According to LA School Report, Rafe Esquirh has hired a high-profile lawyer, who will file a class-action suit on behalf of all teachers who had been denied due process rights. Esquith, who has written best-selling books and been featured on national television, is a super-star teacher.
The district refuses to say why Esquith was suspended. He thinks it was because he made a joke about nudity. Rumors say that he is being investigated for the activities of his nonprofit group, the Hobart Shakespeareans, which raises money to take student productions to Shakespeare festivals. The Los Angeles Times summarized the situation here.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And this news is BIG… VERY BIG.
Esquith is filing a lawsuit that is
“class action”, and will embrace
and include ALL teachers wrongfully
assigned to teacher jails.
Though pro-union, Rafe always stays
out of the union-management fray,
being content merely to focus on his
students…
… until NOW, that is: (read both of these)
http://laschoolreport.com/most-famous-teacher-plans-class-action-suit-over-lausds-teacher-jail/#more-35283
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-teacher-20150623-story.html#page=1
The ramifications of this latest
development—particularly with
a law firm as powerful and as
high-profile as Geragos’ involved
on teachers’ behalf taking on
LAUSD—are enormous.
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Check out this bit:
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-teacher-20150623-story.html#page=1
=====================================
“(Esquith) said district investigators never explained the allegation of misconduct lodged against him, but said they were not short of questions when he was interviewed. They asked, for example, the names of teachers who may not like him, the women he dated in college and whether he was counseled as a teenager for pushing someone at summer camp.
RAFE ESQUITH: “I asked them, ‘Have you talked to my students?’ and they absolutely said to me, ‘We’re only looking to talk to people who don’t like you.’ It just seemed incredibly unfair.”
=====================================
I can’t imagine how surreal or insane this must have seemed to Rafe.
————————————————————
———————————————————————
LAUSD INVESTIGATOR #1: “Could you please provide the investigation with the names of the teachers here at Hobart who may not like you?”
RAFE: “Excuse me? Why would you need to know-?”
LAUSD INVESTIGATOR #2: (interrupting) “Refuses to answer.”
—(writes in his notebook)
LAUSD INVESTIGATOR #1: “Next question: Could you please provide the investigation with the names of the women you dated in college?”
RAFE: “Whoa.. what? ‘What does that have to do with-?”
LAUSD INVESTIGATOR #2: (interrupting) “Refuses to answer.”
—(writes in his notebook)
LAUSD INVESTIGATOR #1: “Next question: when you were a teenager, were you ever counseled for pushing a child?”
RAFE: (jaw drops): “Was I WHAT???!!!”
LAUSD INVESTIGATOR #2: : “Refuses to answer. DOES NOT DENY!”
—(writes furiously in his notebook)
RAFE: “Have you talked to my students??
LAUSD INVESTIGATOR #1: “No. We’re only looking to talk to people who don’t like you… and what’s more, WE’RE asking the questions here, NOT YOU.”
——————————————————
——————————————————
Okay, maybe that’s a little hyperbolic—I”m a DRAGNET fan—but still…
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Yes Jack…they only want to talk with his enemies. Wowser…and this is America, not Saudi Arabia.
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Read what I said to truthwillout!
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UTLA’s Media Relations just posted a video about Rafe, in support of him:
In the video, UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl talks about how, in their handling of the affair, violated the new contract language dealing with teachers accused of misconduct.
UTLA is backing Rafe, but it’s up to him to enlist UTLA or not.
It includes a crowd of Rafe’s supporters at yesterday’s school board meeting, and one of Rafe’s students addressing the board.
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Again, Rafe’s union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) is not standing idly by in all this.
Here’s a statement UTLA released:
http://utla.net/node/5724
——————————————-
“UTLA Supports Due Process for Teacher Rafe Esquith
“LAUSD’s decision to place Hobart Boulevard Elementary School teacher Rafe Esquith on administrative leave has generated media attention in Los Angeles and across the country. UTLA has reached out to Esquith, as we do with any educator and UTLA member who finds him or herself in this type of situation, but he has retained outside counsel and we respect his decision to do so. UTLA stands ready to support Esquith’s due process rights. All educators are entitled to due process—which includes being informed in a timely manner by the District of any allegations that are being investigated.
“UTLA has organized around the issue of the ‘teacher jail’ system that ballooned under former Superintendent John Deasy. We negotiated important changes and they appear in our new collective bargaining agreement with LAUSD. We expect the agreement to be followed.
“Any educator who is temporarily reassigned pending investigation must be notified in writing within three work days of the reason for the reassignment. Administrative investigations are to be completed as quickly as possible—with a goal of ninety work days. The employee is to be notified of the outcome of the investigation within fifteen days of its completion.”
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Reflections on Union Role in this Situation:
I don’t know protocols for every state’s teacher’s union, but I want to know why the teacher’s union doesn’t file a class action suit, as well! I want to know why they haven’t gone through the grievance and arbitration process to make a paper trail to assist in the class action suit of the lawyers. I want to know why they haven’t filed Ethics violations against these educator leaders that colluded to assassinate a reputation without cause! I want to know why they haven’t filed a suit with the department of labor and the OCR, as well.
From the peanut gallery (knowing nothing about behind the scenes), I wish Esquith had allowed the union to, at least, have a seat at the table as they move through the legal process, but he was probably too busy fighting for his life to think of the nuances of “representing” as a union teacher during a crisis. That should be instructive to all those union conspiracy people out there, though- he ran right past the union option to get the biggest lawyer he could muster to try to battle this level of corruption. Maybe this speaks to ineffectiveness of teacher unions in fighting these battles?
Furthermore, for all we know, he went to the union first, and they initially turned on him or let him down in some way. That computer teacher, who turned him in because she couldn’t handle a reference to Huck Finn, could have been his site rep., for all we know. Maybe he was whistle blowing unions, too!
My daughter is in fifth grade, by the way, and she would get a big giggle out of that little King quip, and she would share it with me when she got home from school, and I would have laughed with her then I would have forgotten about it, as would she. (I really hope there’s no smoking gun, but I read all the court documents, and I was appalled at how he was treated- allowed to be treated for such an extended period of time with no checks and balances.)
Even if there is something inappropriate that they dug up, his guilt or innocence has no bearing on the validity of the class action suit. The law is on his side and this district will successfully be sued with proper representation, based on: the violation of due process and invasion of property and privacy (via private emails), the collusion to destroy this man by researching his entire life, justified, not by complaints or any evidence of wrongdoing, but the Huck Finn debaucle was used as a gateway to undergo a witch hunt, a pretend murder investigation without a murder being reported.
Most of this is speculation, but if it were up to me as a union executive board member or whatever, I would file every grievance and hold every hearing I possibly could, and it shouldn’t have taken a nationwide case for them to do it. Unions don’t need an individual to represent. Their job is to rigorously protect due process and the collective bargaining agreement (and board policy, and Civil Rights and Labor Laws)! 2000 teachers in teacher jail, most of which are experienced teachers without being given due process? What are union dues for??
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Teachers need to have due-process rights. The investigators may get him on and administrative issue because there does not seem to be a clear line between his work as a teacher in the school (curricular) and his teaching that is leveraged by the non-profit and extracurricular program. I hope that the questions they have asked him were recorded and made in the presence of his lawyer. The line of questioning seems to be kinky. They seem to be assuming he is a pervert. The tone of those in charge of the investigation seems to be “we are going to get you” “we got to protect the kids.” I hope this turns out well for him personally and as a class action. I know that a local teacher who failed to keep clear accounts of budgets for the regular art program and for an extracurricular art club was sacked.
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How do you know what the line of questioning where? If it’s from the teacher, you don’t think he has every incentive to lie? Or maybe he is telling the truth? Who knows but so quick to judge. The school isn’t backing down, which tells me they got something big on him.
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Truthwillalwayscomeout,
I don’t know whom to believe. I side with the teacher because he is innocent until proven guilty. Right? Don’t you think he has the right to know what he is accused of? To see the evidence? Isn’t that basic due process? The rule of law? You have convicted him of something. Do you know something? Do you know what he is accused of? No one knows. I don’t. I assume you don’t either.
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I guess from that point of view you are correct, innocent until proven guilty. I do want to remind you though this isn’t a criminal case, this is a case to determine if he should be hired or fired. That means burden of proof and other issues weight differently.
I think UTLA has a deal with the district that they need to tell them the accusations in a timely manner. I think within this week he will know all his accusations. Notice how the UTLA is not defending him? Rather, they just want due process? Haha….says something. The UTLA lawyers know the district must have something on him.
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there you go again, pretending you have secret information or a tip, spreading the insinuation that Esquith did something terrible. If this is your view as a law enforcement officer, it is scary. He has tenure. Rafe Esquith’s case is a great demonstration of why teachers need tenure to protect against false accusations. I can’t judge the accusations because I don’t know what they are. Apparently you don’t either. Yet you are ready to fire him on a hunch.
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Truth etc.out..you obviously don’t understand LAUSD. They probably have NOTHING on this stellar teacher of 35 years, but are trying to manufacture something to justify their overkill. This has gone on here for way too long. Endless manipulation, mendacity, and bad decisions. Fine teachers sent to teacher jail…for NOTHING. A few reinstated with no public apology…ruined lives, ruined reputations. Too many older teachers, and those of color, harassed into quitting to save money on their health insurance and retirement benefits. It is too often an opaque snake pit of deception.
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truth,etc –
my district used “trumped up” charges against an outstanding veteran teacher – when she was “fired,” the lone vote to not fire her went to the board member who is an attorney… he said, “this’ll never hold up in a court of law.” well, after months of legal “stuff,” the district had to rehire her & pay back wages, according to the judge’s decision… she was innocent, but she was lucky to have a strong union behind her… don’t kid yourself, truth… when TPTB want get rid of someone, they will do everything possible to circumvent the law –
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It boggled my mind that sixteen years after I watched the kangaroo trials of teacher in NYC, this kind of conversation appears here.
You see, I remember, a time when no such insane allegations and accusations could take a teacher (i.e. American citizen) out of their classroom. because there was a grievance process with steps to ensure that a teacher (i.e. an American) would see the evidence, meet with an accuser, etc. (6th Amendment to the BILLOF RIGHTS)
I remember how thaT tDISAPPEARED when, in my case, (even thoughtI was a famous teacher) I was never informed of the allegation that “I cursed at a child”. 30 students were present, and thus, at a step one grievance , with the child, the principal and the child’s parent, IT WOULD HAVE ENDED THERE ANE THEN!
But no charges were put out, no investigation, and of course, as my attorney later pointed out (for the twenty-five thousand I paid to end the travesty of justice) even if I had cursed at the wee lass of 13, it is NOT corporal punishment according to NY State law..
Nonetheless, I was removed from my classroom( in the school I put the map), even as I was the cohort for the Pew National Standards, and a few weeks before the citywide reading tests.
The parents had fits.A young sub took my place… yeah right!
Six months later, with no meeting with anyone to find out why I was sitting in teacher jail, as they dismantled my famous curriculum and stole all my books and materials from my practice and gave my stuff away to other teachers, I was read a letter at a MEETING IN THE DISTRICT OFFICE, written by the superintendent of that NYC district,saying that I had been FOUND GUILTY of Corporal punishment!
Now hold on to your hat, because at that meeting, was the UFT Manhattan Rep!
When a list of students who allegedly ‘witnessed’ the incident , and identified as student A, B, C D, E & F, was read to me, I asked for their names…and was told they were confidential. Goodbye billow rights!
Then, when I was told that students B and fF said I had cursed, I stood up to leave! They might believe this was not America, but I knew it was.
The UFT head honcho Now stood. This man who should have been on his feet when this insanity began, ordered me to sit down. I left, filed a lawsuit and was returned to my school…. to a closet, not to the classroom where I had taught the entire seventh grade with the curriculum that I wrote and made famous.
So, what is am I hearing here? From teachers? “I don’t know what to believe?
it worked in NYC, and they transported the process to LAUSD! Here it is… the process made into law that tramples the rights of teachers>
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers
What about this do teachers not grasp! Has no one heard of THE SIXTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION”
DOES NOT EVERY TEACHER GRASP that the union brings this right into collective bargaining?
This whole thing needs the ATTENTION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL!
It is time to prosecute top-down administration for lawless behavior!!!
SIXTEEN YEARS LATER this conversation is going on in LA?
Agggggh!
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Truthwillalwayscomeout is just making things up.
Esquith’s union is declaring its support for due process not because they do not believe him, but because due process is the cornerstone of union protection. Because Mr. Esquith has hired his own attorney, the union’s role in his specific case is limited. It does not have the details of his case.
UTLA is right to continue to press the district for due process rights for all teachers while this case is shining a light on the draconian practice of teacher jail http://utla.net/node/5724. It was also right to push for a new bargaining agreement http://www.utla.net/system/files/LAUSD-UTLA%20Tentative%20Bargaining%20Agreement.pdf that requires the district to at least tell the teacher of what he is accused. That’s progress because, before, people could whisper innuendo and assume knowledge of the situation when that wasn’t true at all. Like Truthwillalwayscomeout is doing now.
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Truthwillalwayscomeout should change his screen name to Ijustmakethingsup.
Esquith’s union is right to speak to the larger issue of due process while this case is drawing national attention to the draconian practice of teacher jails http://utla.net/node/5724. The reason UTLA is not being more specific in its statements about Esquith is because he has retained outside counsel, which legally limits the union’s role.
UTLA recently renegotiated the terms of its agreement with LAUSD so that at least teachers are to be notified of the charges against them http://www.utla.net/system/files/LAUSD-UTLA%20Tentative%20Bargaining%20Agreement.pdf. That’s significant because it prevents innuendo from ensuring conviction–sort of like Ijustmakethingsup is trying to do.
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See, that’s the thing, “Truth.” Have you EVER read the 6th Amendment? A person accused has the right to know the charges against them, and the right to confront his/her accuser. The accused also has a right to a speedy, fair trial. NONE of those things have been followed in this case. Mr. Esquith has been in Teacher Jail since March, and has yet to hear the accusations, have any kind of hearing, or confront his accuser, whomever that may be.
Your insinuation that something “bad” must have happened is antithetical to the witch hunt that is happening to teachers all over the country. Administrators don’t want teachers who are experienced (because they’re expensive), or who stand up for themselves and other teachers, or who do creative things that get them recognized. It interferes with those administrators’ little fiefdoms. You’d be amazed how petty a lot of administrators are. Due process is the only thing protecting teachers, and that due process is now almost non existent.
I’m glad that Mr. Esquith is sufficiently famous to be able to have a high-powered attorney come to his aid, and I’m glad that he’s willing to spread the wealth, as it were, by filing a class-action lawsuit. Most railroaded teachers have no such luxury.
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Karen…love your suggestion for a new and apt nom de plume for this guy…”justmakingthingsup” is far more descriptive. Amazing that he believes one is guilty on speculation and possibly gross mendacity, until proven innocent.
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Here’s the L.A. TIMES’ article on Rafe’s class action lawsuit (and like Karen Wolfe, it’s disgusting to see links to other sexual misconduct cases—totally unrelated to Rafe’s situation—automatically next to this article on Rafe).
My favorite part. Regarding the presumably objective and unbiased LAUSD investigators (you might add “profoundly stupid”), Rafe said,
“I asked them, ‘Have you talked to my students?’ and they absolutely said to me,
” ‘We’re only looking to talk to people who don’t like you.’ It just seemed incredibly unfair.”
Ya think?
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-teacher-20150623-story.html#page=1
==================================
“Teacher Files Claim Against L.A. Unified,
Blames Controversy On Joke
“— by Zahira Torres
“From his modest classroom at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Koreatown, Rafe Esquith became an education superstar. His teaching techniques brought him worldwide recognition, and his books became models for how to engage young students.
“But for the last two months of school, Esquith was sidelined. The Los Angeles Unified School District launched an investigation in March into allegations of misconduct by the popular teacher.
“His attorneys said the investigation is related to comments about nudity that he made to students. In addition, they said L.A. Unified also is looking into Esquith’s nonprofit, the Hobart Shakespeareans, a drama group for students.
“The decision to put him on leave — and keep him there for so long — has outraged supporters. But district officials have not backed down, saying that regardless of his celebrity, they won’t send him back to school until their investigation is completed.
“The standoff comes as the school district struggles to recover after a series of scandals involving teachers and administrators accused of sexual misconduct with students. L.A. Unified last year paid a record $139 million to the victims of a Miramonte Elementary School teacher who was allowed to stay in the classroom even after complaints about his behavior with students.
“Some see the Esquith case as part of the district’s effort to reform in the wake of the scandals. But whether it is an overcorrection remains a matter of much debate.
“In his first interview since he was pulled from his fifth-grade class, Esquith told The Times on Monday that controversy stemmed from a joke he made in the classroom.
“He said he quipped with students that if he could not raise enough money for the annual Shakespearean play, they would all have to perform their parts naked like the king in Mark Twain’s ‘THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN.’
“After another teacher complained, he said he explained the context of the joke to his principal at Hobart Boulevard Elementary. The principal, he said, told him he had nothing to worry about. Nonetheless, Esquith was removed from the classroom in April.
” ‘We overreact to everything. That’s the American way and I’m a victim of that overreaction,’ Esquith said. ‘I want to fix this system. I want to make sure that teachers do not have to go through the same thing that I went through.’
“Mark Geragos, an attorney for Esquith, filed a claim Monday against L.A. Unified, a precursor to a lawsuit. The claim gave notice of class-action litigation involving scores of teachers in similar situations who say they have been denied due process rights.
“Leaders of the teachers union said the number of instructors pulled from classrooms after allegations of misconduct increased after a child abuse scandal at Miramonte.
“Since last June, 89 teachers and others have been taken out of the classroom pending an investigation.
“Colleen Schwab, a vice president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said district officials have become so concerned with making sure that they do not miss serious crimes against children that the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction.
“Schwab said L.A. Unified and the teachers union reached an agreement in April requiring that the district present teachers accused of misconduct with the allegations against them and that they receive speedy investigations.
“District officials declined to provide details of the investigation, which Supt. Ramon Cortines said includes “serious issues that go beyond the initial investigation.”
“Cortines said in a statement last week that the district won’t be ‘rushed to make a decision and will complete our investigation with the highest level of integrity. The safety and security of every district student will remain our No. 1 priority.’
“In an interview Monday, L.A. Unified General Counsel David Holmquist added that the school system will not sacrifice students’ safety or a thorough investigation simply because the public and employees want a quick resolution.
” ‘When it comes to student safety, we’re going to choose students over adults every time,’ Holmquist said.
“Education historian Diane Ravitch who has followed the debate over Esquith’s removal, said that when such a nationally known instructor is removed from the classroom, the community expects answers.
” ‘If the facts of the case are what’s in public, it sounds absurd,’ said Ravitch, a research education professor at New York University. ‘If there are other things that haven’t been revealed, then the district should reveal them so that people don’t think they’re making a very harsh and hasty decision.’
“Esquith, who has written three books, including ‘TEACH LIKE YOUR HAIR’S ON FIRE’: THE METHODS AND MADNESS INSIDE ROOM 56,’ has received national recognition for his teaching abilities. He was the focus of a PBS documentary and won the National Medal of Arts award in 2003. At Hobart, which enrolls mostly low-income and minority students, he stresses the importance of the arts and the classics, including Shakespeare and Twain.
“He has also criticized what he considers to be too much standardized testing and scripted teaching methods.
“Esquith is being paid while he awaits the results of the district’s investigation. It is expected to be completed before school starts in August.
“He said district investigators never explained the allegation of misconduct lodged against him but said they were not short of questions when he was interviewed. They asked, for example, the names of teachers who may not like him, the women he dated in college and whether he was counseled as a teenager for pushing someone at summer camp.
RAFE ESQUITH: “I asked them, ‘Have you talked to my students?’ and they absolutely said to me, ‘We’re only looking to talk to people who don’t like you.’ It just seemed incredibly unfair.”
“In the claim against the district, Esquith’s attorneys said the investigation has now turned to the Hobart Shakespeareans, which performs a Shakespeare play annually, offers field trips and provides free SAT preparation.
“Board members for Esquith’s nonprofit sought legal counsel after investigators began asking questions about permission slips, whether the organization clearly indicated that it was not affiliated with the district and the number of chaperons taken on trips.
“District officials this month required Esquith to cancel a trip with students to attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In a letter to him, officials said the trip had not been authorized or sponsored by L.A. Unified.
” ‘ It’s clear that the initial allegation was this Mark Twain passage … they realized that they hit a dry hole on that, and now they are doing anything and everything to come up with something to justify this because they realize that they have egg on their face,’ Geragos said.
“After more than three decades teaching, Esquith said, he simply wants to get back to the classroom to be with his students.
RAFE ESQUITH:
“I have had many friends say, ‘You know what, Rafe? Enough is enough. Get off the cross, go into the private sector and make a lot of money.’
” ‘ It’s tempting, but you haven’t seen the damage done to my classroom. You haven’t seen the mail that I’ve gotten from these kids. I have to go back to heal them.’ ”
zahira.torres@latimes.com
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What’s really jumps out in this article is when Rafe’s attorney says this is not just about Rafe, but about ALL the teachers in LAUSD’s teacher jail, and that the lawsuit will not stop with Rafe’s reinstatement, but will have as its goal to fix the system.
Rafe echoes him, saying, “I want to fix this system. I want to make sure that teachers do not have to go through the same thing that I went through.”
I bet that LAUSD is now regretting their actions against Rafe.
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WTH – they are asking about “the women he dated in college and whether he was counseled as a teenager for pushing someone at summer camp”? They must be in trouble if they are digging that far back. Geragos should be a good attorney for this bs… and people wonder why teachers need unions & due process!
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Why do you believe the teacher? He maybe lying to get sympathy from the press. I’m guessing the district got something on him and he will be fired.
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It sounds like LAUSD may have hired a private investigator who obtained some info—perhaps highly dubious, bogus info—related to Esquith’s teenage and college days.
Otherwise, those are some pretty random, out-of-nowhere questions to ask someone.
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Jack, I heard a rumor that he punched another kid in the sandbox when he was 3.
Don’t fall for that troll.
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Why do YOU believe the administrators with an axe to grind, “Truth?”
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Here’s the text of the L.A. SCHOOL REPORT article,
written by Craig Clough,
with assistance from Vanessa Romo:
http://laschoolreport.com/most-famous-teacher-plans-class-action-suit-over-lausds-teacher-jail/
=======================
” ‘Most Famous’ Teacher Plans Class Action
Suit Over LAUSD’s ‘Teacher Jail’
“— Posted on June 23, 2015 3:32 pm by Craig Clough
“If opponents of LA Unified’s controversial disciplinary process known as ‘teacher jail’ were looking for an ideal case to fight it, both in a court of law and in the court of public opinion, they may get it.
“High-profile attorney Mark Geragos, representing one of the most famous active teachers in the country, Rafe Esquith, told the Los Angeles Times he intends to file a class action lawsuit on behalf of ‘scores’ of district teachers who say they have been denied due process rights. Geragos said he had filed a legal claim on Monday, which is a precursor to a lawsuit.
“The lawsuit could have enormous implications for the district, given the public stature of Esquith, who is a best-selling author, and Geragos, who has represented numerous celebrities and high-profile clients, including Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder and convicted killer Scott Peterson.
“Geragos did not state how many teachers may be a part of the possible suit and did not respond to a request for comment. LA Unified General Counsel David Holmquist said in an email to LA School Report that …
” ‘You would have to talk to [Esquith’s] attorney about his plans for a class action suit to determine if he believes it is a precursor.’
“The district has not publicly released any information on the case so far, other than Superintendent Ramon Cortines‘ saying the investigation had raised ‘serious issues.’
“Esquith told the Times that he was put under investigation in April and removed from the classroom for making a joke that referenced a passage from the novel ‘HUCKLEBERRY FINN.’ He said he told his class they may have to perform nude like a character in the story if he wasn’t able to raise enough funds, and that another teacher complained about it.
“Esquith acknowledged making the joke, and Geragos said that was the extent of the original complaint against him but the district’s investigation expanded to focus on Esquith’s nonprofit, THE HOBART SHAKESPEARIANS, including its process of permission slips, chaperons and whether it makes clear it is not affiliated with the district, the Times reported.
“Esquith is an author of several books on teaching and has worked at Hobart Avenue Elementary School for decades. He has received national recognition for his work with his nonprofit, which raises money for his students to put on Shakespeare plays. His work has been profiled by PBS, the CBS Evening News, Time, People and other national outlets. Washington Post education columnist Valerie Strauss described him as ‘the most famous teacher in the world.’
“Esquith’s case is thrusting the issue of ‘teacher jail’ into the spotlight once again, where it has been numerous times since the Miramonte Elementary sex abuse scandal broke in 2011 and former teacher Mark Berndt was ultimately convicted of multiple counts of committing lewd acts on his students. The Miramonte case also led to the district’s record-breaking $170 million in civil lawsuit payouts.
“In the aftermath of the scandal, the LA teachers union, UTLA, complained that the district began investigating teachers at a much higher rate. Hundreds of teachers, sometimes more than 300, have been reported to be barred from the classroom at a time in recent years.
“Teachers can fall under investigation for anything from serious accusation of sexual misconduct to a simple violation of district policies. The district used to house all teachers under investigation in administrative offices during working hours, and they were often often given nothing to do, which gave rise to the ‘teacher jail’ term. In 2014, the district switched policy and began sending most of the teachers home, but the term has come to often apply to any teacher that is barred from the classroom with pay while the district investigates them.
“The investigations can take months, and teachers are often not informed of the accusations against them. UTLA made the district’s disciplinary process an issue in its negations for a new contract agreement, reached in April, that calls for the district to give teachers under investigation more rights.
“ ‘ The teacher jail issues, which ballooned under Deasy, was a huge part of our contract negotiations and we got first-time contract language, making sure due process is followed, and time limits are followed in investigations,’ UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl told LA School Report.
” ‘So we want to make sure that the district is following those very common sense guidelines that are now contractual language. We want to make sure that they’re following them in this case of Rafe Esquith.’
“Caputo-Pearl did say that the speed of teacher investigations has improved under new Superintendent Ramon Cortines.
“ ‘Cortines, to his credit, has worked with us on a number of different cases where we were able to cut through some red tape,’ Caputo-Pearl said.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
“—Vanessa Romo contributed reporting to this story.”
—————————————————————————–
NOTE: I’m usually not a big fan of much of what comes out of L.A. SCHOOL REPORT—i.e. Publisher Jamie Alter-Lynton’s pro-corporate reform Op-Eds—but in this case, I have to give them some props for telling it like it is.
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Bottom line: when you obtain terrific results that implicitly, and then explicitly, show the failure of self-styled “education reform”—
Buh bye.
And I hope he and the other in the class-action suit win. Big.
That’s how I see it…
😎
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Seeing it the same way here. Very well-put.
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Okay, I’ll bite. Exactly which “lines” from the article are you “reading between”?
Please cut-‘n-paste those lines from the article.
Then could you please share whatever conclusions that you have drawn from your reading between those lines? You know, the conclusion that are “so obvious” that “the school got something on him, and he is toast”?
Maybe it’s due to my lacking the law enforcement training that you have, but I’m not simply at a loss, and am not seeing what you’re seeing.
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Jack, I don’t know why you are replying to me. I never said anything about anyone reading between lines, etc.
Penny
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I know… I posted this in the wrong place.
Later, I re-posted it in the right place, but
can’t delete this post.
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Of course!
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I used to work for law enforcement and was a teacher. I can read between the lines. The school got him on something and he is toast. Whatever it is, it will make the press side with the district. Reading everyone’s comments is so funny. Same thing with some of those police cases where the officer gets cleared. Sometimes it’s so obvious.
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And then there are the many cases where people get railroaded for reasons which defy logic. From today, http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/nyc-to-pay-dollar625m-to-man-cleared-in-1989-killing/ar-AAc0IzK
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Truthwillalwayscomeout:
Okay, I’ll bite. Exactly which “lines” from the article are you “reading between”?
Please cut-‘n-paste those lines from the article.
Then could you please share whatever conclusions that you have drawn from your reading between those lines? You know, the conclusion that are “so obvious” that “the school got something on him, and he is toast”?
Maybe it’s due to my lacking the law enforcement training that you have, but I’m not simply at a loss, and am not seeing what you’re seeing.
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Yer funny. If the school actually had something on him, it would be leaking all over the place to the press. The fact that they’re not leaking like a sieve indicates they got nuthin’ and they don’t want to get hit with a slander/libel suit.
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Don’t feed the trolls…
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Truthwillalwayscomesout,
You are using a fallacy to prove your point. It is called an appeal to ignorance. And I personally find your appeal funny considering the moniker that you use.
“Reading everyone’s comments is so funny.”
That includes you, little buddy.
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Nothing is funnier than seeing your poor trolling tactic that goes against your moniker. To me, it sounds like “Liewillalwayscomeout,” if that’s the best you can do to serve for the blog.
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Rafe starts this presentation (BELOW) by saying
that of all he accolades he’s been given,
“that the only one of which I am
proud is that after 28 years,
I’m still a classroom teacher at Hobart
Elementary School in Los Angeles, that
I’m a public school teacher.” :
Watch this to get an idea of what Rafe
is all about.
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Here’s a comment from the L.A. Times article
about the witch hunt perpetrated on Rafe
and other teachers in Teacher Jail:
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-teacher-20150623-story.html#page=1
———————————————-
pdeecool:
“The point here if you have been following this
story or any information on teacher jail is when
is the district overreaching in trying to find
misconduct on teachers.
“If, as a teacher, you are alleged to have committed
misconduct,and no misconduct exists for that allegation,
the district probes deep into your past to fabricate some
type of misconduct.
“If we did that with administration, no one would be left.
“This and teacher jail is nothing but a political witch
hunt to get rid of older teachers, teachers who question
the system and speak up for parents and students.
These are the people the district does not want in LAUSD.
“As a taxpayer, these are the people I want to
represent my interest and those of my community.
“Does the community, parents, students, teachers, local
public schools mean anything to this faceless,money-grubbing,
deformifying administration at LAUSD?
“Or can we just replace these groups whenever they
aren’t doing what the hierachy wants them to?
“I suggested before, during and after DZ (John Deasy’s tenure),
get rid of this BOE.”
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Teachers sue, Ravitch post June 23 2015
Rafe Esquith Will File a Class Action Suit | Diane Ravitch’s blog
Well, what do you know? I am so happy to read this!!!
That said, it’s NOTthe first or most recent lawsuit.
Even as this occurs Lenny Isenberg is suing; Lenny, whom they led away in handcuffs for blowing the whistle on Social promotion.
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/07/between-dishonest-social-promotion-of.html
is suing the party that let it happen, the UTLA.
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/03/lausd-and-utla-collude-to-end-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-teachers-part-2.html
His Perdaily blog, which few teachers read although it is an erudite and complete chronicle of the abuse and the disaster that has befallen LAUSD, the second largest school district in the nation as the union looked on
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/07/former-ctc-attorney-kathleen-carroll-lays-out-unholy-alliance-between-union-and-public-education-pri.html
but of course, teachers hardly know that he is suing… BUT YOU DO NOW!
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/03/has-utla-rank-and-file-been-told-that-im-suing-utla-why-not.html
FYI: He nailed the very legislation that began the civil abuse of teachers in this recent Citywatch piece.
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers
They needed to take out the tenured teachers, their voice and their salary and THIS WA S BEFORE VAM, so they simply accused them of illegal or criminal activities a,d POOF…they were gone. 800 teachers accused, all found GULITY. GONE!
Of course, without th media blackout this could not have happened. Teachers had no INCITING incident— no ‘FERGUSON’ — to put a spotlight on the trauma that thousands of dedicated Americans (who happened to be teachers) were experiencing. Not sexy enough… and besides, Bush and cronies needed to begin the ‘let’s evaluate these BAD teachers,’ narrative, so the media, fully owned by the devils themselves, simply played that endless tune…” bad teacher…bad teacher!
Isenberg has been a tireless fighter for teachers rights,
http://www.perdaily.com/2015/01/were-you-terminated-or-forced-to-retire-from-lausd-based-on-fabricated-charges.html and if none of you in the 15, 580 school districts in fifty states, know who he is…THAT proves my point!
Here is one of my favorite essays that spell out what Diane says here… it is the billionaires boys club, money driven privitization
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/06/lausds-treacherous-road-from-reed-to-vergara–its-never-been-about-students-just-money.html
Yeah Lenny Isenberg is a valiant fighter who refused to retire, has lost his career and source of income, and much more on a personal level; he IS is hero
http://www.perdaily.com/2013/11/lausd-gives-me-a-chance-to-be-a-hero-for-student-teachers-and-families.html
I will send Diane’s post to him, to show that finally, action is being taken… but wait…
THERE WAS Lorna Stremcha, who used her life’s savings and spent years in court, filling a room in her home with legal papers, to prove that her principal not only impinged on her civil rights…he set he up to be RAPED. It’s all in the record, including her work with Senator Testor in Montana, to end bullying in the workplace, and now her book “Bravery, Bullies and Blowhards: Lessons learned in a Montana Classroom. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0991309936/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
Lorna created a website “Resolutions”!
http://www.slideshare.net/LornaStremcha
and I have posted MANY TIMES HERE, this video of her testimony “Lawless”.
Maybe you should watch it if you have not seen it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfNxj-O1DiI
Then there is David Pakter:
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/06/charges-against-david-pakter-dismissed.html
who sued in NYC, and WON> but and lost years of his life, and half a million bucks,; and there is Walter Porr who sued and went all the way to Federal court and lost; and there is Dania Hall, IN Belmore Long Island, who has fought her way through the courts since 2008 nycrubberroomreporter.blogspot.com/2008/12/north-bellmore-ny-teacher-dania-hall.html
and is NOT permitted to tell YOU what is, at this moment, afoot in her suit.
THAT, dear colleagues, is part of the reason FEW OF US KNOW what happens when teachers are abandoned BY THE LEGAL ARM which is there — NOT TO PROVIDE TENURE— (as the media lies) but to ENSURE THE CIVIL RIGHTS EMBEDDED IN THEIR CONTRACTS.
So, good luck in court! I hope this is the beginning of a teacher movement that says ENOUGH!
We are Americans, too, and deserve protection under the laws of the CONSTITUTION. We are not monied parties and cannot sue without great loss. THAT is why the UNION is a MUST> We need BETTER PROTECTION from our elected union leaders!
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You are so right about Lenny. He should be the guru on teacher jail. If you read his blog from way back, he clearly documents the devolution of teacher’s civil rights in LAUSD. That he is suing the union is right and appropriate when you consider years of union dues and then, then when you really need them, no legal protection.We know what’s happening to this teacher is a process of LAUSD that has been followed over and over again. Tell me this, public. How could so many teachers,800+ be fired for misconduct without even presenting their side of the story. This LAUSD BOE voted for terminations on these teachers 99.9% of the time. Does this seem even plausible or statistically valid. No, I don’t think so.
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Notice that it was another teacher who “objected” to the comment about performing nude. This strikes me as the sort of backstabbing engaged in by insecure people who probably aren’t doing their jobs and feel threatened by those who are.
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A teacher who has the power and the money to hire a top attorney and fight back! I love it!!!!
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Ditto, if you have the money to fight this defamation of character, do it. Unfortunately, most teachers don’t and LAUSD knows this. They starve teachers out by delaying and forcing them to pay for expensive legal protection that UTLA DOES NOT PROVIDE. Every other major union provides legal protection, LAUSD teachers,nothing. UTLA does nothing if you get in a bind like this and this teacher knows it. Heck, this failed union doesn’t even enforce its CBA so expecting any type of help from them is useless.However, in high profile cases like this, they will fake the funk. This action by this teacher of getting his own attorney is wise and good luck to him. We all are pulling for him. By the way, if you need any testifiers as to the criminality of teacher jail, feel free to contact me and hundreds of other victims of this horrible system.
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Instead of asking them to contact you in your comment here, call the law office of Mark Gallegos, and offer to be part of the class action.
I hope all the teachers who suffered teacher jail unfairly will be brave enough to step up to the plate and come forward by contacting the law office of Mark Gallegos. This is probably the best scenario, and the best lawyer, you will ever get.
Thanks Rafe for making this happen.
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Just wondering– if this local in NEA affiliated, why doesn’t someone make a move to switch to AFT (or vice versa)?
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Hey truthwillalwayscomeout,
Your name and your logic is twisted.
I am NOT surprised that you used to work for law enforcement and was a teacher.
You must FORGET to add an adjective word “”corrupted”” to your twisted profession from which you abuse the PUBLIC trust in order to play game “witch hunt” on innocent victims.
Back2basic
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To Rafe Esquith:
I hope that the prize of 100,000 from Angel Network and its private detective can be used as a powerful evidence to counter any falsified stories from school district..
May God bless your class action suit many more folds of success
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Assuming this whole affair is due to
some impropriety in the field trip
paperwork and/or finances,
the comparison of Rafe’s situaiton to
that of the Crenshaw High music teacher
is apt, as this article from THE NATION
(BELOW) shows:
It was published in
April 2014, when Dr. Stevenson was
still languishing in teacher jail,
and written by one JoAnn Wypijewski.
It deals with former LAUSD Superintendent
John Deasy’s exploiting the “sex”
and “child molestation” angles as a
dishonest way to crush innocent veteran
teachers—the highest paid naturally—
and simultaneously destroy teacher
unions’ ability to protect innocent teachers
unjustly accused of something.
http://www.thenation.com/article/179605/where-shame-policy-inside-las-teacher-jail
Here’s the opening paragraphs: (check out the parallels to Rafe’s case)
————————————————————————-
JoAnn Wypijewski of THE NATION:
“Iris Stevenson hurt no child, seduced no teenager, abused no student at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles. This is what her supporters say in rallying outrage that this exemplary teacher has languished for months in the gulag of administrative detention known as ‘teacher jail’: she doesn’t belong there.
“And she doesn’t.
“Days before being removed from her music classes in December and ordered to spend her workdays isolated on a floor of the LA Unified School District (LAUSD)HQ with other suspect teachers, Stevenson, a legend in South LA and beyond, was at the White House directing the renowned Crenshaw Elite Choir as it sang for President Obama.
“She has not been officially informed of the charges against her. Unofficially, Stevenson is said to have swept off the choir to perform first in Paris and then in Washington without permission—an absurd claim, since parents had to consent, and Stevenson has conducted such foundation-supported field trips untroubled for decades. District authorities say only that Stevenson is under investigation.
“If she were a de facto kidnapper, police should have been called long ago. But, no, this is not about criminality or even misconduct; it is about a larger game of control being played by School Superintendent John Deasy. That game owes quite a lot to sex, because a few years ago a scandal tripped the panic button, which Deasy has kept his finger on ever since, exploiting justified public anger over a classroom pervert to pursue a war on teachers.
“The political question, then, is not just whether Stevenson belongs in teacher jail but what this institutionalized containment regimen, this sub-bureaucracy of punishment, exists for in the first place, and how the specter of sex is the cowing excuse to go after anyone.”
———————————–
And it goes on from there… Read the whole thing at:
http://www.thenation.com/article/179605/where-shame-policy-inside-las-teacher-jail
Check out this video of former LAUSD Superintedent John Deasy addressing the Teacher Jail situation during the Iris Stevenson affair:
Also, Deasy makes the bizarre claim that 80-90% of the accusations against teachers now in teacher jail resulting from accusations of “(drug) trafficking and molestation… prostitution.”
Again… a total fiction. I mean really… 80-90% of the 800 teachers in teacher jail… that meant that 600-700 were accused of drugs, molestation, and prostitution?
Go watch the video from 00:07 on…
————————————————————————————————-
————————————————————————————————–
00:07 – 00:55
DEASY: “I would say… overwhelmingly… like 80% or so, or 90%, an outside agency notifies us of the issue… Either the LAPD, the FBI, or the (L.A. County) Sheriffs… they bring to our attention an issue that has occurred, and unfortunately, those issues are very serious.
“This person is accused of (drug) trafficking or the intent.
“This person is accused of molestation.
“This person has is of trafficking drugs, prostitution, et cetera.”
————————————————————————————————-
————————————————————————————————–
Also, Deasy’s “prostitution” accusations are pretty bizarre. I’m an ed policy junkie—reading everything I can on the internet—and talk to UTLA officials who defend teachers all the time, and I have never heard of an LAUSD teacher being accused of prostitution, and when I asked those folks at UTLA, they likewise claim to have never heard of such a thing.
“If this (teachers moonlighting as prostitutes) would have happened, I think someone in my position would have heard of it,” said one UTLA official, “But you never know.”
I’m not saying it didn’t happen… but given the bias of the media, if an LAUSD teacher had been moonlighting and working in the “the world’s oldest profession,” this story would have come to light… nay, it would have blown up on all the media. Whatever the case, for Deasy to make the “prostitution” claim the third thing out if his mouth misleads the audience into thinking it’s more routine than it actually is.
At 00:53 , the FEMALE MODERATOR calls Deasy on this claim that only serious and credible accusations prompt a teacher’s removal from the classroom. She cites a well-known example who allegedly kicked the wheels of his car, or his car’s muffler, or whatever, and was removed and thrown in teacher jail as he was treated the same as an alleged pedophile.
This prompts applause from the teachers and parents in the room
It’s interesting to watch the controlling and manipulative Deasy attempt to win back the room by
1) shaming them, pressing their “Guilt Button” through the use of a thought-terminating cliche.
2) play the “I’m-Defending-Abused-Children-but-You’re-Not CARD”…
Deasy never answers this question, and successfully changes the subject.
At one point, Deasy says, “I’m not uncomfortable discussing the rights and safety of children. It is first and foremost (inaudible) we do in LAUSD.”
However, at 00:53 , Deasy is quite uncomfortable answering the Female Moderator’s question—a question he clearly did not expect or appreciate—as evidenced by his desperate attempt to change the subject.
————————————————————————————————-
————————————————————————————————–
00:53 – 01:44
FEMALE MODERATOR: “What if it (the accusation) didn’t come from the police and sheriffs? Let me pick another case where a teacher was accused of something by a parent that wasn’t even criminal. It was more like kicking a muffler in a parking log, and they were moved, and they didn’t even know why they were moved until – ”
(HUGE APPLAUSE)
DEASY: “I think it’s bizarre that people will clap when we are looking at ensuring childhood safety.”
(He actually pronounces the word bizarre “biz-zahhh”… gotta love that Boston accent)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: “It’s an important question!”
DEASY: “Sir, don’t raise your voice to me! I don’t raise my voice to you.”
AUDIENCE MEMBER: “Don’t lie to us, then!”
FEMALE MODERATOR: “I… I’m trying to – … ”
(DEASY turns from the FEMALE MODERATOR
then forcefully addresses the audience)
DEASY: “We’ll always make the decision to err on the rights and safety of children whether people are comfortable with that or not… ”
————————————————————————————————-
————————————————————————————————–
Like Pavlov’s dogs hearing a bell ring, this gets applause from part of the audience. Deasy successfully short-circuits their capacity for critical thinking this way.
This is a rhetorical trick or fallacy used in propaganda… the false dichotomy… by implication Deasy is the righteous defender of children, while anyone who dares disagree with him is not.
Deasy continues with a manipulative attempt to trigger the emotions of the audience… i.e. his experiences “looking into the eyes’ of abuse children, and then employs a particularly clumsy sentence construction… is the child being “molested with his parents” watching, or “molested” along with his parents?
————————————————————————————————-
————————————————————————————————–
01:46 – 01:55
DEASY: “You don’t look in the eyes of a child who has been molested with his parents. I do!”
AUDIENCE applauds
————————————————————————————————-
————————————————————————————————–
Once again, the Pavlovian applause response from playing the Abused-Child-Card, and the propaganda trick of false dichotomy.
In effect, he’s communicating:
“I, John Deasy, care about abused children. Any people who refuse to back me 100% do NOT care about abused children, and are a bunch of pedophile-enablers.”
This guy sits up in a luxury office on 24th floor of LAUSD’s Beaudry Building, while it’s the teachers who interact with the students for 7 hours (or more… i.e. after-school tutoring, homework clubs, extra-curriculars, etc.) each day.
I’ve seen those same tears from abused children, Dr. Deasy. We teachers have to report any and every suspicion of child abuse to police and child protection authorities, or face being fired and loss of credential. We do it all the ding-dong time.
I and countless fellow teachers have looked into the eyes of those abused children on many occasions, and done my duty, as have countless administrators, filling out the SCAR (“Suspected Child Abuse Report”) Form, and staying late for hours… off-the-clock, and I”m happy to do so….meeting with authorities to give details on what the child reported to me.
Again, let’s get back to he muffler-kicking incident at
00:54
At one point, Deasy claims that he’s “not uncomfortable” discussing his handling of child abuse accusations, but throughout the night, he ducks the hard questions, diverts attention, and plays the “Abused Child Card” over and over to avoid answering these questions
However, the moderator’s question about the” kicked muffler” makes him pretty “uncomfortable” discussing these things.
(forgive me it this is repetitive)
——————————————-
00:54 – 02:38
FEMALE MODERATOR: “What if it (the accusation) didn’t come from the police and sheriffs? Let me pick another case where a teacher was accused of something by a parent that wasn’t even criminal. It was more like kicking a muffler in a parking lot, and he was moved, and they didn’t even know why they were moved until –
(AUDIENCE breaks into applause… Deasy has just lost the crowd, or part of the crowd.)
At this point, notice how Deasy diverts attention from this question, and never answers the question. He tries to shame the teacher for “raising his voice.”)
EASY: “I think it’s bizarre that people will clap when we are looking to ensure childhood safety.”
AUDIENCE MEMBER: “It’s an important question!”
DEASY: “Sir, don’t raise your voice to me! I don’t raise my voice to you.”
AUDIENCE MEMBER: “Don’t lie to us, then!”
FEMALE MODERATOR: “I… I’m trying to – … ”
(DEASY turns from the FEMALE MODERATOR
then forcefully addresses the audience with his
“only I care about abused children” canard.)
DEASY: “We’ll always make the decision to err on the rights and safety of children whether people at schools (inaudible) or not… ”
FEMALE AUDIENCE MEMBER: “What about the Crenshaw music teacher?”
FEMALE MODERATOR: “I don’t want to get into specifics, because this is not really the forum for that right now.”
DEASY: “No, we should NOT talk about other individuals. It is their private right to either go to their attorney, or to their union.”
FEMALE AUDIENCE MEMBER: “What about … (inaudible.. but I believe the parent or teacher in the audience is complaining about how, since Deasy took over, the investigation process… a process that returns innocent teachers to their classrooms… has gone from taking mere days… to taking weeks… to taking months… and now years to wrap up… meanwhile those teachers are cracking under the strain, and giving up and quitting… Deasy’s goal when dealing with the high-paid teachers, by the way…. lower the line item of salary, and replace them with docile newbies with no connection to the union.)
DEASY: “LAUSD will take as long as necessary to do its investigation, to protect the rights of both the employee, or the teacher. Thank you.” (I think he meant to say the “student and the teacher.”
—————————————–
Again, this above back-and-forth refers to the high-profile case of Dr. Iris Stevenson, a nationally-renown music teacher from Crenshaw High School who was unjustly removed from her classroom.
Her Crenshaw High student choirs perform all over the country.
Dr. Stevenson and her student choir singers had just returned from a performance for President Obama at the White House. Upon landing in L.A., she was thrown in teacher jail and never told what the allegations against her were. At the time of this forum in the video, Dr. Stevenson was still stuck there. There were rumors that she was there because she didn’t fill out all the required paperwork for out-of-town student trips. She claimed that she DID do all the required paperwork, just as she had done dozens of times before.
The public outcry against this led to her eventually being returned to her position in August.
Instead of being “not uncomfortable” discussing the high-profile matter—and admitting he screwed up—Deasy, in the above video, ran from the question. This Stevenson affair was a major embarassment for Deasy and his corporate reform backers. Throughout her incarceration, Dr. Stevenson was never told of what she was being accused of, or given any documentation whatsoever.
Here’s some coverage about Dr. Stevenson, who was finally
returned to the classroom recently:
http://www.thenation.com/article/179605/where-shame-policy-inside-las-teacher-jail
… and here’s L.A. School Report’s coverage of Stevenson’s exoneration and return to the classroom:
http://laschoolreport.com/crenshaw-choir-director-released-from-teacher-jail/
ONE FINAL NOTE: to this day, other than vague statements or rumors, Ms. Stevenson HAS NEVER BEEN INFORMED OF, OR BEEN GIVEN ANYTHING IN WRITING AS TO THE REASON WHY SHE SPENT SIX MONTHS LANGUISHING IN TEACHER JAIL.
When asked for any documentation relating to her incarceration in Teacher Jail, LAUSD, in effect, says to Ms. Stevenson, “Look, we’re not releasing any o’ that. Just be lucky your job back. Now just shut up and go back to work!”
Watch these testimonials from students for Ms. Stevenson:
Rafe’s kids can and will do likewise if Rafe is not likewise returned to the classroom.
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Here’s another bit from the article from THE NATION: (the last sentence sums it up):
“Fear is a useful tool; under its cover, a profession is suspect, budgets balloon to pay disciplinary costs, and ‘education reformers’ are handed an opportunity.”
http://www.thenation.com/article/179605/where-shame-policy-inside-las-teacher-jail#
———————————
THE NATION:
“Presumed to be a danger to children, most disappear in silence, their reputations swinging in the wind of conjecture. Some of those ‘housed,’ as the district puts it, are assigned to a room all day, or a cubicle, or an auditorium, or their home. Since their number has mushroomed, some report for short shifts and spend the rest of the workday under a form of house arrest.
“Some sit elbow to elbow facing a wall, in a bloc within district HQ, overseen by Specialists, who report to Directors. Non-detainees working in their midst are not to make eye contact or speak to them.
“One, walking past the room and seeing detainees through glass windows, said,
” ‘Oh, creepy; these are the weird people.’
“Some detainees may not read books or use the Internet or have a phone; others elsewhere may do some or all of those things. Some may be yelled at just for whispering; others may talk with no consequences.
“The assault on their identities, the limbo of secret, open-ended investigation, have driven some older teachers out, retiring early and sacrificing lifetime benefits. Justifying the regime, Deasy recently told parents and others, ‘A teacher could be accused of drug trafficking, child molestation, prostitution, etc.’
“Fear is a useful tool; under its cover, a profession is suspect, budgets balloon to pay disciplinary costs, and ‘education reformers’ are handed an opportunity.”
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None of the “reasons,” of course, has anything to do with the teacher’s performance, teaching, work ethic, etc. The Esquith case really brings to light the whole Lake-Wobegon-syndrome in education. All teachers must be considered equal (i.e., above-average but no too far above) in their competence and work ethic. But we’ll fire them for something –anything — else if they dare to break out from the pack.
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I find it ironic that this horrendous system has been going on for so long and yet no publication like la times or la school report has investigated it. Oh yeah, in several high profile cases, they’ve done some reporting but investigating, no. Especially la school report who could not take the heat from all the comments and decided to spew their biased stories without them. LA times does no investigations put merely reports what the district tells them.If the travails of this teacher ignites a curosity by the public as to what truly has been done and is still being done to teachers all over this country, then it has served a purpose. Teacher jail is a denial of civil rights and due process and should be discontinued immediately. In L.A. and LAUSD, teachers, make your union work for you for a change. Demand legal protection through legal insurance now!
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The LA Times is run by billionaire charter supporter, Austin Beutner, who with his cronies Broad and Riordan, keeps the news reports and commentary, filtered and manipulated. The LA School Report is run by the aspiring billionaire and her Sony prez husband who are part of this uber wealthy group.
Where do you see irony paula?
These publications, and their overseers, are the enemy of a populist society, and they encourage and protect an oligarchic society with themselves as leaders.
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Paula,
The L.A. TIMES do an article about teacher jails sympathetic to teachers?
Are you kidding?
This paper has been horrendous in its portrayal of “teacher jails.”
During Teacher Appreciation Week 2009, they ran a daily series, each day focusing on a different horror story of “a lemon teacher who can’t be fired sitting around getting paid for nothing”. These were, of course, outliers in a force of 40,000 teachers, but you wouldn’t know it from THE TIMES’ coverage. The series was designed to inflame the public against teachers and UTLA, their union.
I heard of one housed teacher who was a subject of this coverage. He had an L.A. TIMES photographer come to his house—as the teacher was allowed to be “housed” at home while he was removed from the classroom and investigated, a process that had been taking over two years.
The photographer took picture after picture… going from room to room in the guy’s place, directing the teacher. Finally, he said, “Hey, let’s get a picture of you lying in bed.” The naive teacher complied as the photographer quickly stood on a chair next to the bed, then clicked a couple shots.
“Got it!” he excitedly exclaimed, smiling, then quickly ran out of the guy’s place… having bagged his prized photo that was tasked by his superiors to obtain, with all the other pictures just a ruse used to score the incendiary “bad teacher lying in bed while still getting paid” photo.
Sure enough, the photo made the front page of THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, with the article loaded with references to how much tax money the teacher was sucking down while on paid leave, including that during his removal, the time he spent being “housed” counted towards his retirement, and how he was in this paid limbo status lasted for years.
At no point did THE TIMES ask LAUSD management, “Well, why DOES this process have to take YEARS? Why the long wait?” The answer to this, or the real reason was because having such a slow process led to stories like this….
“Teacher spends years getting paid not to teach.. thanks to union corruption. For shame, teachers union!”
As I recall, the charge against him had nothing to do with him being a danger to children—the stated purpose of teacher jail. It was due to a female teacher at his school claiming that he was harassing her, asking her out when she wasn’t interested. He was placed in teacher jail on her word alone, no other evidence… in large part, because he was at the highest end of the salary scale.
Whatever the truth—and there may have been some… I don’t know—this nevertheless could have been handled without teacher jail… perhaps with just an admonishment to the accused teacher, instructing him that next time, he’d be formally written up. At that point, all parties could move on. Provided there was no re-occurance, of course, everyone could simply put the matter behind.
Again, posting this series during TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK was a total f-you to the unionized teachers of Los Angeles—the choice of that particular week was deliberate. THE L.A. TIMES could have done a series on teachers like Rafe, perhaps portraits of some “Teacher of the Year” finalists, but no… it had to be about the lemon teachers sitting and/or lying around getting paid to do nothing, and the evil teachers union that allows this to happen.
———Hey! I just found the photo:
http://www.hemlockontherocks.com/2013/07/teacher-thomas-shelden-in-focus-lausd.html
Notice that THE L.A. TIMES dug this same photo out of its archives to be used in another teacher-hating article in 2013. Mind you, that’s two years after this guy’s final termination (2011), and four years after the photo was taken (2009), but the paper makes no mention of the fact that the teacher has been long gone from the district since 2011. Anyone reading this would presume the photo to be recent, and the teacher in it still being paid by LAUSD to do nothing.
It’s never to late to use an incendiary photo to make a union-busting point.
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A former student of Rafe’s commented on the page containing the KCBS news coverage of Rafe’s situation.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/06/15/award-winning-teacher-allegedly-removed-over-mark-twain-quote-threatens-suit/#comments
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frhee • 4 days ago
“As a former student of Rafe’s, this situation is really depressing.
“Rafe is at school from six in the morning to six at night, striving to create an environment that is challenging, but jovial and nourishing. He would take us on class trips to Washington DC and national parks, pitching in his own money to reduce costs for students. He would have SAT prep classes on Saturdays for former students. He would give free guitar lessons to anybody who was interested.
“He’s been such a positive influence on my life, and it’s upsetting to see his character questioned in this way. I can only hope this situation is resolved quickly.”
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So, here is the latest from Lenny Isenberg, whom I have already told you HAS CHRONICLED LAUSD THE 2ND LARGET DISTRICT AMONG THE 15,880.
He is following this case, AS ALL OF YOU SHOULD, AS THE MEDIA WILL NEVER DO IT
. He writes me:
Sue,
With the attack on nationally know LAUSD teacher Rafe Esquith, things are starting to happen here. I’ve been in direct contact with his attorneys Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas, who have the bank to do something.
Also, this Sunday we are having a meeting with 200 targeted teachers and 2 lawyers that say they want to fund a class action- I’ll believe it when I see it. and he posts this at his site (which everyone here who cares about education needs to visit)
http://www.perdaily.com/2015/06/there-is-a-great-deal.html
There continues to be a great deal of rewriting history at the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to make it seem that teachers only got targeted after Miramonte to protect students.
That outright LIE is at the root of LAUSD chief attorney David Holmquist’s incessant comment also echoed by Superintendent Cortines that, “We will always put student safety first, when dealing with teachers, which is why we are so cautious in dealing with alleged teacher impropriety.”
One need only look at the frequency and number of individual cases against teachers long before Miramonte to expose this lie. The figures show that the war against teachers and the huge number of teachers forced into retirement or brought up on fabricated charges
http://www.perdaily.com/2015/01/were-you-terminated-or-forced-to-retire-from-lausd-based-on-fabricated-charges.html
started in earnest after then LAUSD Director Office of Risk Management & Insurance Services David Holmquist published figures in 2006 showing that TEACHERS AT THE TOP OF THE SALARY SCALE (93% of all charged teachers), were pushing the District into bankruptcy.
Something had to be done and LAUSD chief attorney did it, despite the necessity of trampling on thousands of teachers civil rights.
http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
And of course, none of this illegality would have been possible if our “free press” had just asked the same questions I’m posing here.
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/03/have-reporters-become-poli-ticks–the-media-parasites-of-the-body-politic.html
The L.A. Times and other supposed news media have scrupulously avoided doing so by continuing to muzzle their reporters, who are never given the green light to follow the facts and the money. With the now targeted renown master teacher Rafe Esquith might LAUSD’s premeditated illegal actions finally see the light of day?
I have talked with many reporters at both the local and nation levels with far greater daily access to LAUSD and other districts like it AROUND THE COUNTRY than I will ever have and to a person they say:
“We know what’s going on, but we can’t get that story past our editors.”
Why? Because the same people monetizing and privatizing public education now directly control or outright own our “free press.”
This is why there is never a mention of the $60,000 a year LAUSD saves for every teacher at the top of the salary scale they target and get rid by fabricating false morals charges under California Education Code Section 44939.
With the targeting of nationally renown teacher Rafe Esquith, there is finally too much publicity that cannot be swept under the carpet in the process of getting rid of teachers whose only “crime” in the vast majority of cases is that they were at the top of the salary scale with expensive benefits.
Remember, as admitted in sworn affidavits, LAUSD Board Member Richard Vladovic stated in public, “The LAUSD Board has always voted for the dismissal of teachers based exclusively on [unverified] charges without any evidence presented to the Board,” even though both California Education Code, applicable cases law, and the U.S. Constitution clearly call for evidence offered under penalty of perjury. You can’t get a speeding ticket without the officer signing the ticket under penalty of perjury, but LAUSD with the tacit support of the media and the courts have been able to take away a teacher’s profession without ever having to have hard evidence of wrong doing sworn to by those bringing charges against the teacher.
Clearly, there is a degree of reticence for those fabricating charges against teachers to perjury themselves, but so far they haven’t been required to do so- they just rubber stamp unverified charges and summarily remove the teacher. This has created a situation where teachers are presumed guilty until they prove themselves innocent, which is next to impossible in a purposefully protracted process that is allowed to go on for years, while teachers are deprived of salary and benefits before there has been any adjudication of guilty in a neutral forum of law as is their constitutional right.
Are there pervert teachers? You bet. In any profession where there is increased access to children the number of pedophiles is greater- but no greater than it was before Mark Berndt was finally discovered after being allowed 18 years of unfettered access to his student prey. If one were to dispassionately look at the real facts dealing with the removal of teachers without due process of law it might become crystal clear that deviants like Mark Berndt could only survive because their administrators were too busy going after exemplary teachers like Hobart Elementary’s Rafe Esquith.
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SUSAN LEE-SCHWARTZ:
I’m going to re-post a link to an article of yours, along with some excerpts:
http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
It does a good job of covering the what, why, who, and how… of what is happening to Rafe and other teachers like him who have been unjustly targeted:
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SUSAN LEE-SCHWARTZ:
“WHY ARE THE FINEST TEACHERS MISSING FROM OUR SCHOOLS? WHY HAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT SEGMENT OF OUR POPULATION BEEN STRIPPED OF THEIR RIGHT TO THE RULE OF LAW, RESULTING IN A CRUMBLING EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OFTEN BEREFT OF TALENT AND MENTORS?
“Teachers are the targets, as education is now a business, and the reward is not the education of the kids, but the profits gained by ‘cleansing’ the system of tenured teachers, and preventing new teachers from gaining tenure. The bottom line in not enriching the schools so learning can occur, but the enrichment of the administration at the top, and the profits of businesses which thrive on the failure of the public education system.
“THROWN INTO DETENTION CENTERS, WITH NO RIGHTS TO DEFEND THEMSELVES OR TO HEAR THE CHARGES AGAINST THEM, OUR DEDICATED TEACHERS HAVE LOST ALL CONNECTION TO THE CONSTITUTION, AND ARE BEING HOUNDED OUT OF THE SYSTEM BY THE THOUSANDS in a manner that should embarrass every American citizen.
” … ”
“How is it done? It is all about accountability. You see, these people have broken the law for so long, they have come to believe THAT THEY ARE THE LAW!
“We have seen what happened to the banks when no one was examining their actions. The failure of the banks was visible and drew the attention of the media and the public. The reasons for the failure of the schools is HIDDEN, and there are no journalists or legislative investigations to uncover the truth.
“Thus, across the country, a corrupt bureaucratic system has put into in place a procedure that circumvents the union contract, education regulations and basic civil rights laws, in order to remove any teacher. This process is the total abrogation of the civil rights of Americans… who just happen to be teachers!
“This ‘process’ has so infiltrated our school systems, that now our teachers’ careers, reputations, health care and financial security are destroyed and there is ABSOLUTELY NO RECOURSE TO THE LAW! Teachers have difficulty finding lawyers to represent them, because few lawyers have the deep pockets to litigate against an entity whose deep pockets are filled by your tax dollars. Litigation, in any case is a financial nightmare. Moreover, the judicial system is stacked against the teachers, as judges routinely rule in favor of the administrations. Teachers lose.
“It is simple to grasp! The union is the legal representative of teachers, and they fail miserably to represent them, at the beginning. Grievance procedures are a sham. By looking the other way when teachers are accused of incompetence or heinous and even criminal behavior, the union has withdrawn the oversight that keeps principals and superintendent from breaking the law. The reasons for this are many, but this essay is not the place to explore the motives of union bureaucrats, who themselves will never go back into a classroom or be subjected to what any teacher faces for standing up to corruption.
“The inescapable irony of this is the perception of the public, thanks to propaganda put forth by the media, that it is the UNIONS that protect those bad teachers. NOTHING IS FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH.
“In the process of removal, to break tenure, wonderful teachers are humiliated in ways that are reminiscent of slavery.”
” • TEACHERS WHO SPEAK OUT ABOUT UNSOUND EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE, the ‘whistle-blowers,’ are the first to be singled out. Their voice cannot be tolerated.
” • Senior teachers, with strong voices on the subject of GENUINE LEARNING, AUTHENTIC CURRICULA and real PEDAGOGY, are next to be targeted, particularly if they are higher on the salary scale.
” • They are followed by any teacher that is disliked by some petty, failed human being with a personal grudge or agenda, often with poor or no classroom experience, but given power to ‘supervise’ teachers.
“The personal agendas of administrators and publishers replace curricula; thus talented teachers find themselves on a one-way journey OUT of their practice.
“In NYC, there is a long delay in the putting out of charge. This civil right for speedy justice is guaranteed by the constitution! But, with no oversight by the union which should demand immediate investigations and genuine grievance procedures, teachers are removed from their practice immediately and sent to the District Office (i.e ‘rubber room.’ go to: http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/rubber_room/
“Not a single journalist or reporter explored how such literal incarceration was effecting the emotional lives of dedicated professionals who had devoted their lives to a noble profession.
“When the public began to notice that there were teachers being paid FOR YEARS, to do nothing, a cry went up, and NYC supposedly ‘disbanded’ the rubber rooms. Now, In a typical maneuver, the cynical bureaucrats in NYC hide these ‘disappeared’ teachers, in school offices throughout the city. Awaiting their ‘hearings” (those sham kangaroo courts) these teachers are stapling papers and doing menial office tasks… and the DOE in NYC thinks NO ONE WILL NOTICE THESE SHENANIGANS. I noticed. So should YOU!
“Go to:http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2010/sep/22/some-rubber-room-teachers-say-theyre-still-waiting/
“The media makes no effort to expose this practice. There are NO investigative journalists looking into the civil rights abuse of teachers. NO ethnic minority could be treated like this without intense media coverage!
“Those ‘business managers’ at the top — principals and superintendents who call themselves ‘educators’ — in an astonishing number of systems have as their HIGHEST PRIORITY TO MAINTAIN THEIR POSITION, and to ensure that THE CASH-COW continues to be THEIR PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNT.
“They are given tacit permission by a system that fails to protect teachers, and immunizes them from lawsuits. With no impediment and no accountability, they stoop to tactics that are so egregious that people find it hard to believe.”
(Susan Lee Schwartz was Educator of Excellence 1998; The New York State Council of English Teachers [NYSEC] and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (’94,’98, 2000).
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(Go to the link for Susan’s piece:
http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
Jog down and you will see, that following the piece are links to teacher and groups around the country that deal with the issue of teacher jail, and unfair targeting of teachers.)
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This is SOP with many if not most school districts in the country. What else is new? The profession is littered with the corpses of teachers who have been railroaded out on trumped up charges in order to protect administrators. It happened to me, and I will pay for this until I die. The culprits are doing just fine, thank you.
I believe he is being targeted because he is deemed to make “too much money,” and his outspokenness has emboldened administrators to mark him for elimination. I wish him all the luck in the world, but the odds are against him. What districts love to do is force teachers to take piddling settlements in or out of court. That is the way they operate above the law. Administrative law is one big joke, and “law” doesn’t really apply when it comes to districts. They simply fabricate charges, rig the hearings, force witnesses to lie, destroy evidence, and it is all legal because administrative law is just a sham.
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Dear Susan L.Schwartz and Susan Nunes:
It is heartbreaking to acknowledge many criminally fabricated stories to defame locally well-known teachers from corrupted “”Broadie”” Superintendents.
Hopefully, AFT and NEA will join in this case to regain the due process right for all teachers. If God truly bless America to be a democratic model in the world, this case of Teacher Rafe Esquith must win in the court, and the due process right must be restored for all Teachers immediately. May
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