, a Fairfax High teacher, said that UTLA has become as unresponsive and dysfunctional as LAUSD and that the union has utterly failed to design or demand better professional development programs than the antiquated and ineffective ones now in place.
Trebor Jacquez of Santee said schools that have the biggest challenges are losing their best teachers with no intervention from the union. Several present insisted on ending the practice of using only tenure to determine layoffs and transfers.
George Crowder of White Elementary School said the union has worked hard to ensure that good teachers are treated fairly but has also protected ineffective teachers.
Natasha Morse of Los Angeles High marveled at how, as a teacher in just her third year, she gets virtually no input or oversight from administrators, colleagues or union representatives about how she's doing and how she can do better.
"I shouldn't be left alone. They should be worried about me," said Morse, who wondered, like others, why there can't be a union-fostered culture of collaboration among teachers who can help educate one another on best practices and experiences.
Jose Navarro, a Sylmar High instructor and 2009 California teacher of the year, said the union shoots down rather than supports teacher-led reform ideas.
Mark Muskrath of Santee said union leaders waste time on things like irrelevant foreign policy resolutions while "throwing younger teachers under the bus."
Kristen Weinstein of Roscomare Elementary wants to know why there can't be holistic teacher evaluations with input from students, teachers, administrators, parents and anyone else who might identify both weaknesses and strengths. A number of teachers spoke up for better evaluations of administrators as well.
James Encinas of Westminster Avenue Elementary said he doesn't know exactly how to construct a better teacher-evaluation system but wants UTLA to lead the discussion rather than avoid it.
There was little discussion and no consensus on whether student test scores ought to be considered in teacher evaluations, a national trend LAUSD has supported and UTLA has adamantly opposed. Teachers at the meeting neither embraced nor dismissed the possibility, but Stryer later said evaluations should "perhaps" include student testing.
"What's frustrating for many is that the union leadership hasn't come up with a proactive proposal of their own," Stryer said.
Can that and other entrenched UTLA policies and traditions end, just because 50 teachers want them to, or will the reformers merely motivate others to rally around the old guard?
"I'm optimistic," Henry later said, calling the enthusiasm and support encouraging. "I want to build this union up, not tear it down."
In fact, many of the teachers who attended the Jan. 8 meeting emphasized that they're not anti-union. They simply believe their union would be far more productive if it quit wasting so much time on contractual and political issues and resisting change out of hand and more time actively supporting teachers in the classroom while becoming a leading voice on reforms that benefit teachers and students.
Teachers who care "have got to keep fighting" for those changes, said Navarro, "because the kids deserve it."
FRUSTRATED EDUCATORS FORM NewTLA
By Connie Llanos, Daily News Staff Writer | http://bit.ly/hnSTfR
01/15/2011 - Frustrated by union leaders and policies that they say no longer represent them, a group of educators have banded together to reform the powerful United Teachers Los Angeles, or UTLA, from within.
Calling themselves NewTLA, these local educators say for too long a small minority of teachers have controlled the powerful 40,000 member teacher's union. Their goal is to move UTLA into a progressive era, by having more teachers involved, advocating for more teamwork with district officials and even supporting controversial reforms like the elimination of seniority-based layoffs.
NewTLA officially launched this month, when dozens of its members were elected into leadership positions within UTLA.
"There is a silent majority of teachers who feel that UTLA has been unwilling or unable to adress the interests that affect us on a day-to-day basis," said Mike Stryer, a veteran social studies teacher at Fairfax High School who is among those leading the reform effort.
"By having this silent majority of teachers become more active, we hope there can be substantial change... We want to bring UTLA out of this oppositional model of unionism, which is about just saying no to everything and into an era of collaboration."
Current UTLA leaders reject being labeled combative.
A.J. Duffy, president of UTLA, said the union has introduced innovative teacher-led schools to the region, where teachers and administrators have more control over budget, hiring and curriculum.
Union leaders have also fought to minimize teacher lay-offs and class-size increases, and they are currently at the negotiating table with district officials, discussing changes to the teacher evaluation process that would include the ability to counsel out ineffective educators from the profession.
"It's clear from our record in the last five years that we have been at the forefront of reform," Duffy said. "What is frustrating to me is that we're not getting credit for it and we should because we have led the way."
Established in 1970, UTLA was formed after various organizations that represented teachers, counselors, librarians and nurses at the Los Angeles Unified School District merged.
The union's governance structure is based on a democratic model, which includes a Board of Directors that has about 50 members, and a 350 member House of Representatives. All union policies must be approved by a majority of both branches.
Traditionally, fewer UTLA members have been interested in running for the House of Representatives positions. The lack of interest and competition has often left this branch of the union's leadership with longtime incumbent officers and a large proportion of retired and substitute teachers.
NewTLA leaders said they helped recruit 52 new members into UTLA's House of Representatives, many of whom had never before participated in union politics.
"Teachers don't want to bash their union because it's all they have... We just want to bring new ideas and voices to our brothers and sisters already on the House of Reps," said NewTLA leader Jordan Henry, a teacher at the Santee Education Complex.
"Fresh opinions is what I think our union needs."
Some NewTLA leaders though have been involved politically for a number of years. For example Henry announced that he was running for president of UTLA last year on a union reform platform and Stryer ran for the Los Angeles school board in 2008, against Steve Zimmer, and was not endorsed by the teacher's union.
Henry though, said NewTLA's main goal is about energizing the bulk of classroom teachers in Los Angeles, who pay nearly $60 a month in union dues, but are not involved with the organization. Usually less than half of UTLA members vote in union elections, and for the less competitive House of Representatives the voter turnout can be even lower.
Still, some UTLA leaders question if outside forces interested in reducing the power of the union, might not be promoting discord under the guise of reform.
"I talk to a lot of teachers and I actually feel that, to a very large degree, UTLA and its officers have managed to faithfully and effectively represent members," said Gregg Solkovitss, UTLA secondary vice-president.
"It's a lot easier to do what you want to do when you have people fighting each other rather than being united."
For many members of the local education community though, a more open-minded union is exactly what they think Los Angeles needs to turn around its low performing schools.
"I think so many of us want a progressive teachers union to work with...an organization that is not adversarial" said Yolie Flores, LAUSD school board member.
"This is like music to my ears."
Mike Stryer: OUT WITH THE OLD UNION, IN WITH THE NEWTLA | http://bit.ly/hNCoKR
Los Angeles Daily News Op Ed- Jan 13, 2011
By Mike Stryer Mike Stryer is a social studies teacher at Fairfax High School and a member of NewTLA. LIKE parents and our community, teachers in Los ...
(For more information, go to http://www.newtla.com).
LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD PROMOTES JOHN DEASY TO SUPERINTENDENT -- Without So Much As A Job Interview
By Simone Wilson, LA Weekly | http://bit.ly/giEUdI
Wed., Jan. 12 2011 @ 1:30PM -- Well, we were right: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's superintendent of choice made it past the L.A. School Board yesterday. Board members voted him in 6-0; only Steve Zimmer, of Board District 4, abstained.
John Deasy will now be promoted from deputy superintendent to the highest throne in the Los Angeles Unified School District -- he's set to replace 78-year-old Ramon Cortines as soon as the tireless workhorse steps down (finally!) this spring.
The mayor, unsurprisingly, praised the board's decision right off the bat, as if there was ever a chance they might defy him:
"John Deasy is the right person for this job and the Los Angeles Unified School District is lucky to have him,'' the mayor said. "John understands the unique challenges facing the LAUSD and has already benefited from on-the-job training as deputy superintendent.''
The overall sentiment among city officials (and the Los Angeles Times) is that Deasy is an excellent choice -- extremely capable of handling a low-income, low-performing school system like L.A.'s. He may have a shady history of allegedly lying about his credentials and snatching up money wherever he can find it, but he also has some pretty stellar statistics to show for those school districts he's overseen: the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and of Prince George's County Schools in Maryland.
According to Zimmer, though -- the one abstaining board member -- even the most qualified candidate On Earth should have some friendly competition.
"We didn't have a process -- internal or external -- for the most important job in public education in the United States right now," he tells the Weekly. "It has nothing to do with John Deasy. I'm a big fan. ... But I can't be sure that I got the best person for the job if I didn't get to even talk to anybody else?"
Zimmer says that in 2008, when Superintendent Cortines selected Deasy to be his deputy, he and the board "never, ever" got the impression that "Deasy would be superintendent-in-waiting."
However, that's exactly what went down yesterday. An inside source told the Weekly on Monday that Mayor Villaraigosa was "making all the moves behind the scenes to make [Deasy's promotion] happen." Even the Times picked up on the fact that Villaraigosa had met with Deasy and Board President Monica Garcia last Wednesday to discuss "transition issues."
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who also hasn't commented about the selection -- and who declined to be interviewed -- has been quietly involved. He has been meeting regularly with Garcia and Deasy. And staff at the district and City Hall confirmed that the mayor was aware of the pending vote, apparently before even some board members.
Cortines, who has had a strained relationship with the mayor in recent months, has not been involved.
However, high-strung Hollywood blogger John Walsh says he had the story first, and jucier:
"Ramon Cortines, LAUSD Superintendent (as I write this) has been told to clean out his desk because he will be gone within a week. The background -- Mayor Antonio delivered that message to LAUSD Board Member and Broad/Riordan puppet Monica Garcia in a secret meeting earlier this week. Antonio is, of course, merely doing the bidding of his brain -- Eli Broad and Broad's sidekick former Mayor Richard Riordan."
Before he was hand-picked by said L.A. politicians and millionaires, Deasy served as head schools official at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which tells us a thing or two about his interest in monetization of education. (The Gates are huge proponents of charter schools, and often throw their money at district overthrowers like Parent Revolution).
However, he's likewise semi-popular among the more reform-minded of teachers' union affiliates, in part for encouraging new training and evaluation methods instead of giving up on districts altogether -- like, say, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Board of Education picks.
School District 1 candidate Eric Lee, a reformist up for Margueritte LaMotte's seat in March, tells the Weekly he would very happy to serve under Deasy.
"Deasy looks at the quality public school argument -- that whatever works for the benefit of the children is what we must embrace," says Lee. "People try to make this argument between the reformers and the unions, but that's not my argument -- that's an adult argument." He claims Deasy is about the kids, not the adults.
And although Lee opines that "LaMotte's votes have demonstrated she is carrying forth a union agenda," LaMotte has similarly come out in huge support of Deasy -- most importantly, with her vote.
Perhaps it was for this political versatility that the L.A. Unified School Board was so quick to hand Deasy his $330,000 contract yesterday (that's $80,000 more than Cortines). Zimmer speculates that, among a "number of factors," some of his "colleagues were reluctant because of what happened in the [David] Brewer process. ... Or maybe they felt they didn't need to do a search because they felt like they had the right person."
Either way, he says, "We were not talk-heavy in any form."
Clearly.
According to a Los Angeles Times article today, Board Member Margueritte LaMotte was likewise a little weirded out by the lack of application process, though she voted for Deasy without contest on Tuesday.
LaMotte also said she was concerned that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may have played too large a role in the hiring process but decided to vote for Deasy in an "effort to move forward," she said.
Everyone seems to have forgotten about the skeletons in Deasy's closet. The Weekly blogged back in June about Deasy's spineless resume, including a PhD "after completing only nine credits" and a faculty position at Loyola Marymount that the school could not confirm. Yesterday, another education-watcher unearthed a few of Deasy's slimy connections:
A year after taking over as superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District in 2001, Deasy recommended that his school system pay $125,000 for a survey performed by the National Center on Public Education and Social Policy, which is run by Felner. The survey was later extended for two more years at the same price, for a total of $375,000.
In 2010 Felner was sentenced to 5 1/4 years for misappropriating funds from a research grant and from contracts with urban school districts.
Mayor Villaraigosa hosted a feel-good brunch today, where city officials welcomed Deasy to the wolf pack and the brand-new superintendent tried to speak Spanish (ouch).
We're crossing our fingers -- and you should too -- that this legacy pick will make good on the glimmers of progressive reform he's shown thus far. And at $330,000 a year, it would be the least he could do.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
CAN SCHOOLS BE O.K. IF CHILDREN ARE NOT?: Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 10-14, 2011 by UCLA IDEA | ... http://bit.ly/iaIY29
THE OLD IN + OUT: New CA Board of Ed President attacks Critics + Old CA Board of Ed V.P. attacks Dept of Ed & th... http://bit.ly/idO0y5
Update: JORDAN HIGH SCHOOL/FOR THE RECORD + smf’s 2¢: from the LA Times | http://lat.ms/eGJeFE January 15, 2011... http://bit.ly/fe3bJT
Opinion: JOHN DEASY IS A DISAPPOINTING CHOICE FOR LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT: By David Lyell (left), LAUSD substitute ... http://bit.ly/eQZY4A
Spiralling onward/NYC Charter Wars: CHARTER SCHOOL CRIES FOUL OVER DECISION TO CLOSE IT – Ross Global Academy bl... http://bit.ly/iccoSl
School lunches getting healthier: USDA’s PLAN TO FEED STUDENTS MORE FRUITS. VEGETABLES LAGS BEHIND LAUSD’s EFFOR... http://bit.ly/fpXVkd
CALIFORNIA NOW 30th IN ED WEEK’S STATE RANKINGS, 43rd and ‘probably headed lower’ in per-student spending: By Jo... http://bit.ly/iaTWJc 8:20 AM
REPORT SEES DISCONNECT BETWEEN NAEP, COMMON STANDARDS + Report: By Erik Robelen | eDwEEK eDUCATION mATTERS BLOG|... http://bit.ly/i15pa4 8:03 AM
Incoming L.A. schools chief did not lie about teaching at Loyola Marymount, dean confirms | L.A. N.. http://lat.ms/i6BUmC
JORDAN HIGH STAFF MEMBERS MUST REAPPLY FOR THEIR JOBS + TIMES EDITORIAL: Howard Blume in LA Times/LA Now | http:... http://bit.ly/heSxHC
3 GROUPS TO TAKE OVER JORDAN HIGH FROM LAUSD: Jovana Lara | KABC7 News | http://bit.ly/erNai7 Thursday, Janu... http://bit.ly/gGkj2y
STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF TOM TORLACKSON PRAISES NEW SCHOOL MEAL GUIDELINES, EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT FUNDING GAP: ... http://bit.ly/fqi3BH
SPIRALLING: New York closes Courtney Sale Ross’s charter school: by Rebecca Mead – The New Yorker/ Talk of the T... http://bit.ly/hOZ5sj
THE STATE OF THE UNIONS: Public support for labor unions hits a new low: by James Surowiecki, The New Yorker - ... http://bit.ly/e4MGrk
LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD PROMOTES JOHN DEASY TO SUPERINTENDENT -- Without So Much As A Job Interview: By Simone Wilson... http://bit.ly/e4k46E
LA SCHOOLS BOSS TO BE JOHN DEASY, OF FAKE DEGREE AND GATES (AND BROAD) FOUNDATION FAME: BY SUSAN OHANIAN FROM TH... http://bit.ly/hEMnIf
Mónica García Press Release: DR. JOHN DEASY SELECTED AS NEXT LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT: Emailed Jan 12, 2011 12:06 fr... http://bit.ly/i9LJ89
NYC SCHOOLS CAN RELEASE RATINGS OF 12,000 TEACHERS, JUDGE RULES + more: The interests of parents and taxpayers o... http://bit.ly/eCsenz
L.A. UNIFIED SELECTS DEASY AS SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS: by Howard Blume | LA Times |http://lat.ms/aqgFbE Janua... http://bit.ly/i5B4uP
The drumbeat of support from the (un)usual suspects: HEAD OF THE CLASS+ COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORT APPOINTM... http://bit.ly/fkgQYb
STATE BOARD OD ED NOMINEE WITHDRAWS: Jerry Brown's choice for the California Board of Education, Bill Honig, was... http://bit.ly/gANOWA
1-11-11 - SPEAKER #1: Comments by smf to the Board of Ed: delivered before the closed session meeting @ 10 am to... http://bit.ly/h5K67F
UNIONS DECRY LACK OF SEARCH FOR L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF: By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press – from San Francisco Chr... http://bit.ly/eBRagG
Arne Duncan: 'L.A. is lucky to have him' - JOHN DEASY EARNS MOSTLY HIGH MARKS AS LIKELY NEW L.A. SUPERINTENDENT:... http://bit.ly/dFeNOf
COLLEGE ISN'T FOR EVERYONE + ONE WORD FOR CALIFORNIA: EDUCATION: LA Times Letters to the Editor 1/10/11 | http:/... http://bit.ly/fM9l6u
MONDAY’S BUDGET REVEAL: "Very distasteful, very painful": FROM CALIFORNIA’S CHILDREN | http://bit.ly/fSchft Ja... http://bit.ly/gy5Jo6
NEITHER FAIR NOR ACCURATE + VALUE ADDED AND HUMAN DIGNITY: from Rethinking Schools - Winter 2010 Vol. 25, No. 2... http://bit.ly/dEVZ61
BROWN BUDGET WILL SPARE SCHOOLS …IF VOTERS EXTEND TAX HIKES: "…after years of cutbacks, I am determined to enhan... http://bit.ly/gV5FsW
IN TOUGH TIMES, SCHOOLS TRY TO KEEP HOMELESS STUDENTS’ EDUCATION ON TRACK: School on Wheels is one of the nonpro... http://bit.ly/fZxgv8
2010: THE YEAR IN RESEARCH ON MARKET-BASED EDUCATION REFORM: By Matthew Di Carlo in the Albert Shanker Institute... http://bit.ly/hzRPuM
NCLB@9: 'Will there be anything we will need to remember after the test?': By Dennis Van Roekel in The Washingto... http://bit.ly/h3Bysl
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-241.8700
What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385
Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • Find your state legislator based on your home address. Just go to: http://bit.ly/dqFdq2 • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600
• Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
• Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school.
• Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it!
• Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child.
• If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE.
• If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE.
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT.
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