Archives for category: Los Angeles
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Los Angeles: Beutner Fails His First Job, Negotiations with UTLA Break Down

By dianeravitch
July 2, 2018 //
9

This just in. The inexperienced new chancellor of LAUSD Austin Beutner failed his first assignment. We r3cognize that he was chosen to favor the mostly non-union charter schools, but he should recognize his duty to all the children and teachers in the district.


UTLA STATEMENT ON DECLARATION OF IMPASSE

Our employer refuses to partner with us for a sustainable vision for the future. Why? Because our school district is currently dominated by pro-privatization ideologues who would rather starve our public schools than fight for their survival. Therefore, the UTLA bargaining team believes the bargaining process with our employer has been exhausted, and the two parties are at an impasse.

For more than one year, we have attempted to engage our employer in a thoughtful and progressive bargaining process that paves the way toward a better future for our students and the Los Angeles Unified School District, but it’s become increasingly clear that the charter lobby-backed school board majority, along with its handpicked superintendent, Austin Beutner, has a different goal.

That goal is to blame educators for a starved school system, providing a rationale for even deeper cuts, softening the ground to replace our school district with privatization schemes that have failed in other cities. And we cannot, in good conscience, allow it to happen without fighting back.

Recent LAUSD hires, school board actions and reports are building a case for a repudiation of public education in LA, including the report from Beutner’s task force called ‘Hard Choices,’ which pits students against their teachers, and manipulates data to justify a type of private equity “wind down” of LAUSD. Read UTLA’s full response to the ERS here.

Therefore, today, UTLA sent a letter to district officials, declaring contract negotiations are at a deadlock. Read the impasse letter here.

This school board majority and superintendent have no proactive plan to reinvest in our schools or ensure the survival of LAUSD as a civic institution in our city. Rather than advocate for increased state funding, or use the $1.7 billion in unrestricted reserves, they threaten layoffs, say educators get paid too much, recommend increases to overloaded class sizes and increases to special education teacher to student ratios.

Meanwhile, UTLA has a proactive vision that includes proposals to reduce class sizes, provide more health & human services staff, significantly reduce testing, increase parent and educator power over school site spending, require investment in community schools, ensure access to ethnic studies for all students, provide reasonable oversight at co-located schools and improve early education and adult education programs.

In light of the above actions that signal the willful demise of our own district, as evidenced in Beutner’s ‘Hard Choices’ report, we demand LAUSD bring in a state-appointed mediator to assist both parties in achieving a bargaining agreement that is acceptable to both parties.
__________________________________________
UTLA, the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union local, represents more than 35,000 teachers and health & human services professionals in district and charter schools.

________________________________

Categories Accountability, Los Angeles, Unions

LAUSD Chief Picks TFA-Broadie from Nation’s Lowest Performing State as Chief of Staff

By dianeravitch
June 24, 2018 //
21

Los Angeles Superintendent Austin Beutner, new to the education world, has defined himself by his first big hire. He selected Rebecca Kockler, the Louisiana Department of Education’s assistant superintendent for academic content to be his chief of staff. Like her boss, John White, Kockler is both TFA and Broadie. (For the initiated, that means they both got a little bit of teaching experience as recruits for Teach for America and are “graduates” of Eli Broad’s unaccredited Broad Superintendents Academy, whose “graduates” are taught top-down management, the value of closing schools and replacing them with private management, and other reformer tricks of the trade. John Thompson recently wrote a series of posts here about the dismal record of Broadies.)

Mercedes Schneider, researcher and high school teacher in Louisiana, reviews Kockler’s TFA career in TFA here, which was mysteriously absent from the LAUSD press release. Also unmentioned in the press release was her Broadie history. Mercedes knows more about the Louisiana Department of Education and its new chief of staff than LAUSD. To be fair to the person who wrote the press release, Mercedes notes that Kockler deleted her Linked In bio that describes her TFA history. But Mercedes has it.

Both the LAUSD press release and the Broad Center agree that Louisiana is one of the “fastest improving” states in the nation.

But is that true? Nope. Its NAEP scores declined significantly from 2015 to 2017.

What is especially irksome about the LAUSD press release linked above is that it refers to Louisiana’s academic standards as “a national model.” Who would look to a state that scrapes the very bottom of NAEP rankings as “a national model”? Maybe it is a model of how to fail while boasting of success. Maybe it is a model of Trumpian rhetoric that turns lemons into lemonade.

Consider this report in the New Orleans Advocate on 2017 NAEP.:

“In the latest snapshot of education achievement, scores for Louisiana public school fourth-graders plunged to or near the bottom of the nation in reading and math.

“In addition, eighth-graders finished 50th among the states and the District of Columbia in math and 48th in reading…

In 2015, fourth-graders finished 43rd in the U. S. in reading and 45th in math….

“But both scores dropped five points – to 212 and 229 out of 500 respectively – during tests administered to 2,700 students last year.

“That means fourth-grade math scores finished 51st while fourth-grade reading scores are 49th.

“The group that oversees the exams, the National Center for Education Statistics, said both drops are statistically significant.”

Why not tell the truth? Beutner hired the academic director of one of the lowest performing states in the nation, where NAEP scores fell in the latest assessment. He was impressed by her credentials in TFA, and she came highly recommended by his friend Eli Broad.

Categories Accountability, Broad Foundation, Corporate Reformers, Curriculum, Education Industry, Education Reform, Fake, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Teach for America

LAUSD Will Not Renew Contract of Inspector General, Who Was Too Tough on Charters

By dianeravitch
June 7, 2018 //
5

Elections have consequences. In the last Los Angeles school board election, charteristas took control of the school board by one vote. Their fourth vote, however, is tenuous b3cause Ref Rodriguez is awaiting trial on felony charges of campaign finance violations.

The board voted not to renew the contract of the district’s inspector general. He led several investigations into charter school corruption.

The board said they were terminating him due to a “hostile work environment” in his office, although none of the complaints were about him.

The inspector general investigated the Billion-dollar iPad scandal.

The financial scandals at the Celerity charter chain.

Fraud at the PUC charter chain started by Ref Rodriguez.

But this can’t be the reason he is being ousted, right?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Fraud, Los Angeles

Los Angeles Teachers Rally to Save Public Education

By dianeravitch
June 1, 2018 //
10

This is a very effective short video of a UTLA rally for resources and respect. Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of UTLA, warns that we must save public education from the proliferation of privately managed charters—or lose it within the next five years.

Categories California, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Los Angeles, Privatization

Joe Mathews: YOU TOO Can Be Austin Beutner, No Experience Necessary

By dianeravitch
May 27, 2018 //
9

Joe Mathews, a California writer, has penned a hilarious column about the meteoric success of investment banker Austin Beutner, in being selected for jobs for which he had no experience or qualifications. Most recently, of course, he was chosen by the Los Angeles school board to be the city schools’ superintendent. His lack of any relevant experience was no barrier.

He writes:

No Californian inspires me more than Austin Beutner.

Haven’t heard of this Los Angeles investment banker? Your loss. Because following his example could change your life.

Beutner’s recent career exposes the lies we Californians tell ourselves about our limits. Sure, we want our children to believe they can grow up to be anything they want. But we believe that rising to the top in a field requires years of preparation, not to mention knowledge, and experience.

Austin Beutner shows us we’re wrong.

In this decade alone, Beutner has gone straight to the top in no fewer than four fields in the City of Angels—without having to pay his dues in any of them.

It started back in late 2009, when Beutner convinced Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to appoint him to be first deputy mayor of the city of L.A. Without any prior experience in local government, he helped manage 13 city agencies. During that stint, he was named interim general manager of L.A.’s most fearsome government agency—the Department of Water and Power—without experience in utilities.

After leaving city government, Beutner, without experience in journalism, took over as publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and the San Diego Union-Tribune.

But all those were a mere appetizer for his latest job. Last week, Beutner became superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. With 600,000 students, it’s the largest school district in California and the second largest in the nation.

And if you think that earning such a position would require Beutner to have experience in school districts, you’re not thinking the right way.

What’s most impressive about Beutner is that he has had all these jobs in less than a decade. His stays in all of them were brief, about a year or so. Indeed, he also has managed to squeeze the building of a nonprofit called Vision to Learn, which provides free eye exams and glasses to children, into his sprint through L.A.’s major institutions.

Now, I admit that cynics might look at Beutner’s conquest of Los Angeles—the fastest takeover of a global city since the Visigoths sacked Rome—and suggest that there is something wrong in Southern California.

The sky is the limit. Dream big. Beutner shows that anyone can do anything. Experience and qualifications don’t matter.

Categories Los Angeles

Los Angeles: Was the Board’s Secret Vote for Banker Austin Beutner Legal?

By dianeravitch
May 14, 2018 //
16

The LAUSD board selected banker Austin Beutner in secretive proceedings.

A complaint has been filed saying that the procedure violated state law.

Categories Education Reform, Los Angeles

Watch Jackie Goldberg Take LAUSD Board to the Woodshed!

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2018 //
25

Take 3 minutes and watch this great video of Jackie Goldberg, former president of the LAUSD Board, former member of the State Assembly, give the current board a tongue lashing for not choosing an educator as superintendent. For being “bought and paid for” by the devil.

And to Ref Rodriguez for not having the decency to resign or recuse himself when he is under felony indictment.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Goldberg

Categories Education Reform, Los Angeles

Los Angeles: Will Unqualified Superintendent Get In-Service Training?

By dianeravitch
May 5, 2018 //
15

 

The Los Angeles school board selected an unqualified person to lead its schools. The decision was made in secret, with no public input.

Carl Petersen points out that state law requires that Superintendents must have experience as teachers and administrators. There is provision for a waiver. Is the superintendent is unqualified, like Austin Beutner, he may be required to take an in-service training program.

35028.
No person shall be eligible to hold a position as city superintendent, district superintendent, deputy superintendent, associate superintendent, or assistant superintendent of schools unless he is the holder of both a valid school administration certificate and a valid teacher’s certificate, but any person employed as a deputy, associate, or assistant superintendent in a purely clerical capacity shall not be required to hold any certificate.
(Enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010.)

35029.
A local governing board may waive any credential requirement for the chief administrative officer of the school district under its jurisdiction. Any individual serving as the chief administrative officer of a school district who does not hold a credential may be required by the local governing board to pursue a program of in-service training conducted pursuant to guidelines approved by the commission.
No individual serving as the chief administrative officer of a school district shall be subject to the provisions of the merit system specified in Article 6 (commencing with Section 45240) of Chapter 5 of Part 25 of this division or any other similar merit system.
(Enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010.)

Will the board require him to learn about school administration or will they just let him bring his experience from the banking world as a source of “new ideas.” (Hint: buy low, sell high). Or from his service on the board of AMI, which owns the notorious National Enquirer (“catch and kill”) or from Jack Welch’s playbook for cut-throat businessmen (“fire the bottom 10% every year”).

Categories Education Reform, Los Angeles

Los Angeles: Another LAUSD Board Member Dissents from Choice of Non-Educator

By dianeravitch
May 3, 2018 //
5

The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted to appoint a wealthy investment banker, Austin Beutner, as its superintendent by a vote of 4-3. The deciding vote was cast by Ref Rodriguez, a charter founder who is waiting to stand trial on multiple felony indictments  related to campaign finance. The initial vote was kept secret for more than a week. Then another vote to taken to offer a contract to Mr. Beutner, and that was approved 5-2.

After many years as an investment banker, Beutner served briefly as deputy mayor of Los Angeles and served briefly as publisher of the Los Angeles Times.  He has a close association with Eli Broad, the octogenarian billionaire who has declared his hope to put half the students in the nation’s second largest school district into privately managed charter schools.

The two career educators on the board were the dissenters. Scott Schmerelson released a statement decrying Beutner’s lack of any education experience.

George McKenna issued this statement today.

For Immediate Release May 2, 2018
Contact: Patrice Marshall McKenzie (213) 259-9763

STATEMENT FROM BOARD MEMBER DR. GEORGE J. MCKENNA III
REGARDING THE SELECTION OF LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT

As an experienced lifelong public-school educator, I feel compelled to voice my dissent regarding the selection of a non-educator to lead the second-largest school district in the nation.

In an abbreviated and rushed process without open community forums or input from school and District staff, parents and students, a majority of the Board of Education selected the new superintendent with a 5 to 2 vote. This choice of a person with no experience as an educator in K-12 school districts reflects the lack of concern for the continuity and stability of the District.

The premise that a non-educator is a better fit to lead a large educational organization because of limited managerial experience in outside business experiences is fundamentally flawed and politically motivated. To intentionally seek non-educators to serve as superintendents reflects a lack of respect for the professional educators who have demonstrated effective service and leadership within school systems, along with a denial of the Board’s ultimate responsibility to establish policies that govern the District and hold the Superintendent accountable.

The primary purpose of a school district is to establish and adequately resource effective schools, which are ultimately dependent on teachers, administrators and other school site staff. The dream of business-style governance being used in an urban school district to turnaround failing schools and/or lessen the achievement gap is a myth that has not materialized. This continued experiment on the neediest students and families is an injustice and an avoidance of the reality that our communities need the best educational leadership that be found.

Despite the enthusiasm by some for “outside” and “non-traditional” leadership for school districts, the reality is that this strategy never results in the reversal of underachievement in our neediest schools and communities. It is hard to believe that a governing board of a multi-billion dollar company would hire an inexperienced novice to lead their company in time of greatest need. This decision was predetermined by outside influences with a profit and political motive that will continue to expand without providing adequate resources to our neediest schools.

Although this decision was predictable and disappointing, I encourage our great team of employees and parents to continue communicating their needs and concerns to the superintendent, to me and the other Board Members.
###
333 South Beaudry Avenue, 24th Floor / Los Angeles, California 90017 Telephone (213) 241-6382 Facsimile (213) 241-8441 E-Mail:George.mckenna@lausd.net

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Corporate Reformers, Hoax, Los Angeles

LAUSD Will Pay Zillionaire Banker $350,000 As Superintendent

By dianeravitch
May 2, 2018 //
59

Parent activists are still in a state of shock in Los Angeles in reaction to the board’s selection of the totally unqualified banker Austin Beutner as Superintendent. 

Reportedly a billionaire like his pal Eli Broad, although possibly only a multimillionaire, he will be paid $350,000 for his inexperience.

The first order of business will be downsizing the district, which has lost students to charter schools. Instead of fighting to regain students, Beutner will encourage the growth of privatization.

He is the quintessential corporate reformer who can be counted on to bring the mindset of a corporate raider: cut costs, cut staff, reorganize, downsize.

Beutner is everything that Broad loves in a Superintendent: a reformer dedicated to swing the axe, close schools, and fire educators.

Howard Blume writes:

””Beutner and members of the board majority seem unlikely to continue targeting charter schools as part of the problem. On the contrary, they are widely expected to take steps to encourage their growth in a range of schooling options for families, especially with academic performance lagging at many traditional campuses.

”That means the district has to look to other ways to increase revenue — a goal held in common with the prior board — and may try to reduce district spending by shrinking the traditional school system. Savings could come through employee layoffs, closing campuses and freezing or reducing salaries and benefits.”

 

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Los Angeles, Privatization
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »