In This Issue:
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TOO MANY MAVERICK MOMENTS FINALLY LED TO DEASY'S UNDOING AT LAUSD |
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L.A. SCHOOL BOARD OKS PLAN TO RESOLVE JEFFERSON HIGH PROBLEMS |
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DEASY RESIGNS AND CHANDA IS STILL WAITING… |
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DEASY’S DEPARTURE PRESENTS OPPORTUNITY FOR LAUSD TO FOCUS ON EDUCATION |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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This is an issue of 4LAKids I suspect many readers
have been looking forward to; I have been anticipating writing it.
It was the week that was inevitably to be.
MONDAY the Special Monitor’s report on the Special Ed Modified Consent
Degree went live – and like much that is written about LAUSD of late, it
was mostly about MiSiS. And it certainly wasn’t flattering. As late as
Thursday senior staff were anticipating an exit from the MCD. Dream
on.
"Sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear"
TUESDAY had the Board meeting where the Board ran, not walked, into
special session at ten AM– and stayed locked in their little room three
and a half hours past the start time of the next meeting. I will write
more on that later.
Then they came out and addressed the Jefferson High School debacle –
which is less about MiSiS and more about a perfect-storm failure of
leadership at every level ...but let’s blame it in MiSiS!
I will write more on that later.
Then the Board continued on into the rest of the next agenda (and
reapproved my appointment to the Bond Oversight Committee
ThankYouVeryMuch) and talked about MiSiS and approved less testing
devices than the superintendent asked for and even less than the Bond
Oversight Committee approved and voted against releasing the Inspector
General’s investigation of the iPads procurement (I will write more on
that later) and scurried back into closed session to resume talking
about secret stuff into hours way past my bedtime.
A pitiful tweet from LA Times reporter Howard Blume stated “It is 10:56
pm and the school board is still meeting in closed session”.
And at 11:15 Howard tweeted: “L.A. school board fires 4 teachers & zero superintendents Tuesday night”.
AND THEN, AT 8:04 PM ON WEDNESDAY EVENING the LA School Report – usually
aligned with the superintendent’s camp - leaked the Breaking News:
DEASY EXPECTED TO STEP DOWN
My phone rang almost immediately: “Is it true?” (apparently two blogs in
agreement passes for fact) …and within a few minutes it was somewhat
confirmed and the Twitterverse and Blogosphere lit up and the
superintendent-in-Korea was established to be back in town and Michelle
King was-in-and-then-out-as interim supe and media availabilities and
press conferences were scheduled and cancelled.
On THURSDAY MORNING All the TV Crews in the World descended on Beaudry
anyway and media advisories were issued and at 10 AM everyone read it on
their Smartphones at the same moment.
Deasy was gone and Cortines was back without a press conference or a
photo op. Cirque du Soleil is the circus without animals; this was a
media circus with only the media.
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a tweet.
And life went on. Meetings were held. Classes were taught. Students
learned and ate their lunch and achieved and/or underachieved as is
their wont. Books were checked out of libraries. The school play was
rehearsed and a new playground tetherball champion was crowned. Thursday
was, in addition to the big shake up, the Great California Shake Out
statewide earthquake preparedness drill and everyone from Beaudry to
Broadway Elementary duck+covered. There was more relief than happy
dancing. It’s theoretically easier to smile than frown …and that proved
true.
AND WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
You will read in the story from Sunday’s L.A. Times below of how the
Board of Ed negotiated Deasy’s departure while wooing Cortines; a bit of
behind the scenes Byzantine intrigue that demonstrates premeditation
rather than planning. Not the way to run a twenty-first century school
district but Machiavelli would be proud. (To English and Poli Sci majors
who balk a mixing the Byzantine and Machiavellian metaphors I offer no
apology – power politics like dry martinis are shaken, not stirred.)
Spin Dr. Deasy is not so quietly running Crisis Containment/Damage
Control, not so far behind the scenes. He declares victory and retires
from the field. His superintendency was “a historic period of time
unlike any other”, he is “overwhelmed with pride at what his
administration has accomplished”; he has magnanimously stepped aside so
that ‘the work’ can be continued. Half-baked/half-digested data are
regurgitated about test scores and grad rates. Apparently the recent
past was the great new wonderful tomorrow we were promised. Whatever
went awry was due to his urgency or the school board’s lack-of-support
or the teachers union’s intransigence …or “when you direct resources
solely to students, that means those resources are not available to go
to adults”.
Which resources are those that went solely to students? They all didn’t
get iPads, and those that did didn’t get robust instructional content.
Is it the iPads that free students from poverty – or the education
embedded therein? Did the students across the District get the
resources promised by a new student information system? Did the students
at Jefferson get resources when they couldn’t get the classes they
needed? Aren’t bond funds resources? Aren’t the executives and
stockholders of Apple and Pearson PLC adults?
The most important resource the District has is its people. And Dr Deasy
is not a people person. When he says he cares about teachers in the
classroom he truly believes he is being honest with us. Not so much so
with the man in the mirror. Please excuse the pop social/political
psychology: Dr. Deasy falls somewhere on the right of the Eric Hoffer
True Believer leadership spectrum: Man of Words/Man of Action/Fanatic.
We all get to pick where.
Urgency is the watchword and the ‘excuse me’ excuse. I’m an old guy
beset by old guy worries and concerns and maladies. I watch television
shows old guys watch – with commercials targeting my ilk. Urgency is not
a good thing; it’s a euphemism for bladder control problems, down there
on the list with ED and whatever it is the purple pill treats. Mayor
Tony was big on urgency too; he could’ve benefited from a little ED.
Sandy Banks and other Deasy cheerleaders claim that “District test
scores have soared….” Ms. Banks accuses Mayor Garcetti of being a
“hands-off mayor content with incremental gains.” Even I wish the mayor
would be more hands-on – but calling Deasy’s miniscule gains “soaring”
tortures hyperbole.
The severance package is pretty severe. It’s effective immediately. It
pays sixty days when only thirty would be called for if he were to be
terminated - but saves Board and Superintendent the drama and
embarrassment of a public vote to fire him. He must keep himself
available till the end of the year to aid in transition and any “various
pending and threatened litigation”. The board opines no wrongdoing, but
the agreement specifies that he can never work for the District ever
again: "DEASY agrees that he will not seek or accept employment or
independent contractor status with the district in any capacity in the
future."
“DEASY represents that he is unaware of any undisclosed District-related
misconduct he has engaged in as of the date of this agreement”
…and in exchange:
“While the District’s investigation into the Common Core Technology
Project has not concluded, the Board wishes to state that at this time.
It does not believe that the superintendent engaged in any ethical
violations or unlawful acts, and the Board anticipates that the
Inspector General’s report will confirm this.”
Closing the door on what he’s best at, he’s forbidden from testifying in court representing LAUSD without permission.
This is all well and good and predictable and cognizant of a presumption
of innocence – and also tells us that the previous IG’s report (which
the Board in its finite wisdom has decided to keep secret) did not
convince the Board of unlawful acts or ethical violations. That
investigation looked into the CCTP (LAUSD/Apple/Pearson) RFP, contract
and award - but DID NOT investigate the potential unethical/illegal
action prior to the RFP now being investigated.
I am going to speculate (because nobody can stop me) that the Board’s
stated belief that nothing unethical or illegal took place may be why
the one boardmember who voted against the agreement did so.
And I am reminded of a New Yorker cartoon where the subject protests “I thought it was legal - I wrote it on a legal pad.” http://bit.ly/1zgbeEF
When asked about future plans Dr Deasy spins+frames: "I'm not going to
speak about them specifically but I would give you the general topics.
One would be youth corrections," he said. "Another would be working and
supporting the development of superintendents, and the third would be a
consideration for political office."
Biting my tongue – or planting it firmly in my cheek – I wonder if he
does more damage working with incarcerated youth or developing
impressionable superintendents? A good place to start on a political
career is running for school board. Does employment “in any capacity”
include the Board of Education?
I am quoted in the social media as saying that I don’t believe Deasy is a
bad man, but I do believe he did bad things. A friend spouts some Texas
wisdom: “Even the most arrogant bastard elevates to sainthood upon
their demise.” (She used words more colorful than ‘arrogant’ or
‘bastard’; I have translated from the Texan.) Deasy isn’t dead and I
come neither to praise nor bury him.
► TWO THOUGHTS WORTH FAR MORE THAN 2¢ RE: THURSDAY’S TRANSITION
By e-mail to 4LAKids from a knowledgeable school-based educator and occasional contributor
Thur., Oct 16, 2014 11:58 pm
As I read about Supt. Deasy's resignation, I have two thoughts:
The MiSiS debacle was more of a factor than the iPads.
The decision to implement MiSIS this year was negligent, and schools are
a shambles do to MiSIS. Unfortunately, there's no obvious way to
extricate ourselves from this mess that affects, to varying degrees,
every school in LAUSD. Students will be hurt, and after multiple system
failures, employees have lost all faith in LAUSD’s Information
Technology Division. At a series of eight meetings (22 hours total)
hosted by Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) between
November, 2012 and May, 2014, Chief Information Officer Ron Chandler,
Chief Strategy Officer Matt Hill and other high district and ITD
officials were warned repeatedly, and in compelling detail, by school
site administrators and coordinators, but they chose to ignore the
school-based experts who would have to use the system.
Most stories state that Supt. Deasy raised test scores, so I reviewed the data this evening.
The Deasy superintendency began in April, 2011, shortly before the CST
exams were given, so 2011 seems a sensible baseline. Since the CST was
not given in 2014, claims about Supt. Deasy raising test scores rest on
the 2012 and 2013 CST. Attached [http://bit.ly/1081pcs]
is a spreadsheet that includes the 2011-2013 LAUSD and (for comparison)
statewide CST ELA scores for grades 3-11, the CST Math scores for
grades 3-6, and the CST Algebra 1 scores for grades 7-11. Cohort views
of the ELA and Math are included so that one can see how the same (or
substantially the same) group did through three years of testing. There
are a few bright spots (6th grade and 10th grade English; 4th and 6th
grade math; 8th grade Algebra 1), but there are no huge,
across-the-board improvements. Besides, the achievement of an 8th grader
on the 2013 CST is the consequence of at least nine years of schooling,
only two of which were during Mr. Deasy's superintendency.◄
And even Monica Garcia’s effusive valedictory for Dr Deasy qualified his
claims to improved ‘preliminary’ graduation rate(s) for ‘comprehensive’
schools. What happened to No Child Left Behind/Every Child Achieves?
ON THAT NOTE: I was sitting with senior Sacramento staff form
California Dept of Ed, and the Governor’s and AG’s offices while we
waited for 3½ hours for the board meeting to begin on Tuesday. After we
all got acquainted and showed each other Smartphone pictures of our
kids, grandkids, horses and cats - and talked about what high schools we
went to (apocryphally they promote parent engagement in Connecticut by
sending a car for folks to attend PTA meetings!) we discussed the LAUSD
advertised goals of 100% attendance + 100% graduation that hovered over
us on the big screen. The consensus was that: 1.) Goals – especially
for kids - should be realistic …and as almost everyone in the boardroom
was making other plans for childcare, feeding families and airplane
reservations: 2.) Scheduled meetings should start on time.
Q: Is it always like this? A: Pretty much.
Yes, the Board of Ed was discussing important stuff – and yes, they were
having no fun – but they would be doing those things until past 11PM
(3PM the next day in Seoul) anyway. Why keep all of LAUSD’s senior staff
and students and parents, the California Superintendent of Public
Instruction and half the passenger load of Southwest Airlines flight
#502 from LAX to SMF – and your querulous blogger – waiting?
When the proceedings finally began I was hoping Superintendent Torlakson
would tear into LAUSD for our failures at Jefferson, but he didn’t.
It’s a case in litigation and though LAUSD was obviously+admittedly
culpable at Jefferson, the judge was watching and attorneys had scripted
the response and the plaintiffs and the defendants were in the room.
The outrage had already been perpetrated, the damage done and solutions
agreed to …and now everyone was on their best behavior. The students
made the best presentations – and a student from Dorsey made it clear to
the Board and the CDE that Jefferson itself was more of a norm than an
outlier.
TO BE CLEAR: Jefferson was a catastrophic failure in leadership in
reacting to the MiSiS crisis. The rollout of MiSiS was not exclusively
an IT problem; it was and continues to be an institutional LAUSD
problem.
Chanda Smith Modified Consent Decree Independent Monitor David Rostetter
“Our conclusion is that this is fundamentally an organizational
management problem, not a technical problem”.
The organization, such as it is, doesn’t just "get" IT.
And it was a management failure at the very top by whoever (singular or
plural) made the “green light” strategic+executive decision to go ahead
with the districtwide MiSiS rollout on the first day of school, driven
by urgency without institutional buy-in, adequate preparation, staffing,
training, systems integration, etc. Someone(s) who understood neither
IT nor LAUSD. On Aug 24 Dr. Deasy said: “(IT) is not my area of
expertise…” and proposed to hire a special liaison to bring him up to
speed. [http://bit.ly/1zqMJiV] Aug 21st was ten days into the MiSiS Crisis. Students would walk out of classes at Jefferson on the 25th.
THE POSITIVE THINGS Dr. Deasy accomplished he did by fiat – in what the
Times calls his ‘maverick moments’ – flying solo – all by himself. He
got rid of chocolate milk on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He forbade out of school
suspensions for ‘willful defiance’. He imposed Breakfast in the
Classroom, making a promising program really unpopular.
WELCOME BACK RAY CORTINES. You’ve been here before, you know what to do;
we know who you are. We all have opinions and hopefully we all remember
how to share them.
There is a lot of work to do moving forward and we look forward to doing it. Together.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
●●MORE THAN A PS: This may come as a shock, but there is far more going on in the world than LAUSD.
Here’s a question: Will all those parents who are vaccine resistant –
and expose their children and all children to measles and diphtheria and
pertussis, etc. – continue when the Ebola vaccine comes on line? The
reason why nobody has to get immunized against small pox and polio
anymore is because everybody did back in the day.
TOO MANY MAVERICK MOMENTS FINALLY LED TO DEASY'S UNDOING AT LAUSD
SCHOOLS SUPT. JOHN DEASY FLEW SOLO, BEYOND THE CONTROL OF HIS ELECTED BOSSES ON THE L.A. SCHOOL BOARD
By Howard Blume, James Rainey | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1t2M4pA
Oct 19, 2014 | 5:00 AM :: The Los Angeles Unified School District
dumped a heap of trouble on its schools this fall when it rolled out a
new student records system.
The breakdown was the most severe at Jefferson High School in South Los
Angeles. Seniors couldn't get courses they needed to graduate. Others
had to sit in classes they had already passed. Hundreds waiting for a
complete class schedule crammed into the school auditorium for up to
three weeks.
In this moment of crisis, L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy came up with a
novel response, one that positioned him where he had been many times
before: flying solo, beyond the control of his elected bosses on the
school board, campaigning for reform on a high-profile platform.
Without the knowledge of board members, Deasy prepared a sworn statement
in a court case that attacked scheduling practices in L.A. Unified and
other districts, citing Jefferson as an example of what was going wrong.
Deasy's declaration irked some school board members and the judge in the
court case, who wondered why Deasy didn't take charge of the problem in
his own school system.
By then, Deasy's bosses on the L.A. school board had endured enough of
his maverick moments. They sent their attorney on a mission to reach out
to former Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who had led the district before
Deasy.
The talks had to remain secret because there had been past tensions
between the two, and board members didn't want Deasy to know they were
courting Cortines.
The lawyer posed the big question: Would the 82-year-old Cortines consider coming out of retirement?
::
Deasy's 3 1/2 years as head of the nation's second-largest school
district ended with his resignation last week, but his path was unusual
from the very outset of his tenure at L.A. Unified.
Not the product of a nationwide or local search, Deasy instead was
installed as the heir apparent, taking the No. 2 job under Cortines with
every expectation he would soon be in charge.
Then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had staked considerable political
capital on improving low-performing schools, was among those who quietly
demanded that Deasy take over. His previous post had been as a deputy
director with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He'd also served
as superintendent in Santa Monica-Malibu Unified and Prince George's
County Public Schools in Maryland.
Deasy said from the outset that he would use any means necessary —
including supporting legislation and outside litigation — to pursue his
vision of what would propel gains in student achievement. His sense of
urgency was heightened, he said, by the poverty and low academic skills
he saw in Los Angeles.
This is not about me. This is about making a statement to the community
that the superintendent, whoever it is, and the board are going to make
every effort to work together. - Ramon Cortines, named interim head of
L.A. schools
The superintendent repeatedly proved true to his word — most notably
earlier this year, when he testified in a groundbreaking court fight
that stripped teachers of some key traditional job protections. He
wanted to make it easier to remove ineffective teachers in the name of
promoting student civil rights. Deasy had his staff devote considerable
time to Vergara vs. California before he spent three days on the witness
stand.
"I was the only sitting superintendent to participate in the Vergara
case and there is a reason for that," Deasy said at the time. "I am
taking a risk, but I feel the issue is too important to sit out."
An angry backlash from teachers proved his words prophetic. He also
didn't endear himself to members of the Board of Education by proceeding
without their approval. (The lawsuit succeeded at trial and is on
appeal.)
Deasy's desire to be the vanguard of change also had found expression in
his bid to provide iPads for every student — pledging that he would
close the technology gap with the state's more privileged children.
The school board unanimously went along, with little discussion and no
dissension, until problems ensued with the rollout last year and
questions recently emerged about the bidding process.
Months before bidding began, for example, Deasy made a promotional video
for Apple, talking about the wonders of the iPad. That endorsement and
other statements and actions gave the appearance, to critics, of a
single-minded rush toward one product, which troubled some board members
and financial overseers. They pointed out how other districts brought
technology to students at lower cost or without using school
construction bonds.
Deasy insisted no wrongdoing had occurred and said he had sat out the
formal bidding process. The troubled iPad initiative — with students
accessing forbidden sites and officials misstating costs — enhanced a
portrait of Deasy as the big-picture advocate who was too passionate, or
distracted, to attend to details.
Many rank-and-file employees came to view him another way: as imperious
and punitive, always demanding more from teachers and administrators
even when budget cuts resulted in larger classes and fewer resources.
Nonetheless, he remained the darling of a community of philanthropists
and proponents of a certain style of education reform that borrows
heavily from the principles of private enterprise.
They applauded his push for a teacher evaluation system that
incorporated student standardized test scores, and that he fired
teachers identified as poor performers in greater numbers than before.
Deasy's path was made more difficult because he never had a solid
majority on the Board of Education. His supporters tried, and failed, to
elect newcomers who would give him broad latitude. Four pro-Deasy
candidates lost over two election cycles, resulting in a board majority
that would not unreservedly follow his lead.
Those officials also felt that Deasy ignored their directives and
treated them dismissively. "It was clear that he thought he was the
smartest person in the room," said one senior district official, a
comment echoed by others.
And he wasn't the most patient, diplomatic or strategic leader, something that even Deasy has acknowledged.
Deasy threatened at least twice to leave the district. In the summer of
2013 the superintendent tried the tactic to prevent the elevation of
Richard Vladovic to board president. The effort failed.
All the while, test scores continued to improve, as did graduation
rates. By those two crucial measures, the superintendent, and students,
appeared to be winning.
But for the board majority, Deasy had become an uncommunicative,
ungovernable, somewhat detached leader. It didn't help that he became a
target for the teachers union to rally against in its push for a better
contract.
Instead of looking for ways to unite behind Deasy, board members —
unhappy with their leader — began looking for reasons or justifications
to push him aside.
The recent crises over technology programs — first the iPad and then the
student records system — gave them a rationale they could, if
necessary, defend in public.
The board had additional leverage over Deasy. His regular performance
evaluation was set for next Tuesday. Anything less than a positive
rating would place his reputation under a bigger cloud if he did not
step aside.
For their part, board members began to see Cortines as an irresistible
balm for a leadership crisis, sources said. He'd been in occasional
touch since his retirement in 2011. At least three board members began
to talk to him in the latter part of September, getting his advice and
sounding out whether he might consider an interruption in his
retirement.
Cortines initially said no. Then he said an official request would have to be made on behalf of the board.
That happened after Deasy filed his court declaration attacking L.A. Unified's scheduling practices.
Next, Cortines insisted on a unanimous vote.
"This is not about me," Cortines said in an interview. "This is about
making a statement to the community that the superintendent, whoever it
is, and the board are going to make every effort to work together."
Meanwhile, the board was negotiating more intensely with Deasy, who had retained an attorney.
Deasy received a few concessions, including an arrangement that keeps
him on the payroll through the end of the year. The school board also
agreed to a departure announcement that celebrated his accomplishments
and indicated their confidence that Deasy would be exonerated of any
wrongdoing related to the iPads-for-all program.
In 7 1/2 hours of closed meetings last Tuesday, the board reached its
final terms with Deasy and gave Cortines a unanimous offer, which
Cortines said he never expected to be possible.
"I might have had a different strategy for responding to them," he said with a laugh, "if I thought this would ever happen."
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD OKS PLAN TO RESOLVE JEFFERSON HIGH PROBLEMS
L.A. UNIFIED WILL SPEND $1.1 MILLION TO HELP STUDENTS
WHO LOST INSTRUCTIONAL TIME AND WILL AUDIT OTHER HIGH SCHOOLS TO SEE
IF THEIR STUDENTS HAD SCHEDULING PROBLEMS
By Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1FmhHON
Oct 14,2014 | 10:12PM :: The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday
approved a $1.1-million plan to provide a longer school day, additional
classes and tutoring to Jefferson High students who lost instructional
time as a result of widespread scheduling problems this semester.
Officials also announced that the Los Angeles Unified School District
would audit other high schools to find additional students who might
have been similarly shortchanged.
The controversy with the scheduling problems at Jefferson adds another
layer to the intrigue surrounding L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy, whose
job evaluation is scheduled for next week.
A majority of school board members have signaled to insiders that they
could support the departure of Deasy, either through a resignation or
buyout. Earlier this month, the board authorized its legal staff to
initiate discussions over a possible departure agreement.
His contract — and preparation for his evaluation — were on the agenda
Tuesday for a closed-door meeting, along with other matters.
The board remained in closed session for six and a half hours, delaying
the start of a public meeting. Members made no announcement upon
convening into open session for several hours. They were expected to
return to closed session for additional deliberation late Tuesday
evening.
Some board members and other critics have faulted the superintendent for what happened when Jefferson opened this fall.
"We have to do better at this side of the table," said board member
George McKenna, referring to senior staff, and, implicitly, to Deasy.
Deasy is out of town on a previously planned trip to South Korea. Before
he left, he offered a sworn declaration on behalf of students suing
over conditions at Jefferson.
Some board members have criticized Deasy for getting involved without
clearing it and for focusing on the lawsuit rather than on doing more to
address problems at Jefferson.
Hundreds of students had incomplete or incorrect schedules. Many lost
two to three weeks of instruction waiting in the auditorium, and then
many were programmed into schedules that still had mistakes. The result
was that students fell behind in course work they needed to graduate or
to complete college preparatory requirements.
The remedy will include extending the school day by 30 minutes. In
addition, teachers will be paid for up to two hours per week to provide
tutoring before and after school. Counselors will be freed from lunch
and playground supervision, so they can provide more counseling. And new
class sections will be offered to students to replace non-academic
classes. These non-academic periods include students assigned to run
errands for staff or to spend time off campus unsupervised.
Officials also insisted that conditions at Jefferson had been mostly dealt with even before last week's court order.
As of Tuesday, the district identified eight students who lacked classes
they needed to graduate. Forty-three other students were improperly
placed in courses they'd already passed, said Tommy Chang, a senior
administrator.
The scheduling flaws were not unique to Jefferson, which is south of
downtown. Many campuses also dealt with major hitches caused by a new
student records system that was activated before it was ready.
Board members Tuesday criticized that rollout and asked the district's
inspector general to broaden a probe into what went wrong.
The technology fiasco came at a bad time for Deasy, who already was
under scrutiny for a districtwide iPad program for students. The
inspector general also is looking into that project, and Deasy intends
to launch a new bidding process.
The scheduling challenges at Jefferson were exacerbated by
administrative turnover as well as by glaring errors in the first master
schedule, officials acknowledged.
With the help of advocates, Jefferson students and teachers took their
complaints to court, joining a lawsuit over non-academic classes that
was filed in Alameda County.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George Hernandez Jr. chastised
L.A. Unified for allowing problems to persist and last week ordered the
state to intervene. A state delegation came to Los Angeles for meetings
and praised the proposed plan Tuesday.
Advocates insisted that the fixes don't go far enough and that too many
students still could be forced to waste time taking non-academic classes
or courses they'd already passed.
"Content-free classes and an education are an oxymoron," said attorney
Mark Rosenbaum. "The state should ban these classes tomorrow."
Some students expressed ongoing concerns in public comments to the board.
"All that lost time adds up," senior Jason Magana said. "I will leave
Jefferson High School with my diploma. But so many Jefferson students
don't.
DEASY RESIGNS AND CHANDA IS STILL WAITING…
From the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) Weekly Update for the week of Oct 20th | http://bit.ly/JidN0H
►DEASY RESIGNS!
Oct 16, 2014 :: The Board of Education reached a termination agreement
with Superintendent John Deasy. The interim superintendent will be
Ramon C. Cortines who starts on Monday, October 20, 2014. We welcome
back Mr. Cortines and look forward to commencing AALA’s regular meetings
with him.
►CHANDA IS STILL WAITING: MiSiS’ IMPACT ON STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Oct 16, 2014 :: The District’s announcement to take immediate action
and fund resources at Jefferson High School needed to happen and AALA
welcomes the corrective move. However, AALA wonders why the
administrative team supervising Jefferson didn’t act in a more timely
and effective manner.
The Jefferson news clouds another alarming report that surfaced this
week from the Office of the Independent Monitor on the impact of MiSiS
on students with disabilities.
The independent monitor’s report shows that major problems still exist. Key findings include:
• 98% of the 201 schools that participated in the survey reported
problems with MiSiS, with 57% reporting they used alternative methods
for maintaining data
• 83% reported problems with identifying students with disabilities enrolled at their school
• • 69% reported varying degrees of problems with placement for students with disabilities
• • 69% reported varying problems with services for students with disabilities
• Nearly 56% did not participate in any training
• 35% indicated inadequate training
• Interface problems continue between MiSiS and Welligent
By way of background, it was in 1993 that the Chanda Smith class action
lawsuit was filed to challenge the adequacy of supports received by
Chanda Smith, an LAUSD special education student. As one of its 15
outcomes, the Modified Consent Decree (MCD) requires the District to
build an integrated student data system to track all of its students
through all grade levels and school sites. The “new” system was to
replace 26 “legacy” (aka “obsolete”) student data systems. The new
system was implemented at the start of this school year despite alarms
about glitches in MiSiS and the lack of readiness for the system to be
effective.
On the District’s MiSiS website it says:
“The beginning of a new school year is the only feasible time to
implement this type of system, as a midyear transition from a legacy to a
new system would cause an intolerable level of disruptions to
instruction and operations.
While public attention has focused on schoolwide scheduling and other
disruptive problems, we should keep in mind that MiSiS was also intended
to remedy the District’s failure to identify and track students with
special needs and provide instructional services to meet their needs. As
a result of that failure, Chanda Smith entered 10th grade with 2nd and
3rd grade reading and math skills. After repeating 10th grade twice,
Smith’s mother took action. The 1993 lawsuit found 21 areas of
noncompliance by the District that included failure to identify, assess
and serve students with disabilities (SWD), meet required timelines,
offer designated instructional services and track, maintain and access
records.
The rush to implement the imperfect technology of MiSiS just to bring
closure to the MCD instead hit schools and students with a double
whammy! In retrospect, it’s been 21 years since the Chanda Smith
lawsuit. Wouldn’t the District have been better off to wait just one
more year to genuinely refine MiSiS instead of foisting it upon schools
before it was ready? It would have saved major disruption and disservice
to students, as well as hours of additional labor for school-site
administrators, counselors, teachers and other school personnel.
DEASY’S DEPARTURE PRESENTS OPPORTUNITY FOR LAUSD TO FOCUS ON EDUCATION
By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1sD4ydF
Posted: 10/18/14, 9:16 PM PDT | Updated: 10/19/14 :: In ousting an
embattled superintendent, leaders of the nation’s second-largest school
district can set aside their differences and focus instead on educating
650,000 students in Los Angeles.
While the departure of former Superintendent John Deasy marks another
win in a battle to preserve traditional public schools — primarily
centering on teacher tenure — now is no time to take a victory lap, said
Raphael Sonenshein, director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public
Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Unified’s school board, which has become more and more
populated by union-backed members, is poised to make decisions even its
most vocal opponents would support.
“This is their opportunity to show that in power, they too can be
reformers,” said Sonenshein, adding that influential business and civic
leaders will be watching closely when it comes to picking a new school
superintendent.
In the meantime, Sonnenshein said, school board members have turned to a
seasoned and politically savvy interim superintendent, Ramon Cortines,
to run the district while they conduct a search for a replacement. No
stranger to the district, Cortines has great “political antennae,”
making him a go-to pick for districts that encounter leadership trouble.
School board member Tamar Galatzan, a frequent Deasy supporter and San
Fernando Valley representative, said Cortines’ ability to handle
complicated issues will come in handy.
“He has decades of experience and people skills that are legendary. That’s what we need right now,” Galatzan said.
With Cortines’ help, Galatzan said, she hopes the district and its
stakeholders will be able to settle down, focus on the budget, learn the
new Smarter Balance standardized testing and ensure that students
obtain the education they need to attend state universities.
“That’s where all of our energy should be focused,” whether you’re a
student, parent, teacher, classified employee, board member or
superintendent, Galatzan said.
Board member Monica Ratliff, who is occasionally at odds with her fellow
San Fernando Valley representative, also believes the school district
will be served well under Cortines.
“I think the district is going to be able to move forward very successfully,” she said.
Cortines has already sought to open lines of communication with his
elected bosses, Ratliff said, by sending them his calendar, which lists
all of his appointments and previews his priorities for the first day of
work on Monday.
“I think that transparency is going to be very helpful in terms of
building consensuses and building collaboration,” Ratliff said.
The first two things on his agenda, Cortines said, will be unraveling
the MiSiS computer mess and getting caught up on contract talks.
The district’s disastrous new computer software, MiSiS, continues to
hamper educators, impairing their ability to perform tasks that range
from taking attendance to reporting grades and generating college
transcripts.
Meanwhile, talks with leaders of the 35,000-member teachers union,
United Teachers Los Angeles, haven’t made any real progress in months.
Union leadership is demanding a 10 percent pay raise this year alone and
other improvements, such as smaller class sizes.
Regardless of the issue, Cortines said, he will look to the hardworking employees of LAUSD for solutions
“The district needs to use the talent at schools and the people who are
there to help solve the problems,” Cortines said. “The superintendent
alone cannot do it.”
The teachers union demands are part of a campaign called “Schools LA
Students Deserve,” which also aims to rally members and parents in case
of a strike.
“That continues and we do look forward to meeting with Mr. Cortines, as
well as continuing to meet with school board members around the Schools
LA Students Deserve,” UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl said.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
Deasy blames LA school district politics for blocking 'reforms' | http://bit.ly/w0MlFb
Sandy Banks: DEASY'S EXIT LEAVES UNFINISHED WORK AT LAUSD | http://bit.ly/1rlO2Ls
TWO THOUGHTS WORTH FAR MORE THAN 2¢ RE: THURSDAY’S TRANSITION | http://bit.ly/1081pcs
LAUSD/Deasy Separation Agreement states categorically that it is 7 pages long. Only 6 pages have been made public.| http://bit.ly/1sAtJ0j
UPDATE: TRANSCRIPT OF NPR EXIT INTERVIEW WITH JOHN DEASY :"It was a historic period of time unlike any other " | http://bit.ly/1CytSE6
On the day Apple unveils a new iPad Air, Time Magazine explains: HOW THE iPAD HELPED BRING DOWN L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF | http://bit.ly/11FHMcj
Which Way, L.A.?: JOHN DEASY STEPS DOWN FROM L.A. UNIFIED | http://bit.ly/1FdE8Wx
THE DEASY DENOUEMENT: The national media [ NY Times/AP-Wash Post/EdWeek] http://bit.ly/1yKDXjQ
DEASY’S RESIGNATION LETTER: “I am overwhelmed with pride with what this administration has accomplished….” | http://bit.ly/1tzQtkM
LAUSD/DEASY SEPARATION ACCORD “Deasy has determined to resign” meets “there is various pending+threatened litigation” http://bit.ly/1yKpLYb
THE DEASY DENOUEMENT: Four stories from Thursday | http://bit.ly/1xZ5Elz
Teachers are "bad"/parents "uncaring"/students "failures" but John Deasy
is only 'beleaguered"? It seems to be his new honorific. Like "Dr."
LAUSafterD: The LA Times reports that Cortines is back for a third try.
L.A. school board in closed session more than 5 hours so far. Several
topics, including the evaluation & future of Supt. John Deasy.
INDEPENDENT MONITOR’S REPORT RE: THE SPECIAL ED MODIFIED CONSENT DEGREE
ON MiSiS: "Our conclusion is that this is fundamentally an
organizational management problem, not a technical problem." | http://fw.to/ij711qH
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:
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Bennett.Kayser@lausd.net • 213-241-5555
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Monica.Ratliff@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 Brown: 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. THEY DO!.
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