In an effort to take the heat off his own troubles, Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasy has hired a lawyer and now seeks access to any of his bosses’ emails that show relationships with tech companies.
Deasy had to cancel a contract with Apple and Pearson when two-year-old emails showed that he had been in discussion with them about the plan. Deasy claimed it was about a pilot. Nonetheless, he suspended the contract that our eventually amount to more than $1 billion.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Who could have thought up this twist?
Who is paying the high priced lawyer, Harvey Saferstein to represent Deasy? Is he an Eli Broad lawyer? Does his payment come out of the public till? Is Deasy rich enough to pay him?
With the fast uprising of the public anger on this whole business of shredding internal emails and potentially destroying evidence, Broad seems to have to protect his Academy grad Deasy. If Deasy gets fired, then it will open a can of worms as to the other thousands of Broad Academy trained superintendents embedded nationwide also being investigated.
Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
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Indeed, this saga at LAUSD is now fairly termed, Deasygate.
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Ooh, Ellen… That’s good.
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From iPadGate to the MiSiS Crisis to the superintendent’s enthusiastic support of charter schools and the plaintiff in the Vergara case, it’s been a Deasy Chain of corruption, incompetence and bleeding LAUSD dry. His punishment: the School Board extended his contract and gave him a 15 percent raise when teachers haven’t gotten one in about seven years.
And they say irony is dead.
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“. . . the other thousands of Broad Academy trained superintendents. . . ”
Yes, they may be minimally trained (which is not to say adequately trained) but they certainly aren’t educated.
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One thing is certain Ellen, Deasy at least has some balls and is going after our wimpy BOE. He has no respect for them or the job they don’t do. Instead of the BOE calling for an independent outside investigator for the iPad fiasco, they are running on defense of their reputations. Amazing I truly dislike Deasy but at least he is not weak and scary like the board. If this is the way Deasy is proceeding its curious since the complicit board was doing nothing on the allegations of malfeasance against him and his senior staff. On all these so-called investigations, I predict nothing, absolutely nothing. When a body investigators itself, do we expect anything. Deasygate investigated by Deasy, publicized by Deasy, spin control, manufactured by Deasy.
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Paula…we must keep on demanding an external independent audit of the whole affair…and all else that Deasy and this Board have done.
The internal IG investigation is probably another sham since this investigator recently found no improprieties. Does he wear blinders? The public MUST keep the pressure on the BoE to do this the right way, with an outside audit.
Where is the Grand Jury? Where is are the city and county attorneys whose job is to protect the public?
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a creative “rap’ about testing, and the war on teachers…. IT IS ALSO HAS A RIFF ABOUT DEASY, and a line which says “Diane Ravitch for Secretary of Education.!
I second that!
http://www.hemlockontherocks.com/2014/09/breathtakingly-irresponsible-bargain.html
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“The Deasy”i”n Knot”
Letter with blot
Pilot or plot?
IPad or I paid?
The Deasy”i”n Knot
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…economy of words…amazing…
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I think inBloom has excess storage capacity they can lend 🙂
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There is no honor or loyalty among thieves. The only thing that counts is the wealth and the power one has over everyone else.
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Will the board members now have to go out and hire lawyers too? Today is “norm day” at all LAUSD schools. The total number of students enrolled will determine if more teachers need to be hired. Seniors are about to apply to college and need accurate transcripts. Is Deasy just trying to create another of his many diversions in advance of more horrific reports coming from schools due to MiSiS, the failed computer reporting system?
Either way, he needs to be doing his job, not spending time and someone’s money to destroy the board of education in an attempt to stay in power.
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Presumably the BoE will be represented by their lawyers, Holmquist, and perhaps O’Melveny. However, both have worked assiduously for Deasy in the past. Fascinating to see how this will play out. My guess is that it will be a minor distraction to deflect from the real issue of destroying potential evidence.
As with all things, Deasy will say ‘let’s put this behind us and move forward together for the civil rights of children’ and there will be a photo op of them all shaking hands. Only my fantasy based on how he and the Board have handled contention in the past.
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Want to know who is paying for his lawyer. Love that he is confronting the board cause this rift will possibly be his demise. They are the ones who decide if he stays or goes. The more he attacks them the sooner he’ll be gone hopefully….
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