ETHICS ANYONE?

by smf for 4LAKids News

May 24 2012 – Lewiston, ME :: THIS AMERICAN LIFE, the NPR produced program from Chicago, did an episode on monogamy (and polyamory) in mainstream America in 1998. [http://bit.ly/KCiF9D] They pointed to a news story largely lost amid the Lewinsky scandal. Roy Romer, governor of Colorado, had an affair for nearly two decades with his family's full cooperation.

The NPR program further profiled several couples that chose open relationships. The psychological after-effects were outlined | http://yhoo.it/LiHnNC

Romer left the Colorado governorship to become Chair of the Democratic National Committee. When the story of his affair with his chief-of-staff (not only an affair but a public sector employer-employee conflict) broke he left the national stage to become Superintendent of LAUSD – where he served for six years and became the longest serving LAUSD superintendent in LA County.

Superintendent Romer was largely responsible of the LAUSD building program – which he kept squeaky clean and free from political shenanigans. And while at LAUSD he created the LAUSD Ethics Office, which in part set the standards and tone for the above.

Ray Cortines came to LAUSD as Deputy Superintendent in the waning days of Romer’s superintendence from the LA Mayor’s Office (aka The Office of Political Shenanigans). Cortines eliminated the LAUSD Ethics Office during his superintendence following Romer’s, citing budget issues.

LAUSD could not afford an Ethics Office.

In Cortines defense he was never secretive about the appearance of a conflict of interest in being a paid corporate board-of-director of – and a stockholder in – Scholastic – a textbook publisher with a major contract with the District. He disclosed this – and the Board of Ed  president said she didn’t see the issue …which perhaps introduces a lack-of-awareness on her part. Although Cortines had no direct day-to-day decision making on the Scholastic contract, those who reported directly did – and had to be aware of his relationship to Scholastic. http://lat.ms/Ld8HA7

The Scholastic contract was apparently created during Cortines previous interim- superintendency - before Romer.

Eventually there was a hue-and-cry in the media and Cortines resigned from the Scholastic Board of Directors – but continued as a Scholastic stockholder and the LAUSD superintendent

Then we had the rather colorful misadventure of former Superintendent Ruben Zacarias (the superintendent before Cortines interim regime) and his badge-flashing escapade – where he allegedly used an honorary LAUSD Police Badge to make a traffic stop of a woman late one night. Zacharias pleaded no contest to the charge. Ethics. Harassment. Abuse of power. http://bit.ly/KGv3rs

Superintendent Deasy came to LAUSD under a well-documented-but-unproven cloud about his relationship with convicted felon Robert Felner and his own Ph.D. degree – and allegations of resume inflation.   http://lat.ms/JA58pS | http://lat.ms/hQuBQi

And now this current sexual/employee harassment half-a-million dollar settlement over Cortines' alleged actions.

• Half-a-million dollars could pay half a dozen classroom teachers for a year.
• And parents and the school community at the Cortines School for the Visual and Performing Arts (The School Formerly Known as #9) are upset anew that they were not consulted as Board Policy requires in the naming of that school.

Excuse the double negative (4LAKids: No rule of grammar left unabused) …but maybe LAUSD cannot afford to not have an Ethics Office.

That’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it.