Another Broad bites the dust... Deasy out in Los Angeles
The background music might be "Another one bites the dust." Following the demise of Broadie Jean-Claude Brizard in Chicago, America's third largest school system, Broad Leadership protege John Deasy has finally been forced out as the head of the nation's second largest school system, Los Angeles. The brief reports in the corporate media are not doing justice to Deasy's controversial and corrupt career, but the future may bring more information.
Los Angeles Schools Supt. John Deasy's controversial career in the nation's second largest school system will end in February 2014. Deasy will leave his office in February 2014. One of the more recent scandals in his controversial career involved Deasy's claim that every child in the school district had to have an iPad for state tests, a claim which proved to be a lie. The iPad scandal became a major public issue this school year, as the coasts and glitches escalated.
The full story was reported in the Los Angeles Times at the URL: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-schools-supt-john-deasy-20131024,0,3579257.story#axzz2ihovGDT6
LOS ANGELES TIMES ARTICLE BELOW HERE:
L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy to resign. By Howard Blume. October 24, 2013, 6:27 p.m.
Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy has told Board of Education members that he plans to resign in February, according to high-level district officials, including some who asked not to be named.
The reaction from the office of board President Richard Vladovic left little doubt. �We are shocked,� said Mike Trujillo, a spokesman. �Dr. Vladovic is shocked, saddened and surprised.�
Deasy, 52, was not immediately available for comment, but his departure would end the relatively brief tenure of a leader who made his mark with aggressive, sometimes controversial policies in L.A. Unified, the nation�s second-largest school system.
His major initiatives included revamping teacher evaluations to include the use of students' standardized-test scores. He also altered the seniority system to limit the effect of job cuts at schools with large numbers of less-experienced instructors, who are generally the first to be laid off. And the school system recently embarked on a $1-billion effort to provide iPads to every student and teacher.
Deasy was closely allied with former Mayor Antonio Villaraiogsa, who left office this year because of term limits. Deasy�s political position weakened further in recent school board elections, when two candidates backed by Deasy allies lost. The newly constituted board made no moves against Deasy but quickly began to challenge more of his policies.
Vladovic and Deasy have been at odds in the past, but �Dr. Vladovic felt that he and John Deasy had achieved a positive working relationship on behalf of kids,� Trujillo said.
RECENT LOS ANGELES COMMENT ON DEASY IPAD STORY:
The L.A. schools' iPad misadventure is looking a lot more expensive. By Michael Hiltzik
October 22, 2013, 3:10 p.m.
The story of Los Angeles schools' misbegotten $1-billion program to equip all its students with iPads for students continues to get worse.
The latest news, as reported by my colleague Howard Blume, is that the price of the devices turns out to be higher by $100 each than officials of the Los Angeles Unified School District originally claimed. Now the figure is $770 per tablet. The district reported in its latest budget for the iPad program that although it is eligible for the lower price it previously cited, the discount kicks in only after it spends $400 million on iPads. That would buy 520,000 tablets. Thus far, the district has committed to paying $30 million for iPads at 47 schools.
It's only a coincidence that the latest dispiriting cost estimate comes out as Apple announces a new generation of iPads, but that's a reminder that the iPad program is an important marketing win for Apple, and also that within a couple of years the hardware on which the district has invested so heavily will be looking mighty outdated. (By contrast schoolbooks, for the most part, hold their value pretty well over time, and rarely cost $770 per copy unless they're inscribed by Ernest Hemingway.)
The district's price per iPad, hundreds of dollars more than you'd pay at the Apple store, includes protective cases, a three-year warranty, technical assistance for teachers and educational software. The district claims in its budget presentation that "we are right where we want to be," which I believe is a direct quote from General Custer.
The district's iPad program has been characterized by a series of misjudgments and fatuous rationalizations by its champion, Superintendent John Deasy. He has claimed, for example, that the tablets are a requisite for students taking the state's new standardized tests next year. That turns out to be untrue. And if students do take the tests on their tablets, the devices will have to be fitted with keyboards, a $38-million expense not yet approved by the school board.
As we've reported, the real problem with the iPad program is the absence of a pedagogical rationale for it. Deasy's defense runs to educational jargon and talk of students' "civil rights" to be up with the latest technology. This sort of approach earns low marks from educational experts like Diane Ravitch, who observes that a mindless preoccupation with advanced technology only shortchanges students and teachers who get robbed of the resources they really need. As the district continues down this costly, misguided road, they'll be making do even less.
By: Valerie F. Leonard
Thanks for Confirming Our Suspicion
Thanks for sharing these articles, Rich. This only confirms that reform is more about finding new markets for maturing industries, as opposed to educating our children. I wonder how much CPS paid for Micro-Soft cloud computing, I-pads and other products promoted by so-called reformers.