from the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update: Week of August 2, 2010
QUESTIONS FOR DR. DEASY
AALA welcomes Dr. John Deasy to his new position as Deputy Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District starting next week. In June, we had a pleasant phone conversation with Dr. Deasy, and earlier this month we spoke briefly with him during our regular meeting with Superintendent Cortines. We look forward to meeting with him on a regular basis to address issues important to AALA members and to public education in Los Angeles.
Who is Dr. Deasy, and what is his educational philosophy?
A Google search instantly reveals 184,000 hits. The first three pages of links inform us that Dr. Deasy has just left the Gates Foundation following almost two years as its Education Deputy. After spending $1 billion to promote small schools as the solution to all of the ills of urban public education, Bill and Melinda Gates have discovered a new magic bullet: teacher evaluation.
Dr. Deasy has been Superintendent of a total of three school districts, including Santa Monica-Malibu Unified and most recently served as Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland for two years. His major focus there was closing the achievement gap for low-income and minority students. He overhauled the system of teacher and principal evaluation and instituted a federally funded pay-for-performance plan (I.e., merit pay) for teachers and principals in lowperforming schools.
In 2006, Dr. Deasy graduated from the Broad Superintendents’ Academy, founded by Eli Broad, whose stated purpose is “to transform urban school districts into effective public enterprises.” In LAUSD the Broad Foundation currently underwrites one of the 14 foundation-funded senior staff positions, that of Matt Hill, Administrative Officer, who was recently granted a significant raise by the Board of Education. The Board of Education made this decision at a time when many AALA members were reduced in force and/or basis.
According to Joseph DiSalvo’s blog post (www.sanjoseinside.com, Feb. 9, 2010), Dr. Deasy stated at the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Charter School Summit that the most effective teachers get more than a year’s growth per student for each year of study. He believes that each school must be turned into a “culture of performance rather than one of compliance.” In his view, teacher compensation must be changed and tenure must be rethought to make this happen. Notably, Dr. Deasy commented that it will not take more money to be poured into the system of public education, but a reallocation of the way we currently spend our funds.
Certainly, Dr. Deasy joins LAUSD during the most challenging fiscal time in memory. Our District has suffered many years of budget cuts including $640 million in 2009-2010, a projected $460 this year, and an unknown amount in 2011-2012. Despite the fact that AALA saved over 150 administrative jobs by accepting 12 furlough days for members over two years, our active membership has been cut by nearly 1,600 since June 2009. The impact on schools and District offices is dramatic; oversight, health & safety and accountability have been diminished. The loss of assistant principal positions at school sites, for example, means less student supervision and more work for remaining administrators, who are the personnel charged with accountability. Fewer administrators in local district and central offices result in decreased service and support to schools and families. AALA members are working longer hours for less pay, as they shoulder the responsibilities of those who have been RIFed.
In preparation for our August meeting with Dr. John Deasy, AALA asks the following questions:
1. If you truly believe that additional revenue is not needed to improve student performance, why did the Gates Foundation give a $60-million grant to five Los Angeles charter school management organizations in 2010 to develop new teacher evaluation systems?
2. What metrics and data did you use in St. George’s County to determine that incentive pay for principals and teachers improves student academic performance?
3. What support did you provide principals and assistant principals to help them transform education in their schools? What assistance do you plan to provide administrators in LAUSD so they can do their jobs effectively?
4. If additional revenue comes to the District, what are your priorities for the use of those funds?
5. Given the fact that our District’s institutional memory has been gutted in recent years, how do you plan to listen to and learn from the dedicated administrators who remain?
6. What is your action plan for educational improvement? In the spirit of collaboration, AALA pledges to help you learn about our District’s vibrant history of educational reform. We offer to interpret for you the shifting political landscape of LAUSD and Los Angeles itself. In exchange, we ask you to focus on educational issues. Recognize our excellent schools, administrators and teachers. Acknowledge the many positive examples of parent and community involvement in our District. Avoid the politics, which has seeped into all realms of the District. Promote administrators based upon merit, not on Board Members’ whims. Restore transparency and communication to and with the AALA members who continue to provide the leadership for students and staff at school sites. Remember that school leaders play the pivotal role in transforming education for our students.
EDUCATION FUNDING ISSUES: FEDERAL AND STATE
While recent attempts to get some federal assistance in the form of a Jobs Bill stalled out last week in a battle over attaching it to the war funding, new attempts are underway to find a Jobs Bill outside of education and the use of “Race to the Top” monies, which President Barack Obama had threatened to veto. Advocates in Washington, D. C., have not given up hope of some federal assistance for jobs prior to the November midterm elections. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Other Washington, D. C., news is that the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services reported its recommendations for Fiscal Year 2010. They include the following:
(1) Title 1 Grants for Disadvantaged Students would be increased by $400 million, which is not a double digit sum for LAUSD but is some progress.
(2) Chairman Obey (D-WI) hopes to have a tiny increase in IDEA or Special Education monies akin to Title 1;
(3) English Language Acquisition would remain essentially the same; (4) “Race to the Top” would provide $800 million, which is less than Obama originally wanted ($1.35 billion). The Senate may be more parsimonious in their willingness to fund these initiatives and allocate even less than these paltry amounts. Next steps are the appropriations process including the full House Appropriations Committee’s consideration and review by the Senate’s Appropriations Committee.
Meanwhile, at the State level the final budgets are being decided for this year, 2010-2011.TheGovernor and Legislature are now nearly a month late. Nonetheless, it appears that all of the five circulated, possible budgetsare more than what the Governor offered in his May Revise. This could be good news, with an increase of anywhere from $50 million to $300 million more for LAUSD. The entire education coalition has done a great job beating back many of the attacks on urban districts for now. California Assembly Speaker John Perez’ (D-LA)working along with other Assembly members has been more sympathetic to urban districts than either the Governor or the Senate. Our local representative John Perez and budget chair Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) deserve credit for standing up to the cut, cut, cut mentality that is ripping apart our schools.
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