CRENSHAW HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR TEACHER TAKES STUDENTS ON FIELD TRIP TO FRANCE AND THE WHITE HOUSE, GOES TO TEACHER JAIL : 5 stories + smf’s 2¢

 

<<Crenshaw Music Teacher and Choir Director Iris Stevenson with President Barack Obama

Community members and students hold rally at Crenshaw High School protesting removal of choir teacher who is being investigated by the district.

By Stephen Ceasar, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1jm4Gvw

Cecil Thompson, right, and other former students present a musical tribute to their teacher Iris Stevenson in front of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles. Stevenson, the school's longtime and well-known choir director, was removed from the classroom in December and has been assigned to L.A. Unified offices pending an investigation of unspecified allegations. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

February 7, 2014, 8:30 p.m.  ::  Parents, students and community members rallied Friday in front of Crenshaw High School against the removal of the school's longtime choir director, who was reassigned while under investigation by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Iris Stevenson, who leads Crenshaw's award-winning choir, was removed from the school in December and is reporting to work at district offices — sometimes referred to as "teacher jails" — that house instructors who are facing allegations of misconduct.

District officials would not comment on the specific allegations, citing privacy laws. The investigation could take "several months to complete because of the complexity of issues involved," the district said in a statement.

Under Stevenson's direction for nearly three decades, the school choir has thrived — competing and winning competitions around the world. Stevenson was reassigned soon after returning from a class trip to France and Washington, D.C., where the choir performed at the White House for President Obama.

A couple dozen community members Friday defended Stevenson as an icon at the school, a strict but loving teacher who demanded the best of her students and showed them a world outside of Los Angeles.

"We want Miss Stevenson, we want her now!" they chanted. A choir made up of former students sang renditions of songs arranged by Stevenson as students made their way into school.

"She is needed here in this community," said Cecil Thompson, a 2007 graduate of the school and former member of the choir. "She taught us that we can be somebody."

Alex Caputo-Pearl, a former teacher at Crenshaw High School, said Stevenson has helped countless students through the years.

"She's an institution," said Caputo-Pearl, who is Stevenson's union representative. "It's an absolute travesty that a teacher like her is caught up in teacher jail and is taken away from her students."

United Teachers Los Angeles, the local teachers union, has vigorously opposed the way in which the district handles teachers who face allegations.

The union contends that teachers are kept in these offices for far longer than necessary and that, in some cases, they are unjustly fired even after an allegation is proved untrue. The union has called on the district to end the practice of keeping teachers in these offices, to inform instructors of allegations against them within 10 days of removal from the classroom and to conduct an independent review of all dismissals by the Los Angeles Board of Education since 2012.

The school district can reassign teachers for a range of allegations including sexual misconduct, failing to follow school rules and policy and financial improprieties.

L.A. Unified officials said Stevenson has been informed of the allegations. The union contends that she has not.

Stevenson could not be reached for comment.

Because of persistently low test scores and graduation rates, Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy last year reorganized the storied Leimert Park campus into three magnet schools — a move that required teachers to reapply for their jobs. Few teachers were rehired.

UTLA President Warren Fletcher said the district has a cavalier attitude toward the removal of teachers and the subsequent destabilization of urban schools.

"This school has already taken a huge hit, a huge destabilization," Fletcher said. "To remove someone who is a pillar of this community … it's a level of disregard that is frightening and would not be tolerated in suburban schools."

Caputo-Pearl, who was not rehired at Crenshaw during the restaffing said the process is a detriment to students.

"The superintendent has taken a method that was supposed to deal with the very few teachers that may be causing really significant problems and turned that method into a broad way of creating a climate of fear among teachers and destabilizing schools," he said.

Keeja Stewart, 16, a junior, said students were stunned and angered by Stevenson's removal. A substitute teacher has been filling in. "It's terrible," she said.

"She was helping me find my voice," Stewart said. "She's more than just a teacher — she's a second mother to me."

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Crenshaw High choir director placed on leave by LAUSD following trip

 

Rob Hayes  ||  abc7.com http://bit.ly/1g6yhFE

 

Thursday, February 06, 2014  ||  CRENSHAW DISTRICT, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Crenshaw High School teacher, who is beloved by students and parents, is currently in hot water after taking students on an unsanctioned field trip.

The district has suspended Iris Stevenson, with pay, as it investigates the incident.

After nearly 30 years of guiding the choir to world-class status, the Los Angeles Unified School District summarily yanked Stevenson from the music department at the end of last year.

"This community is in outrage over it," said civil rights activist Celes King IV.

King is taking up Stevenson's cause because Stevenson won't discuss the circumstances surrounding her reassignment and ongoing LAUSD investigation.

King says Stevenson is being punished because she took the choir to perform in France and on the way back, they sang for President Obama at the White House.

But King says while Stevenson had permission from parents, she didn't get approval from the school district.

"The parents decided that they wanted their children to take this trip. When they returned to Los Angeles, Ms. Stevenson was told that she was persona non grata on the campus of Crenshaw High School and she was to report to teacher jail," said King.

Globetrotting trips are common for the Crenshaw High School Elite Choir who has traveled the world performing and winning several awards. Stevenson rattled off just a few places where the students performed on invitation.

"France, Austria, Belgium, Korea, Spain," said Stevenson. "In every country, we sing in that particular language."

In a press release, the L.A. Unified School District said since this is a personnel matter, the facts of the case must remain confidential and that its investigation could take several months.

Former choir members say the school district needs to put Stevenson back with the choir immediately.

"The removal from her classroom was unwarranted and unjust, but she needs to return to her rightful place," said former Crenshaw High School Elite Choir member Vanity Brown.

Students and community members will be staging a rally to show support for Stevenson outside of Crenshaw High School Friday at 7:30 a.m.

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Crenshaw Students Protest Teacher Placed On Leave

City News Service/FOX 11 LA KTTV  | http://bit.ly/1echNHD

Posted: Feb 07, 2014 8:11 AM PST Updated: Feb 07, 2014 9:09 AM PST South Los Angeles, CA - Students and parents at Crenshaw High School are holding a protest in support of a choir director, who has been placed on leave.

Crenshaw High School community members will hold a news conference and demonstration demanding that Los Angeles Unified School District officials reinstate Iris Stevenson, director of the Crenshaw High School Elite Choir.

The choir recently performed at the White House as guests of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

From Reporter Gina Silva:

For nearly 30 years, Iris Stevenson has been the music teacher at Crenshaw High School.

She has taken the school's talented choir all over the world. Students from South LA have travelled to France, Austria, Belgium, Korea, Spain and other locations to perform.  But all the fun has come to an end. LAUSD has pulled Stevenson from the classroom and placed her in teacher jail. She is in trouble because during the Christmas break, she took her students to France to perform. On the way back, they stopped at the capitol and performed at The White House for President Obama.

Parents say, she had the permission from the school principal and from the parents. But apparently, not from the district.  When Stevenson returned to work in December, she was told to report to what is known as teacher jail.  She has been there since December.  District officials won't do an interview on this issue but they did say this is a personnel matter, the facts of the case must remain confidential and the investigation could take several months.

Meanwhile, parents and students today, held a protest outside of Crenshaw High School. They are demanding their beloved teacher be allowed to return to the classroom.

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‘Teacher Jail’ Under Fire As Crenshaw High Alum Rally Around Music Teacher

CBS Los Angeles http://cbsloc.al/1njepjD

February 7, 2014 10:24 AM  ::  LOS ANGELES — A practice known as “teacher jail” was under scrutiny Friday as the union representing teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) was expected to testify in an unfair labor practice trial.

The Public Employment Relations Board was set to begin hearing testimony on so-called “teacher jails”, a term used to describe what happens when teachers who can’t be fired under union rules go to sit all day after they’re removed from the classroom.

The practice has come under fire most recently after Crenshaw High School music teacher and choir director Iris Stevenson was prevented from being allowed to teach since December following a trip to perform at the White House for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

School officials won’t say why Stevenson – who has been a fixture at Crenshaw High since 1985 -  isn’t being allowed to teach, only that the investigation “involves a personnel matter.”

But United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) spokesperson Warren Fletcher told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO it’s time for the school district to change its policies.

“We’re talking about a situation where folks don’t even know what it is they’re accused of, sometimes for months and years, while they sit away from their students and continue to collect a paycheck,” Fletcher said.

Opponents say that teachers assigned to “teacher jail” are confined to a room filled with as many as 130 other teachers and are “arbitrarily placed without due process.”

Alumni rallied Friday morning outside Crenshaw High to support Stevenson, who students say has always been there for her students.

“Without Ms. Stevenson, the opportunities that youth have to get out of our communities and stop seeing the same things would’ve never happened,” said Crenshaw grad Daymon Johnson.

District officials said despite her reassignment, Stevenson remains a full-time LAUSD employee “who is entitled to her regular pay and benefits.”

LAUSD officials also said they were working to restore Stevenson’s name on the Music Building at Crenshaw High after the letters of her name and other building contents were vandalized last summer.

 

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Press Conference to be Held on Iris Stevenson in Teacher Jail

Los Cerritos Newspaper Group/Hews Media Group http://bit.ly/1ceU8Xg

PRESS CONFERENCE & RALLY

Date: February 7, 2014     Time: 7:30 AM

LOCATION: CRENSHAW HIGH SCHOOL, 5011 S. 11TH AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CA 90043

LAUSD HAS CREATED A STATE OF OUTRAGE IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL COMMUNITY, TREATING THE PERSONIFATION OF TEACHER EXCELLENCE AS A POLITICAL PRISONER

WORLD RENOWN MUSIC TEACHER, IRIS STEVENSON, WAS PLACED IN LOS ANGELES UNFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT’S INFAMOUS TEACHER JAIL WITHOUT NOTIFICATION AS TO REASONS WHY

LAUSD, remanded, to Teacher Jail, Iris Stevenson, who is internationally known as an exceptional Teacher and Choir Director at Crenshaw High School. Historically, at no expense to LAUSD, it has sanctioned trips domestically and abroad for the Choir which has always been funded by donations and nonprofit organizations.

In this case LAUSD denied sanction for the Choir to represent the United States of America as goodwill Ambassadors to France and further upon return to the United States to perform at the Whitehouse for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Many parents chose to sign waivers allowing their children to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity. Upon return Music Department Chair and Choir Director was informed she was persona non grata on the campus of Crenshaw High School and remanded during school hours to Teacher Jail without cause to LAUSD headquarters 333 South Beaudry Ave. Another chapter in the flagrant abuse of teacher and parent rights THIS MUST STOP!

Parents, Students, Teachers and Clergy in attendance

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A bunch of angry parents, alumni and community members can be wrong!

A case in point from last year at another high school: A baseball coach from a successful program took some players on an unauthorized field trip to a baseball game at Dodger Stadium. He drove them in his car. No trip slips, no insurance. No notice to the principal. He was sent to teacher jail or suspended, the machinery to fire him clanked into action and boosters and parents and team members past and present sprung to his defense. There were meetings and outrage and Op-Eds.  The due process dragged on just like Dr. Deasy complains it does and eventually the coach was gone. Of course the allegations that he allowed pot smoking on the trip complicated the matter!

The District has a right to be upset if Ms. Stevenson took her choir on a trip to France and the White House without their knowledge. Airplanes are admittedly safer than cars and obviously everybody's parents and the principal gave permission and knew what was going on and where everyone was.

• Did the intermediate bureaucracy at the local district (ESC) level know? 
• Did the Arts and Music Branch know? 

That it takes months and months to determine who erred and what the error was is preposterous. If it is true that Ms. Stevenson hasn’t been informed of the allegations against her that is preposterous squared. 

LAUSD for all its attempts at transparency relies an awful lot on the so-called The Cone of Silence: “We can’t discuss this on the advice of counsel – and you shouldn’t speak either!”  It’s a tool that can be used to protect the guilty as well as the innocent. If sunshine is the great disinfectant, whitewash is the great – uh -  whitewash.  “Housing” aka Teacher Jail I have been told is never used to shame or punish individuals but to only protect students or to expedite investigations.  I doubt if Ms Stevenson poses a much of danger of  re-offending and spiriting the Crenshaw choir to foreign lands or The Oval Office. Expedite this.

And this is all complicated by the superintendent's apparent (if not obvious) focus on (if not animus for) on Crenshaw – where the high school is the center of the community. The Crenshaw community is proud of CHS’s success in Sports and Music.  And until LAUSD colossally fumbled Crenshaw’s accreditation application back in 2005-6  those successes seemed success enough for the educrats downtown. 

Crenshaw is not a failure. Crenshaw is not a spreadsheet of disaggregated significant subgroups or a a cluster of data points in search of a turnaround. It is a vibrant community of unique individuals with a proud history. It’s a school that works, albeit not to the superintendents' satisfaction. Dr. Deasy is right that parents don’t have the right to choose to send their skids to crummy schools …but since the accreditation fiasco the school has been “transformed” repeatedly and “reconstituted”  twice. Dr. D.  has made little effort to convince anyone that he isn’t punishing or shaming  Crenshaw for the school+community’s  failure to meet his standards – whether in test taking or sending the paperwork downtown.

JOHN MARSHALL HIGH WINS LAUSD ACADEMIC DECATHLON

The team takes first place with 55,785.7 out of a possible 65,400 points. Previous winners Granada Hills Charter and El Camino Real Charter  - as well as Franklin and Grant - also advance to the state level.

By Alicia Banks, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1jm3fxp

Marshall High School coach Larry Welch reacts to his team winning the L.A. Unified Academic Decathlon at Hollywood High School on Friday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / February 7, 2014)

February 7, 2014, 10:30 p.m.  ::  The school motto Veritas Vincit translates as "truth conquers" and in the case of John Marshall High School, so do wits.

The Los Angeles Unified School District named the nine-member team this year's winner of its annual Academic Decathlon on Friday at an awards ceremony at Hollywood High School.

The win  advances the team — national champion in 1995 — to the statewide competition scheduled for late March in Sacramento alongside previous national and state champions Granada Hills Charter and El Camino Real Charter. Taft Charter, Franklin High and first-timer, Grant High, also earned bids to the California Academic Decathlon.

A victory for L.A.Unified at the state level will send the top team to Hawaii for the national championships in April.

The auditorium at Hollywood High erupted in loud cheers as the winners were announced. Marshall High supporters filled the front of the balcony holding a school banner and chanting "Marshall, Marshall, Marshall."

Marvin Paparisto, a 17-year-old Marshall senior, took the top prize for scoring the highest number of points — for the second year in a row. He said he lost count how many medals he won, showing off a large stack.

"It was a team event," he said, adding that the group has been studying since June. "It's fun for me to be in a room full of smart people that I can connect with."

Larry Welch, who has coached the team since 2001, said the win was "remarkable."

"Our plan is to go to Hawaii," he said.

Rae Laguna, the aunt of Marshall team member Alayna Myrick said: "When I heard that they won the first word that comes to mind is pride."

She said the coach is very dedicated and tremendous with the students.

The district has won 19 state and 14 national titles since 1987. John Marshall last won the state and national championships in 1995.

Representing the Barristers this year were Aninda Bhowmick, Kimiyo Bremer, Alexander Guillen, Kenneth Huh, Ha Min Ko, John Lascano, Wen Lee, Alayna Myrick and Marvin Paparisto, coached by Larry Welch.

Supt. John Deasy praised the high school's success.

"Congratulations to the players and coaches from Marshall for their tremendous victory in the 2014 LAUSD decathlon," he said in a news release. "I wish Marshall and all the top teams the best as they strive to keep the national championship in the LAUSD family."

John Marshall's team scored 55,785.7 out of a possible 65,400 points during the decathlon, culminating at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center in Los Angeles last week. Fifty-nine teams of nine students with A, B, and C averages took part in this year's competition.

Teams tested their knowledge about World War I, which included speeches, interviews, art, mathematics and economics. The high-pressure "Super Quiz" relay ended the competition with El Camino Real and John Marshall tying for first place with 4,800 out 5,400 possible points. Granada Hills placed second with 4,350 points in the same round.

Eleven decathletes earned perfect scores in the "Super Quiz" relay. John Marshall's Paparisto took top prize in the A student division while Bhowmick won in the B students group and Rohan Boone from El Camino Real Charter earned the highest score among the C students.

L.A. SCHOOL OFFICIALS BARRED FROM ACCESS TO CURRICULUM FOR iPADS

By Howard Blume, la tIMES | http://lat.ms/1gT0V0w

Bianca Gomez, left, Humberto Salazar and Doroteo Cruz are happy to receive iPads at Theodore Roosevelt High School, as part of the first phase of L.A. Unified's iPad rollout. The district approved Tuesday the next phase of the plan, which includes distributing iPads to students at 38 more schools. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

February 6, 2014, 10:19 p.m.  ::  Los Angeles school officials have failed for now in their efforts to get full access to a digital curriculum that the school system purchased in June.

The curriculum, developed by Pearson for use on district iPads, is off-limits because Pearson is likely to bid on a separate contract with the L.A. Unified School District, and district rules limit contact between a bidder and the district.

Some of the curriculum is available for use on the devices, but officials have wanted to see all of it.

The issue came up at a Thursday meeting of the district’s technology committee, headed by school board member Monica Ratliff. She has attempted to get access to the curriculum for months.

“It just seems outrageous that we would be unable to see the curriculum no matter how hard we try,” Ratliff said. “It just seems that something is wrong.”

A so-called Cone of Silence limits communications during the competition for a contract “to ensure a level playing field with an open and competitive process,” according to district documents. The new competition is to decide which vendors will provide devices and instructional materials for laptops. That bidding process begins Friday.

As of Friday morning, Ratliff will be unable to contact Pearson — or even speak publicly about the Pearson curriculum in any way — until a vote to approve the laptop contract comes before the Board of Education, said district lawyer Greg McNair.

Ratliff has tried to review the curriculum for months. It was packaged into a deal for iPads that is costing the district $768 per device. The district’s goal is to provide a portable computer to every student, teacher and school administrator as part of a $1-billion-plus technology program.

Initially, Ratliff was thwarted because the curriculum wasn't complete. This was not a violation of the district’s contract with Pearson; L.A. Unified agreed that the curriculum could be completed at a later date.

But the situation did frustrate Ratliff, other officials and members of the public when questions arose about the Pearson materials and the process that led to the contract.

Recently, Pearson announced that it had completed the curriculum but said it still could not provide it without the permission of Apple, the maker of the iPads and the lead vendor on the contract. This permission was not immediately forthcoming.

More recently, Apple and Pearson have talked of scheduling issues that seemingly have made it impossible for them to coordinate successfully with Ratliff and her committee. Now that contact is shut down entirely, possibly for months. By then, Ratliff's committee will be out of operation. It's last scheduled meeting is in March.

Ratliff could possibly obtain copies of Pearson materials from the state, which approves curricula, but she still would not be allowed to say anything about them. She said the situation has seriously hindered her ability to provide oversight of the project.

LA SCHOOL OFFICIALS ACKNOWLEDGE THEY IGNORED COMPUTER INVENTORIES IN LATEST iPAD PURCHASE

LAUSD’s  Chief Information Officer, asked why new data wasn’t taken into account, said they didn’t need to because the plan all along was to buy more iPads.

Annie Gilbertson, | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1l3t57k

Maya Sugarman/KPCC

February 6th, 2014, 5:31pmOfficials with the Los Angeles Unified School district acknowledged at a public meeting Thursday afternoon that they did not consider existing computer inventories when buying the latest round of iPads for schools.

KPCC reported last week that many schools were scheduled to receive the new tablets to take digital state tests  - even if they already had fleets of laptops, iPads or other devices.

“So the number of carts and iPads they are getting are based on the total number students regardless of existing computer resources?” asked Quynh Nguyen, a member of a school board committee probing the iPad program.

“That is correct,” replied Oscar Lafarga, an administrator for the district. He said the district only took into account how many students would be tested.

As a result, schools like Granada Hills Charter High School - which already has 2,000 computers for its 4,000 students - is slated to receive hundreds of extra iPads.

Administrators said at prior meetings they did not know exactly how many computers are at schools sites because they couldn’t afford to take inventory after the recession.

But the school board asked for an inventory. And district officials responded by sending out a survey to all schools in December.  The results of that survey were released January 27, two days before the latest round of 45,000 iPads was purchased.

The survey was flawed - some schools didn't answer and it only asked school principals to count the number of wired computers, which would exclude thousands of new iPads and laptops on many campuses.

Board member Monica Ratliff asked why this new data wasn’t taken into account.

Ron Chandler, the district's Chief Information Officer, said they didn’t need to because the plan all along was to buy more iPads.

“This was the plan,” Chandler said.

During public comment Thursday, an ongoing outcry over reports of maintenance problems at school campuses also bubbled up.

As KPCC reported Tuesday, a Facebook group called "repairs not iPads" appeared recently, with the stated purpose of documenting "neglected school repairs while construction bond money is diverted to purchase iPads." The group's administrator is unnamed.

The page taps into a frustration by some teachers, principals and parents over the cost of the one-to-one iPad program, which is estimated at over $1 billion, much of which will come from bonds passed by voters to fix schools and build new ones.

"I bet you would have more buy-in for iPads if basic needs were met," Lisa Karahalios, a representative of the teachers union, told the committee.

RELATED: LA school officials in the dark over computer inventories

Adults Behaving Badly: Zero-tolerance wins/Restorative justice loses/Justice undone/Kids are expelled - ADMINISTRATOR QUITS, SAYS O.C. DISTRICT FUMBLED CHEATING SCANDAL

Jane Garland says 11 expelled students were arbitrarily selected, and some knew of a scheme to hack into the Newport-Mesa Unified School District's computers but didn't participate.

By Christopher Goffard, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1g6Gatm

February 5, 2014, 9:23 p.m. :: Deepening the intrigue in a cheating scandal that has shaken one of the state's top schools, an administrator for a coastal Orange County school district resigned Wednesday after excoriating officials for their handling of the case.

Eleven students were expelled last week from high-achieving Corona del Mar High School amid allegations that they were involved in a scheme to hack into the district's computer system to change grades and access exams.

Jane Garland, the administrator who was deeply involved in the case for months as Newport-Mesa Unified School District's head of discipline, said the district badly fumbled the investigation and ignored her recommendations to give the students a lighter punishment or heed warnings that the problem might be more far-reaching.

"They didn't stop to think about it," Garland said in an interview. "They went ahead, and these children got destroyed in the newspapers."

In an email to school board members and administrators, Garland called the handling of the case "a total farce" and said the way in which students were selected for punishment seemed arbitrary.

Officials say that the cheating scheme was instigated by a tutor, Timothy Lance Lai, 28, who allegedly told students to attach a "keylogger" to teachers' computers, which recorded keystrokes and revealed passwords.

Newport Beach detectives served a search warrant at Lai's home in neighboring Irvine and seized thumb drives, hard drives and other evidence that may broaden the scope of the cheating scandal. Lai, however, cannot be found.

"If you have a young girl who gets on the Internet and meets an older man, he's a predator, right?" Garland said Wednesday. "We had a predator here.… He had these children scared to death."

After reviewing the evidence, Garland said she learned that culpability among the students varied, and some of them had knowledge of the cheating scheme but did not participate in the hacking.

"Of these 11 kids, seven of them we don't have anything on — not even their own admission — to what they did," she said.

Garland, who has worked for the district for 13 years in various jobs, is a champion of "restorative" punishment and advocated keeping the students in the high school with discipline that might involve tutoring other students and taking classes on the consequences of their decisions.

When Corona del Mar officials interviewed students about the case, she said, the students were given the impression that their punishment would be lighter if they implicated others.

"The kids feel like, 'I gave up my friends,' " she said. "You don't do that to children."

In her internal email, obtained by the Daily Pilot, Garland wrote that the district has no evidence of exactly how many of the expelled students hacked into computers or how many merely knew about it, "and yet all are receiving the same punishments." She said it appeared that one student whose father is well-connected in the school appears to have been given special treatment and was removed from the expulsion list.

Garland wrote that 150 students "have some involvement in this situation," according to student interviews, but that "I believe the system is willing to allow these 11 students to take the fall and close the book on this matter."

In the interview, Garland asked what might happen to those 150 students if further information links them to the scandal. "Are we going to throw everybody out of school?" she said.

School district President Karen Yelsey responded to Garland's remarks Wednesday by saying, "I don't give any credence to her claims."

Yelsey said the district is reviewing 52,000 student grades to ensure that they were not altered in the hacking. She said the district stood by its decision to expel the 11 students and had done so only "after much discussion."

Despite charges from Garland that Corona del Mar High School Principal Kathy Scott knew the tutor's name as early as September and failed to warn parents, Yelsey said the principal did not become aware of concrete evidence implicating Lai until December.

Before that, Yelsey said, "she was told there was a tutor out there, but it was total rumor," adding: "You can't make decisions based on rumors."

Yelsey said she attended a PTA meeting at Corona del Mar High School on Wednesday, and parents told her they want to put the case behind them.

"Parents are tired of this story," she said. "It's done and over."

LAUSD EMPLOYEES TAKE TO FACEBOOK TO VOICE ANGER OVER LACK OF REPAIRS

One teacher says the Facebook page shines a light on the poor conditions of the schools at a time when $1 billion is being spent on iPads

By Christina Cocca and Robert Kovacik, KNBC  News | http://bit.ly/1eYlG3P

Thursday, Feb 6, 2014  |  Updated 1:50 AM PST  ::  Los Angeles Unified School District workers have taken to social media to showcase their anger over crumbling buildings and insect infestations in school buildings, demanding the district focus on repairs rather than giving students iPads. Robert Kovacik reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014.

Rat droppings on desks, ants crawling in water fountains and holes in the floor: these are just some of the classroom conditions shown on a new Facebook page created by LAUSD teachers demanding the district repair schools before buying iPads.

The Facebook page, "Repairs Not iPads," was started by two Los Angeles Unified School District teachers who want other workers and taxpayers to see the conditions in schools at the same time the district continues to roll out its billion-dollar iPad initiative.

"Maybe if students are staring at iPads they will be able to forget about cockroaches," the caption of one photo reads.

Former Dorsey High School teacher Anna Iwason submitted a photo Wednesday night to the page, infuriated over the money not being spent on basic school building conditions.

Iwason's photo shows her special education classroom, where she taught last year, filled with an overflowing garbage can and trash on the floor.

"We all live it," she said. "The fact of the matter is, I had students with open tracheas and physical needs and the place was unsanitary. And that was the same year that we also ran out of toilet paper."

A photo of an out-of-service water fountain was taken at Franklin High School in Highland Park, but the other photos do not specify from which school they were taken.

"It should shine a light on the fact that they are ready to spend (a billion) dollars on iPads while we are asking students to try to learn and teachers to try to teach in conditions that are substandard, subhuman in a lot of ways."

David Tokofsky, a former LAUSD board member, told NBC4 the teachers are clearly demanding their need for the district to take care of the basics of school maintenance before thinking about giving students access to technology like iPads.

The page is described as "a place for teachers and the community to document neglected school repairs while construction bond (money) is diverted to purchase iPads." The name of the page administrator are not publicly listed.

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy told NBC4 he would look at the page, but did not respond for comment about the photos by time of publication.

In September 2013, the district dealt with a massive glitch that allowed dozens of students to hack into school-issued iPads and use them for non-educational purposes off campus.

ABUSE CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST SECOND MIRAMONTE TEACHER + smf’s 2¢

Prosecutors dismiss the case after the girl who alleged the abuse declined to testify against Martin Springer. L.A. Unified stands by its decision to fire Springer and pay $3 million in settlements.

By Alan Zarembo and Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1iv2P4G

 

February 5, 2014, 7:33 p.m.  ::  Los Angeles County prosecutors have dropped their case against a Miramonte Elementary School teacher who became embroiled in a child-abuse scandal that rocked the Los Angeles school district and resulted in the costliest settlements in the system's history.

<< The case against Martin B. Springer was dropped when the 12-year-old witness declined to testify. (L.A. County Sheriff's Department)

The trial of Martin Springer was set to begin Wednesday morning, but his accuser, a 12-year-old girl who alleged that he had touched her leg several times, decided not to testify, officials said.

"She's not saying these things didn't happen," Deputy Dist. Atty. Alison Meyers said. "She's just saying she doesn't want to come to court. She feels very traumatized by the process."

L.A. Unified School District officials said they would not reverse their decision to fire Springer, who is fighting his dismissal. Nor do they regret paying nearly $3 million to settle six civil claims in which the veteran teacher was accused of abuse, they said.

Springer, 51, was a secondary figure in the crisis. More central was third-grade teacher Mark Berndt, who eventually pleaded no contest to 23 counts of committing lewd acts and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The case attracted international attention for its lurid details and spurred dozens of lawsuits. Police said Berndt conducted classroom games in which he fed students cookies topped with semen, among other alleged misconduct.

Springer, who taught at the school for more than two decades, came to the attention of authorities as they questioned students. He was arrested four days after Berndt in early 2012 and charged with three felony counts of committing lewd acts.

The arrest amplified the furor around the campus. District officials replaced all 85 teachers at Miramonte, located in Florence-Firestone southeast of downtown, for months in an effort to restore public confidence.

Legal experts said the criminal case against Springer was weak from the start.

The sole accuser alleged that when she was in third grade, she frequently approached Springer with questions while volunteering in his classroom during recess. He would crouch in front of her and place his hand on the back of her leg for several seconds, she said at the 2012 preliminary hearing.

Because the alleged touching was not overtly sexual, prosecutors were faced with the difficulty of proving that Springer had a sexual intent.

Last summer, they filed three misdemeanor charges of child annoyance — which covers any sexually motivated conduct — to give jurors an alternative to the felonies.

Investigators had interviewed 102 children about Springer but could not find evidence to support additional charges, authorities said. When the girl backed out, prosecutors had little choice but to drop their case.

"This is the danger of going with just one witness," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School. "Especially a young witness. It's a lot of pressure on one person."

L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy said nothing has changed from the perspective of the nation's second-largest school system. "The dismissal case will continue," he said.

In May, a state oversight panel is scheduled to hear Springer's appeal of his dismissal.

A representative of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing said the suspension of his teaching credential would be lifted because the charges have been dismissed. If the firing is upheld, the commission can consider whether to revoke Springer's teaching credential.

"I'm hopeful that the word will get out that he is not how he has been painted by the district and the media," said Daniel Kolodziej, who is representing Springer in his dismissal case.

But Springer's troubles are far from over.

In the wake of his arrest, 13 people filed civil claims against L.A. Unified alleging that Springer abused them.

Six of those cases were included in a $30-million deal reached last year to settle 61 Miramonte claims.

Three settlements — including one with the accuser in the criminal case — involved allegations against Springer and Berndt. Three others were based exclusively on accusations against Springer.

Sworn statements from the victims were the main basis for the settlements.

In a lawsuit filed against the district last week, Gregg Breed, the former risk manager for the district, alleged that his contract was not renewed in part because he challenged the way settlements were handled. Some children were paid despite little or no evidence that they were victimized, the suit alleges.

District officials said that they continue to stand by the settlements and that Breed's dismissal was unrelated.

The imperative was to treat families fairly, allowing them to move forward, while also reaching a resolution that limited the spending of public funds, district spokesman Sean Rossall said.

Greg Owen, an attorney for a man who says Springer molested him in a locked classroom between 1996 and 1998, when he was a student at Miramonte, said the lack of criminal charges was unlikely to affect his lawsuit.

The suit, filed in October, alleges that Springer forced the boy to view computer images he had taken of himself masturbating and threaten to have his family deported to Mexico if he told anybody.

"What he did is so egregious that the jury doesn't have to hear that he was convicted of a felony elsewhere to believe it happened," Owen said.

---

What really happened is probably never for us to know. There will be no due process, there will be no justice. The will be no closure. There will only be what there will be.  But Arthur Miller’s  interpretation of of The Salem Witch Trials in The Crucible comes to mind. And the sad history/mass hysteria  of the McMartin Case in 1983-90

DEASY ADDRESSES “SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK” PHOTO-OP EVENT AT UNION STATION

by smf for 4LAKidsNews

from the NSCW Facebook Page. How many kids do you see who should’ve been in school?

6 Feb 2014  :: A week ago  Dr. John Deasy, the superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District took time from his busy schedule running the nation’s second largest school district and testifying for the plaintiffs in the Vergara v. California lawsuit (the plaintiffs allege that LAUSD does a poor job of educating children) to address an invited bused-in audience of charter school proponents, parents and students at Union Station in support of “National School Choice Week”.

FROM THE INVITATION: “Hosted by National School Choice Week, the tour – which will feature 14 “whistle-stop” events from Newark to San Francisco – will provide students, parents, educators and community leaders with the opportunity to celebrate effective education options, while calling for even greater school choice in California and across the country.

“The Los Angeles event, the thirteenth event on the tour, will take place on Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. at Los Angeles Union Station. Attendance is free but an RSVP is requested by visiting www.schoolchoicetrain.com.”

Later in the invite/Press release it says LAUSD is one of the event planners.| http://bit.ly/LTePBG 

Really? 10AM on a school day is a good time to invite students?

4LAKids supports the premise of school choice.

Parents should be able to choose where their kids go to school. They can choose public education. They can choose private schools – or parochial schools. There are Montessori schools and Waldorf schools. The Catholic Church runs schools. Synagogues run schools. The Church of Scientology runs schools. Home schooling is an option. If there’s a program at another public school that fits their child’s needs  parents should be able to choose it.   The premise of Charter Schools - where a community of public school educators and parents collaborate to run their public school with the promise that they will do a better job than the traditional administration resonates.

That is what National Public School Choice Week pretends to do as they put on their yellow scarves and assume the myth of Public School Choice.

But in reality NPSCW is sponsored, funded and run by the media machine that is the School ®eform Movement. The Charter Management Organizations, The Vulture Venture Capitalists pretending at social entrepreneurism. The Billionaire Boys Club and their foundation friends at Gates, Broad, Walton, etc. They are proponents of School Vouchers Light – channeling public education money into private hands. Break up the school district, break up the teacher unions, privatize public education - one school at a time.

It is not through administrative or judicial or semantic error that the US Department of Commerce and federal and state courts have found charter schools to be private schools. Quod si fortasse quacks quasi anatem anatis.

Last week the would be proponents of school choice staged a whistle stop tour that involves no trains, no private schools, no home schoolers, no Montessori or Waldorfs or parochial Schools.  They came to Union Station and they held a rally. And Dr.  Deasy spoke to them and encouraged their efforts. During school hours. With children – who by law should have been in school – in attendance,  [see photo above. The crew cut guy with the scarf in the photo is not Dr. Deasy – but he is the featured speaker in the video clip below.] This was not a field trip to explore the wonderfulness of rail transportation or the history+achitecture of Union Station. This was not a celebration of student success or the ribbon cutting of a new school.

This was an overtly political event.

This was just as much a disruption to the educational day as a teacher walk-out would have been.

Shame on the parents who allowed their children to be pawns. Same on the educators who thought this was a good use of their time. Same on the media for covering it and shame on the PR hacks who promoted it.

And shame on the superintendent for showing up and speaking.

L.A. UNIFIED MEETS OVER HOW TO FILL SCHOOL BOARD VACANCY

By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/LQaDTh

February 5, 2014, 6:00 a.m.  ::  A Los Angeles Board of Education committee charged with developing a process to appoint a caretaker for the vacant District 1 seat will be unable to fill the post with a voting member.

The  meeting at district headquarters downtown Tuesday evening was chaired by board member Steve Zimmer, who asserted that he would prefer an appointee to have full voting powers. General Counsel David Holmquist said that under the law, however, because the board called a special election, no appointee could cast a binding vote.

A board majority has sided with Holmquist in that view but also delegated to Zimmer the task of how to manage the vacancy until a successor is elected. Zimmer said he would not make a final recommendation until hearing public testimony.

The seat in District 1 opened up with the Dec. 5 death of Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte. A primary election for the seat is scheduled for June. LaMotte’s district spans much of South and southwest Los Angeles.

Zimmer hopes an appointee, even with limited authority, could be in place early in March. Holmquist said the selected person could cast non-binding votes, sit with elected board members and discuss issues before the board. But this representative could not take part in private “closed sessions,” during which confidential matters are discussed.

Testimony on Tuesday came from four people, who sided with Zimmer’s perspective but offered few specifics on how he should proceed in delineating the role for an appointee.

“Thank you, Mr. Zimmer, for all you have done so far,” said parent Gwendolyn Landry, adding to Holmquist, “I challenge your opinion, counselor, and I think we should be ready to fight” for an appointee with full authority.

“It just seems like more people should be here,” said another parent, lamenting the lack of participation from the public and the rest of the Board of Education.

ANONYMOUS L.A. SCHOOL EMPLOYEES TURN TO FACEBOOK TO SPOTLIGHT NEEDED REPAIRS

Annie Gilbertson| Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1cQSzTk

 

Repairs Not iPads/Facebook | A photo posted on a Facebook group called "repairs not iPads."

February 4th, 2014, 6:30am  ::  Los Angeles Unified School District staff have taken to Facebook to put a spotlight on crumbling school infrastructure and neglected repairs - and shame officials.

Photos posted on a group page called  "repairs not iPads" show busted plumbing, holes in walls and tiling and evidence of insect and rodent infestations. The page implores readers to share their own, identifying itself as "a place for teachers and the community to document neglected school repairs while construction bond money is diverted to purchase iPads." The group's administrator is unnamed.

Los Angeles voters have approved about $20 billion in construction bonds to build new schools and upgrade aging sites in the district. School officials and the Citizen's Bond Oversight Committee said they've obtained legal opinions arguing the funds can also be used to buy new iPads, too.

L.A. Unified has spent near $150 million to purchase about 100,000 iPads out of bond money so far. The program will incur related expenses, including hiring trainers and IT staff and upgrading wifi networks at hundreds of schools.

If the iPad program is rolled out district-wide, as Superintendent John Deasy intends, it's estimated to cost over well over $1 billion in bonds plus yet-unknown annual upkeep from the district's general funds.

 

 

 

LCFF: CALIFORNIA’S SCHOOL MONEY FIGHT HEADS TO A NEW VENUE

Posted by Dan Walters  to Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert | http://bit.ly/1fXilEh

Monday, February 3, 2014  2:16 PM |  ::  The Office of Administrative Law is an obscure branch of the governor's office that was created more than three decades ago, during Jerry Brown's first governorship, to ensure that rules issued by state agencies comply with the law.

That function makes it the next venue for opponents of the state Board of Education's newly adopted rules governing the expenditure of billions of extra dollars meant to enhance the educations of poor and "English learner" students.

It's Brown's pet education reform and he supported the state board's embrace of "flexibility," giving local school districts leeway in determining how best to spend the extra money on the targeted kids, who are nearly 60 percent of the state's six million K-12 students.

However, critics - civil rights advocates and business-backed reform groups - say that the flexibility could mean that the additional spending is diverted into other uses, such as raises for teachers. And one of the opposition groups, EdVoice, is asking the Office of Administrative Law to declare that the new rules - which are technically emergency regulations - violate the authorizing legislation enacted last year.

EdVoice has submitted a letter to the OAL, detailing how it believes that the state school board acted beyond its statutory authority.

"The unlawful elements must be cured and ambiguities must be resolved within the formal rulemaking process," Ed Voice president Bill Lucia told the OAL.

PHOTO: Michael Kirst, president of the California State Board of Education. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

_________

You can’t tell the players without a scorecard: EdVoice, it is safe to say, is aligned with the ®eform coalition.

What parents know: THE ARTS MATTER

by Joe Landon and Colleen You, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/1lyup5C

1February 4th, 2014  ::  The new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) recognizes the critical role parents play in the education of their children – and embeds it into law by requiring parents’ input into local school district budgets and accountability plans.

We are excited about the opportunities for parents, educators and school board members to talk more frequently with each other, listen to each other, and work more collaboratively to help all students succeed.

 

<< Joe Landon is executive director of California Alliance for Arts Education            Colleen A.R. You is president of the California State PTA. >>

Parents understand how their children learn and what motivates them to succeed. Through the new funding formula, parents now have a true opportunity to articulate what matters to them to their local school boards, as well as to inform the school districts’ goals for all students, and the programs and services they’d like to see to help achieve them.

And what matters to parents? For one thing, parents overwhelmingly support exposure to the arts throughout the curriculum because they witness firsthand the impact of the arts in the lives of their children, reaching hidden talents and building confidence. They recognize the way the arts connect people more deeply to the world and open them to new ways of seeing.

We believe the arts are essential for a creative, engaged, work-prepared and civic-minded student population. The arts are a critical link to learning success.

That sentiment of parents is echoed by business leaders who understand the needs of the workforce. Joseph Calahan, Vice President of Xerox Corporation, observed: “Arts education aids students in skills needed in the workplace: flexibility, the ability to solve problems and communicate, the ability to learn new skills, to be creative and innovative, and to strive for excellence.”

In the coming months, as school boards seek input and develop their Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), parents will be raising questions: What is a quality arts program and do our students have access to it? Are the arts included in professional development for Common Core State Standards? How can the district use its additional LCFF money to provide access to arts education for low-income students, English Language Learners and foster youth?

Districts will have much to accomplish and address in their LCAPs across the eight identified state priority areas, but we know the arts can and should factor into most of those areas.

There is evidence throughout the state that districts are already responding to the voice of parents. Earlier this year, Michael Hanson, superintendent of Fresno Unified School District, wrote, “The arts are essential to a well-rounded education for our students, expanding their thinking and experiences in ways that simply cannot be achieved by any other avenue.” The school board responded by allotting an additional $1 million investment in the arts, which has yielded more than 1,000 new musical instruments, new equipment for visual and performing arts, as well as new arts teaching positions and professional development in schools throughout the district.

We are entering a new era in education with greater parent engagement and more local decision-making authority. It’s an opportunity for parents to communicate what matters to them and their children – including access to the arts – and an opportunity for local school board officials to receive that input and to integrate its perspective into the specifics of their local plans. When parents have more of a say, that’s good news for the future of the arts in our schools.

•••

KLCS: LAUSD’S TELEVISION STATION LAUNCHES CHANNEL SHARING EXPERIMENT

Two L.A. area stations test carriage of each other’s program streams

Doug Lung / RF Report | TVTechnology |  http://bit.ly/LskjTl

2.03.2014 10:32AM  ::  CTIA, the Wireless Association, the industry group that represents international wireless telecommunications, announced a pilot channel-sharing project that it called a response to the FCC’s recent request to “demonstrate the technical and legal arrangements necessary to implement a successful channel-sharing operation.”

The two stations participating in the pilot project are KLCS and KJLA. KLCS is a non-commercial TV station licensed to the Los Angeles Unified School District. Last year LAUSD cut funding to KLCS so I'm not surprised the station is looking for a way to gain some revenue from the Incentive Auction program.

• KLCS currently carries four program streams: one with an assortment of PBS programs, one devoted to PBS children’s programming, another with “Create TV,” and one carrying the non-commercial MHZ worldwide network’s news and entertainment programs
• KJLA is licensed to Ventura, Calif. and serves as the flagship station for the LATV Network which serves U.S. born Latinos. In addition to LATV, KJLA also transmits nine other program streams with diverse cultural content. Both stations transmit from Mount Wilson with an ERP of 1,000 kW.

Testing will occur through the first quarter of 2014 after KLCS and KJLA receive FCC approval. The stations will conduct a series of tests culminating in KLCS “hosting” KJLA's content and transmitting a shared stream that will combine the two station's primary and multicast content. The stations will attempt transmission of a variety of HD and SD video feeds to confirm the feasibility and technical limits of channel sharing between two non-affiliated broadcast operations.

The CTIA press release stated: “There will be no impact to KJLA's and KLCS' viewers during this test.”

When I checked last Wednesday night, all of the four KLCS program streams and the 10 KJLA streams were being transmitted in standard definition. With this many channels carrying unrelated content in a statistical multiplex, I would expect KCLS to carry many of the KJLA program streams, but not all of them. Adding HD content will likely pose some problems due to the significantly higher minimum bit rate required and would necessitate dropping more of the KJLA multicast channels.

Even if the pilot's results won't work for stations carrying HD content, the results may be good enough to encourage smaller stations in larger markets to share spectrum and share in the Incentive Auction proceeds.

“This partnership will enable us to evaluate the practical impact of channel sharing on KJLA's signal, and on our multicast content partners and viewers, as we consider our potential participation in the reverse auction, said Alan Popkin, KLCS’s director of TV engineering. “We hope these early test results will be useful to other members of the broadcast industry.”

CTIA’s president and chief executive officer, Steve Largent also commented on the experiment.

“Since spectrum is a finite and valuable resource, channel sharing is truly a win-win-win for consumers, broadcasters and wireless providers,” said Largent. “This helps broadcasters ensure that over-the-air customers may continue to enjoy their programming while the wireless industry continues to invest and innovate so it can meet the insatiable demands of its consumers for everything from broadband access to the 'Internet of Things.”

_____________

● CTIA: (from Wikipedia) CTIA – The Wireless Association is an industry trade group that represents the international wireless telecommunications industry. Its members include cellular, personal communication services and enhanced specialized mobile radio providers and suppliers, and providers and manufacturers of wireless data services and products.^[1][2][3] CTIA originally stood for Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, and, between 2000 and 2004, as the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.^[4]

The association advocates on behalf of the industry by lobbying at all levels of government. It has been a vocal supporter to acquire more electromagnetic spectrum for the U.S. wireless industry.^[5] In addition, CTIA has played roles in repealing the Internal Revenue Service listed property rule for mobile devices,^[6] and by participating in the development of model state legislation that would make manual texting while driving illegal.^[7] It also supported the 2010 passage of the 21st Century Telecommunications Act, which ensured every American has access to wireless services | http://bit.ly/1dn2pIg

● KJLA: (from KJLA.com) KJLA is the Los Angeles home for LATV Network. LATV is a national television Spanish language entertainment network distributed via digital multicast with major cable coverage in the top U.S. cities.  KJLA is carried in Los Angeles and surrounding counties on approximately 2.8 million cable homes and 2 million DBS satellite homes.  KJLA can also be seen on Channel 57.1 digital over the air in the Los Angeles market.| http://bit.ly/1dn1988

DEASY PROVIDES FODDER FOR BOTH SIDES IN LAWSUIT + smf’s 2¢

In Vergara v. California, a groundbreaking trial over teacher job protections, L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy was a star witness — for both sides.

By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1lxac0d

"We who hire cannot make a judgment to fire," Supt. John Deasy testified. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times / November 15, 2013)

February 2, 2014, 6:58 p.m.  ::  In a groundbreaking trial over teacher job protections, Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy was the early star witness — for both sides.

The case, Vergara vs. California, challenges a set of laws that affect how teachers are fired, laid off and granted tenure. Advocates contend that these regulations hinder the removal of ineffective teachers, diminishing the quality of the teacher workforce — an effect, they say, that disproportionately hurts low-income and minority students. This outcome make these laws unconstitutional, they contend.

Deasy spent three days on the witness stand last week helping to make this argument. He testified that he is simply unable to remove all "grossly ineffective" teachers and that taking action against them has proved prohibitively expensive and time-consuming.

"Dr. Deasy doesn't engage in speculation," said plaintiffs' attorney Marcellus McRae, who called Deasy as the first witness. "He has his hands on the steering wheel. And he's telling people life as it really is."

In cross-examination, however, Deasy's testimony also demonstrated a school system's latitude under current law. The issue comes down to the choices and competence of management, not the constitutionality of current regulations, said attorneys for the state and teachers unions.

"Dr. Deasy's testimony affirmed the point that we made in the opening argument: that whether a district is well managed makes a huge difference," said attorney James M. Finberg, who represents the California Teachers Assn. and the California Federation of Teachers.

The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of nine students and their families, is being pursued by the group Students Matter, which is funded by a Silicon Valley executive and other donors. The state Department of Education and teachers unions are opposed to the lawsuit. They have countered that it is not the laws but poor management that fails to root out incompetent instructors.

Deasy's testimony began with friendly questioning from McRae. The superintendent said that firing an ineffective teacher requires "volumes of documentation," can consume several years and is "challenged at every step by the teachers union." The typical cost can be about $350,000, he said.

The difficulty of the process ends up harming student achievement as well as teachers' morale, which is pulled down by working alongside an ineffective colleague, Deasy said.

The superintendent added that an independent panel can reinstate a fired teacher. He repeatedly cited the case of a teacher who got his job back even after the panel concluded that the instructor probably cheated to improve students' scores on state standardized tests.

"We who hire cannot make a judgment to fire," Deasy said.

Attorneys for the other side, however, then brought forward data in which Deasy has taken pride: the increasing number of teachers fired or forced out.

In 2011-12, L.A. Unified fired 99 tenured teachers. This compares to 10 in 2009-10, before Deasy became superintendent. In 2011-12, 122 teachers resigned in lieu of being terminated.

The district also barred the transfer of teachers with poor performance reviews and gave principals the right to refuse jobs to instructors who lost positions at other schools.

Deasy also criticized rules that force principals to decide whether to grant the job protections of tenure to a teacher after 18 months. A longer trial period would result in fewer bad teachers, he said.

But Deasy also noted that he doubled the number of teachers who were refused tenure and thus were dismissed after their second year. As far as making good tenure decisions, "I believe we have done a good job at accomplishing that," Deasy testified.

Attorneys defending the laws were inclined to agree.

"Well-managed districts don't grant tenure if the teachers have not established that they're effective," said Finberg.

Deasy also offered fodder for both sides on the issue of basing layoffs on the amount of time a person has worked. Seniority rules meant that some terrific younger teachers lost jobs, while some ineffective instructors with more experience remained, he testified.

He added that certain schools, with less-experienced staffs, have been decimated by layoffs. The resulting instability especially hurts students who lack a nurturing environment outside of school.

Attorneys for the other side suggested the problem was district practices that allowed less-experienced teachers to be clustered at particular campuses. Better management could avoid exposing a school to massive layoffs, they asserted. They also pointed to instances in which Deasy had found ways to exempt teachers from layoffs or to protect certain schools.

Deasy did not deny it but countered that the teachers union had opposed him every step of the way.

State Deputy Atty. Gen. Susan Carson asked about another Deasy milestone: a new, more-stringent performance review system. Under it, 2.8% of evaluated teachers received an overall rating of "below standard." It was unclear how many of these were considered poor enough to warrant dismissal.

For Carson, this was evidence that L.A. Unified can manage its teachers and act when necessary — and that there's no massive "bad teacher" problem.

Plaintiffs' attorney McRae suggested that this information was irrelevant. McRae, echoing his witness, said that state law should not abet even one grossly ineffective teacher in remaining before a classroom for an extended period. Deasy, said McRae, is being thwarted from doing all he can to help students.

Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who endorses the lawsuit, called the participation of Deasy — who heads the nation's second-largest school system — "symbolically important" in the ongoing effort to fight for students' civil rights.

For some critics, Deasy's involvement in this lawsuit — and in other litigation over teachers' rights and responsibilities — symbolizes something negative: They perceive an ongoing campaign to limit the rights of teachers and blame them disproportionately for shortcomings in student achievement and to turn over public education to the private sector.

"Vergara is an attack on our profession, an attempt to deprofessionalize teachers," said Gregg Solkovits, a vice president of United Teachers Los Angeles, the local teachers union.

Solkovits is running to unseat incumbent Warren Fletcher, but on this point they expressed solidarity.

For the purposes of the arguments in the trial, however, Deasy got a rare compliment from the union side.

"LAUSD is becoming better managed," said attorney Glenn Rothner, who is defending the state laws. "I'll give Deasy that."

______________

RE: "We who hire cannot make a judgment to fire."  Dr. Deasy is being disingenuous about how easy it is to hire a teacher or anyone else in LAUSD. Or that it’s his decision or the principal’s. It ain’t.  Hiring  school employees is a maddening and convoluted process. He wants to make it easer to fire someone than hire them. That isn’t just poor thinking ….it’s wrong thinking.

fod·der

[fod-er]

noun

1. coarse food for livestock, composed of entire plants, including leaves, stalks, and grain, of such forages as corn and sorghum.
2. people considered as readily available and of little value: cannon fodder.
3. raw material: fodder for a comedian's routine.

- Dictionary.com Unabridged - Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2014