Los Angeles Unified School District John Deasy, a 2006 graduate of the consistently destructive Broad Superintendents Academy, is expected to resign.
Behind the public spin on the reason for his departure is a very simple political explanation. He no longer controls a majority of the Board of Trustees.
Apparently, school board elections prevailed to end the Broad Superintendents Academy based tenure of Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasy.
Broad trained superintendents generally are cut from the same ideology.
They are authoritarians who believe that urban city Mayors should have dictatorial authority over public school districts. They work to undermine the oversight of public school boards.
The result is usually the same - pain and disruption of public education. They are eventually forced out, and the wealthy foundation financed reform network assists them to find another position.
Eventually that is likely to happen in Dallas ISD.
"More broadly, critics have faulted Deasy for what they
call an autocratic, punitive leadership style that they say has
demoralized teachers and other employees."
This is an exact description of 2011 Broad Superintendents Academy graduate Mike Miles' "autocratic, punitive leadership style."
The Broad corporate reform virus is infecting Dallas ISD.
The final result could likely be the same.
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October 4, 2013 - The Broad Foundation and Broadies: Kings of "Disruptive" and Unreasonable" Trickle-Down Reform - Click Here
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Printed in its entirety from Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-1016-deasy-resigns-20141016-story.html
LAUSD Supt. John Deasy expected to resign
L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy has reached a settlement with the school board to step down, sources say
Beleaguered
L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy is expected to step down after reaching a
settlement with the school board, several sources familiar with the
negotiations said late Wednesday.
The L.A. Unified school board
could name an interim superintendent as early as 10 a.m. Thursday,
according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it
involved a personnel matter and confidential negotiations.
One source said the board was likely to select former Supt. Ramon Cortines to run the district on an interim basis.
As
part of the departure agreement,
Deasy is expected to receive about 60
days' pay, or roughly $60,000, the sources said. His contract, which was
to run through June 2016, requires a severance payment of only 30 days.
During
his 31/2 years at the helm, Deasy, 53, oversaw a continued rise in
student performance during a period of financial cuts. But he could not
overcome election day setbacks, poor relations with teachers and two
back-to-back technology debacles.
His
supporters credited him for gains in test scores, graduation rates and
improved results for students learning English. They also applauded his
push for more rigorous evaluations of teachers and principals, for
reducing the number of student suspensions and for providing breakfast
to students in the classroom.
But Deasy has faced strong criticism
over the troubled rollout of a $1.3-billion effort to provide iPads to
every student, teacher and campus administrator. Amid growing questions
about how the iPad program was run, Deasy announced in August that he
was suspending new purchases under the iPad contract.
Another technology project, a new student records system, malfunctioned this fall.
The
problems prevented hundreds of students at Jefferson High School from
getting the classes they needed and created problems across the school
system.
More broadly, critics have faulted Deasy for what they
call an autocratic, punitive leadership style that they say has
demoralized teachers and other employees.
Still, Deasy has enjoyed
strong support from key civic and business leaders, who have urged the
Board of Education in recent weeks to retain him.
But the superintendent has not fared as well with the
board, which has a majority of members who won their seats despite
efforts by Deasy's allies to defeat them. Board members also complain
that Deasy pays little heed to their input.
His contract, which
pays $350,000 a year, was revised last year and dropped previous goals
related to student achievement because test scores are not yet available
from new state exams.
He was also expected to increase revenue
and enrollment. District revenues have gone up sharply, but that was the
result of an improved statewide funding program. Enrollment has trended
downward in recent years.
Deasy had expressed reservations in
recent weeks about his ability to remain effective in the job. But as of
this week, he had not said publicly that he planned to quit, and even
this week, it was not clear that a majority on the school board would be
willing to move against him.
Deasy cut short a trip to South
Korea to make the final arrangements for his departure, according to
district sources. He did not return calls for comment Wednesday night.
The
board voted to offer Deasy the settlement at its Tuesday meeting but
didn't report the action because there was no agreement with him at that
time, the sources said.
The board vote in favor of the settlement is expected to be released Thursday.
At
a closed meeting Tuesday, the board also apparently selected an interim
superintendent, but that decision did not take effect until Deasy
agreed to step down.
The board also did not report that action Tuesday.
If
Cortines takes the interim job, it would be his third stint as district
leader. He retired as superintendent from L.A. Unified in April 2011.
He
has a long career as a respected educator, but his exit was marred by a
sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a current district employee. A
proposed settlement of that litigation later fell apart.
Cortines, 82, lives in the Pasadena area.
howard.blume@latimes.com
Twitter:
@howardblume
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times
