Talk:Los Angeles Unified School District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article falls within the scope of the WikiProject Los Angeles, a group of Wikipedians interested in improving the encyclopaedic coverage of articles relating to Los Angeles, California, and who are involved in developing and proposing standards for their content, presentation and other aspects. If you would like to help out, you are welcome to drop by the project page and/or leave a query at the project's talk page.
Start	This article has been rated as Start-Class on the Project's quality scale. (If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the priority scale.

This article is part of WikiProject California, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to California on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit this article, or visit the project page to join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.

California Portal

This article falls within the scope of WikiProject Southern California, a WikiProject interested in improving the encyclopedic coverage and content of articles relating to Southern California, its people, history, accomplishments and other topics. If you would like to help out, you are welcome to drop by the project page and/or leave a query at the project's talk page.

This article is also supported by WikiProject California.

Article Grading: The article has not been rated for quality and/or importance yet. Please rate the article and then leave comments here to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article.

	This article is part of WikiProject Education, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of education and education-related topics. Please participate by editing the article, and help us assess and improve articles to featured and 1.0 standards, or visit the WikiProject page for more details.
Portal
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.

[edit] "No Howevers Allowed"

With all due respect to user WhisperToMe, is it really necessary to remove every trace of "however" in this article? Perhaps having more than one instance of it is a bit much, but "however" is a very effective transition when used properly. Keep in mind, a failure to use any when transitions when they are due is just downright poor witting.

Wikipedia:NPOV and Wikipedia:Weasel words - You know I am right. Maybe in a few cases, "however" is okay - But keep in mind that we are writing an encyclopedia, not an essay. Our main goal is to convey information, not to write an extensively beautiful paper. WhisperToMe 21:31, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] All of L.A.?

Is it correct that all of L.A. city is serves by the LAUSD? If so, then the List of districts and neighborhoods of Los Angeles will save some duplicate work. Cheers, -Willmcw

As far as I know, all of LA City is served by LAUSD. --Lan56 23:32, Apr 27, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Overlap

List of high schools in Los Angeles County, California contains almost (?) all of the regular LAUSD high schools. It's handy to have all of the county schools in one place, on the other hand duplication isn't good. Any suggestions? -Willmcw 23:01, July 24, 2005 (UTC)

LAUSD does not make up all of Los Angeles County, therefore the list isn't exactly the same. WhisperToMe 23:28, 24 July 2005 (UTC)

If they were exactly the same then there'd be no question. They're partly the same. I guess I'm wondering if there is any point to either omitting the list of high schools from here and point to the list there. Or, vice versa. Any thoughts? -Willmcw 00:45, July 25, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] missing schools?

In looking at some of the "Los Angeles foo" articles, I discovered Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, which is apparently an LAUSD school, but isn't in the list of schools. Does anyone know where the list in this article originally came from? BlankVerse ∅ 13:57, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

I will create a new category, "6-12" schools, and add the school there. Yes, LACES is definately an LAUSD school. WhisperToMe 16:15, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

There are alot more schools in LAUSD than are listed in that article. There are too many missing in the list, including the ones I have gone to. Ampc 01:02, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

We should be able to find a comprehensive list on the LAUSD site, and if we can, we should just link to it. I don't know if we need to even list here every elementary school and special program. So much school info strains sourcing policy already. Due to maintenance issues I think we should avoid encouraging articles about small schools. I do not want to have to watch list 50 or 300 more school articles. I think we should list all of the high schools, but below that we should be more selective - "notable primary and middle education". -Will Beback 08:20, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] redirect to nowhere

the link to Gaspar De Portola Middle School redirects to this page, and not to an article about the school. an or stub should probably be written for it.

also, it may not be the only school in that situation, and don't even get me started about the numerous schools that have red links.Tobias087 05:57, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Expansion

well, this article has a little background info, and then a long list of schools. that's all great, but how about actual info on the disctrict? statistics, other than just enrollment numbers? would be good...lensovet 02:04, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Have at it! Err...I assumed you were volunteering??? Akradecki 04:13, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

I would, but I know absolutely nothing about the LAUSD and to be honest have little interest in it :\ lensovet 04:36, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

I landed here too looking for info and the subject sure is taking a beating as a possible NNPOV problem. ~~How about the busing issue, which was fairly huge in the 1970's? Is there anything nice to be said? (LAUSD Honor Band maybe?)~~ Group29 04:31, 4 January 2007 (UTC) I added the two sections, busing and Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band. Group29 (talk) 16:57, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Boundary changes

See http://www.laschools.org/employee/mpd/boundary-changes/ for 06-07 changes. Please help me update the article :) WhisperToMe 23:26, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] TfD nomination of Template:Los Angeles USD

Based upon the reasons that I mentioned at Template talk:Los Angeles USD, Template:Los Angeles USD has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for Deletion page. Thank you. ^Blank ^Verse 20:30, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New schools

See http://www.laschools.org/find-a-school#all-projects for new schools. WhisperToMe 01:11, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Miguel Contreras Learning Center

When Contreras opens (do this now if it is open), please move it from the to be opened category to the list with the zoned schools.

See [1] about Contreras. WhisperToMe 05:15, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Split LA school list to new article?

The LA school list is becoming longer... WhisperToMe 04:02, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Isn't there something like over 1,000 schools in the LAUSD? I'd say keep this article as ONLY on the LAUSD itself, and then either create one article that is a List of schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, or create separate list articles for each type of school. Either way, the lists themselves should be turned into two or three columns so that the lists aren't so long. ^Blank ^Verse 04:25, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Are there parts of Los Angeles in Las Virgenes Unified School District?

After seeing this map http://ecr.lausd.k12.ca.us/images/ecr_boundary_hi-res.pdf - I wonder if there are parts of LA in the LVUSD? WhisperToMe 19:46, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

For the record, there are exactly nine precincts of LVUSD in the City of Los Angeles, most notably the portion of the Bell Canyon tract annexed by the City west of the boundaries of Rancho de San Fernando and in Township 1 (Thomas Guide Page 529). See this link. I am going to go ahead and move the City of LA back up in the "all" category with the exception of those tracts. Calwatch 06:13, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Student Population Contradiction

The article says that LA Unified has the largest student population and yet implies it is second largest at the same time. 71.166.58.19 02:01, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

"is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. " WhisperToMe 02:47, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dangerous, Disinterested and Overcrowded

Article published - redundancy deleted--Mig 20:24, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Mig, Wikipedia does not allow Wikipedia:Original research. Please find a press source. If the press publishes your comments, then we may consider acknowledging them. It is okay to link to press sources that discuss any sort of LAUSD failure. If you find newspaper articles and editorials about it, you may mention them (with the author). WhisperToMe 16:39, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Dear WhisperToMe -- thanx for your timely response. I will try to get some journalistic comments -- whether mine or independently researched by someone else -- published. Mig 19:08, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Dear WhisperToMe -- here's the article I wrote:

[edit] Battle-scarred 'sub' in L.A. barrios speaks out

Article published - redundancy deleted --Mig 20:25, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Deleted --Mig 20:25, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 2nd Paragraph

Does the second paragraph in the introduction seem a bit long and out of place? Wondering if it can be re-worded, shortened, and the information redistributed (ie. the School Police blurb). Lasdlt 18:50, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] History of LAUSD

On November 16, 2007, the WorldNet Daily posted "Battle-scarred 'sub' in L.A. barrios speaks out" by Migdia Chinea Varela, a screenwriter and former substitute teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Chinea stated that, in many schools she served, the students had no interest in learning, abused the teachers, vandalized property, and joined gangs. Chinea, who was injured on the job, stated that teachers are underpaid and under-appreciated in the district. She described the campuses in LAUSD as "mess, filthy, dilapidated and without supplies." Chinea believes that the district is taking little action against the conditions rampant in various low income schools. [2]

You're right; arguing about whether teachers are underpaid is not really the point. In fact I agree with your opinion. However, I still don't understand how the publishing of this article, which happens to be written by you, is a significant event in the history of the LAUSD. Also, by the way, I am a teacher of ten years, and I don't know a single teacher who thinks that they are "putting their life on the line" when they show up at school.--red shirt guy (talk) 00:29, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

--Mig 17:46, 10 January 2008 (UTC) Deleted -- --Mig 20:26, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Here's a relevant article on LAUSD Superintendent Brewer: http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/how-superintendent-david-brewer-ran-aground/17943/ --Mig 01:48, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Twenty-First Century

Deleted --Mig 20:27, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a soapbox.
As I pointed out (see comment above) when I stopped by this article a year ago, there is a serious Point of view problem with this article. See Wikipedia:NPOV. (I did the step of adding the some information about the enforced bussing and segregation. This was an extremely controversial topic and has changed the structure of the city. However, that subject is treated with the facts only.)
I was wrongly accused on my talk page of deleting content that is still present in its original form. That is a breach of Wikipedia:Etiquette.
Wikipedia does not permit original research as user Whispertome has pointed out already. I did not delete the content in question, although I do not believe I would be wrong in doing so. It is an opinion article. Note that Wikipedia is not a link farm for gathering up articles to support a non-neutral position on the article.
Wikipedia is not a battleground. User X(see note*) who is also a notable personality with a Wikipedia article - (person in Wikipedia Y*) -, has a personal grudge and possible legal proceedings against the subject of the article. That should not be played out in Wikipedia. I highly recommend that a blog be started outside of Wikipedia and publish more information and opinions there. I would expect that with enough interviews and research that it would be picked up by the Times or Daily news.

Note * X who wishes to remain anonymous by removing the link to the user page, which I had placed here. The original text can be found in the history here (Group29 (talk) 21:44, 19 January 2008 ). Note that altering others' posts on talk pages is considered Discussion page vandalism. See the Wikipedia:Talk_page article for more on etiquette including signing posts. Quote:"Article talk pages are provided for discussion of the content of articles and the views of reliable published sources. They should not be used by editors as platforms for their personal views."

Note that I am not a lawyer, but if there is a case between a wikipedia author and the subject of writing, I would imagine the less written the better. Group29 (talk) 21:48, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

6. Wikipedia is not a forum for unregulated free speech. Group29 (talk) 21:27, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

The solution is to see if we can find other articles about LAUSD in the 21st century written by notable people and/or experts. We could use that to show a more comprehensive picture of the district. WhisperToMe (talk) 01:30, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Deleted Googleable name --Mig 20:33, 21 January 2008 (UTC) Deleted --Mig 20:27, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Dear WhisperToMe (talk) Here's my January 26, 2008 WND interview: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59900

--Mig 17:18, 26 January 2008 (UTC) I've just been informed that 1.3 million teachers were victims of non-fatal attacks in school.--Mig 15:59, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Redundancy deleted --Mig 16:02, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/crime03/9.asp 9. Nonfatal teacher victimization at school

This indicator has been updated to include 2001 data.

From 1997 to 2001, teachers were the victims of approximately 1.3 million nonfatal crimes at school, including 817,000 thefts and 473,000 violent crimes.

Students are not the only victims of crime at school. Teachers are also targets of violence and theft in schools. In addition to the personal toll that violence may take on teachers, those who worry about their safety may have difficulty teaching and may leave the profession altogether (Elliott, Hamburg, and Williams 1998). Information on the number of crimes against teachers at school can help show the extent of the problem. Estimates of teacher victimization are drawn from the National Crime Victimization Survey, which obtains information about the occupation of survey respondents. These events are not limited to offenses committed by students; offenses committed by others against teachers at school are also included.

Over the 5-year period from 1997 to 2001, teachers were the victims of approximately 1.3 million nonfatal crimes at school, including 817,000 thefts and 473,000 violent crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault)(table 9.1). Among the violent crimes against teachers during this 5-year period, there were about 48,000 serious violent crimes (accounting for 10 percent of the violent crimes), including rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. On average, these figures translate into a rate of 21 violent crimes per 1,000 teachers, and 2 serious violent crimes per 1,000 teachers annually.4

During the 5-year period, the annual rate of violent victimization for teachers varied according to their sex and their instructional level (figure 9.1 and table 9.1). Over the 5- year period from 1997 to 2001, male teachers were more likely than female teachers to be victims of violent crimes (39 vs. 16 crimes per 1,000 teachers). Also, senior high school and middle/junior high school teachers were more likely than elementary school teachers to be victims of violent crimes (31 and 33 vs. 12 violent crimes per 1,000 teachers, respectively).

Teachers in urban areas were more vulnerable to violent crime victimization at school than others. For example, annually over the 5-year period, urban teachers were more likely than rural and suburban teachers to be victims of violent crimes (28 vs.13 and 16 crimes, respectively, per 1,000 teachers). Teachers in urban areas were more likely than those in rural areas to experience theft at school (42 and 26 crimes per 1,000 teachers, respectively).--Mig 16:16, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you, Group29, for your comments here. I agree with all five points you make above. I have tried to address some of these previously, but much of the discussion has been deleted, and frankly, I got tired of banging my head against the wall. So for what it's worth, I support you completely.--red shirt guy (talk) 00:08, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Dear red shirt guy. Please, refer to the government stats listed above. I'm surprised you did not consider that information when many teachers' lives may be at stake. Regards, Mig 18:11, 6 February 2008 --Mig 02:22, 7 February 2008 (UTC) Small edit. --Mig 02:22, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

I think his point is that Wikipedia is a place to objectively state the issues and not to act as a soapbox. I believe that the vandalism and the suing articles are notable. WhisperToMe (talk) 22:44, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Dear friend (talk) -- I apologize for any inconvenience. I may be able to explain later on. Thank you for your patience. I'm also trying to sign properly -- regards to you and WhisperToMe -- Mig (talk) 22:18, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Group29" Mig (talk) 18:32, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Mig (talk) 01:13, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Alberto "Beto" Gutierrez

Dear WhisperToMe: Here's an article about Alberto "Beto" Gutierrez, a social sciences teacher and youth advocate in the San Fernando Valley who is suing the LAUSD over retaliation for teaching both political sides of the war in Iraq and what (to me) appears to be a First Amendment issue. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/26/state/n022940D76.DTL&hw=school&sn=007&sc=299. Beto is a San Fernando Valley resident and a product of the LAUSD. He wrote the book "A Sentence with the District" -- http://www.lulu.com/content/1116190 and gave a KPFK 90.7 radio interview on February 7, 2008, in Los Angeles, on the subject of his book and the prevailing educational problems at LAUSD. Beto mentioned to me that his life was threatened at one of his schools. He now teaches at Cal State Northridge. Someone entered his name on Wikipedia as a notable teacher. However, there are no links and he may be deleted. Would it be possible for you or someone else to do the proper links on Beto? --Mig 01:36, 8 February 2008 (UTC) Mig 14:42, 8 February 2008 (UTC) Mig 15:25, 8 February 2008 (UTC)--Mig 15:25, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Dear WhisperToMe: "Jose Luis Rodriguez, the principal, says that he spoke to Gutierrez because some parents did not appreciate Gutierrez requiring students to attend off-campus screenings of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Crash."

The above blurb seems odd. It is Gutierrez who wrote a book and he is the teacher about whom articles are written. Somehow I don't believe that Gutierrez would have required his students to watch anything -- and I would imagine that suing LAUSD is too big an endeavor in which to engage over being "spoken to" -- especially since LAUSD is a 14 billion dollar bureaucracy. Mig 04:10, 9 February 2008 (UTC)--Mig 04:10, 9 February 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Migdiachinea (talk • --04:14, 9 February 2008 (UTC)Mig

Dear WhisperToMe: Hi. I noticed the edit on Beto Gutierrez and could not find a user page for its contributor. I was wondering if you could take a look at his edit and do your magic. Regards -- Mig (talk) 19:41, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, let's try this:

[edit] LAUSD Hires Child Molester with a history at Markham Middle School in Watts

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-principal13mar13,0,5522349.story

L.A. Times Archives - March 13. 2008

Steven Thomas Rooney, 39, an assistant principal, allegedly molested a student at Markham Middle School.L.A. Unified educator in sex case faced earlier inquiry Steven Thomas Rooney, 39, an assistant principal, allegedly molested a student at Markham Middle School. The Watts assistant principal had been removed from a previous school where he was investigated for allegedly having sex with an underage student and pulling a gun on her stepfather. By Richard Winton, Andrew Blankstein and Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers March 13, 2008

It may be a copyright violation to post half of the article without a reason for fair use - It is okay to post bits and pieces for a quote but I think half of it may not fit fair use. WhisperToMe (talk) 20:53, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Hmm - I'm not sure what this notice will really do for the Wikipedia article. At Wikipedia we cannot push a platform, so to speak, and in addition this letter has not been published by a third party. If an actual legal case develops (WHEN that happens) - then we can cover it. WhisperToMe (talk) 20:53, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

I agree with you and removed most of it. There's such denial, incompetence, corruption and outright abuse at the district. Mig (talk) 15:04, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

"Accountability at Last?" There is no accountability at LAUSD because nothing ever gets implemented. And no one will read the "flow chart" Cortines submitted to the district. That diagram will be thumb tacked on a bulletin board like all the other memos. It might get more attention if it's printed on the tp in the rest rooms. The Cortines "decision-matrix flow chart" will be interred along with the "mountain of paper work" that goes to Brewer's desk daily that someone in his staff will have to read and interpret for him -- as he expected with the child molestation memo regarding Markham VP Rooney. This "decision-making flow chart" is a sheet of paper with rectangles which depicts the chain of command at LAUSD. So Cortines is treating LAUSD employees like students who must have information pre-digested in a visual manner because they're too illiterate to read. It's the final dumbing down of the district. They've dumbed down the students for so many years that this is all they know. They're already aware that no one will read a memo at LAUSD.

As Cortines has said, "Seventy-five current district employees have been placed in 'non-school' positions until the matter is wrapped up." What a joke, this thing will never be wrapped up. As Winston Churchill said after the battle of Britain "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end." Cortines would like for all of this to go away -- but since he was just hired by the district, he may be the only one who is not involved in this scandal. It appears that there's an entire cushy desk job mini-district at 333 South Beaudry where they keep LAUSD-approved child molesters and their do-nothing "superintendents" -- they must have a lot of desks in a room that should include the Admiral. Also, please note that all these employees are paid their full salaries while LAUSD claims to be "investigating," but doesn't, in violation of their own policy.

Before this is all over the LAUSD will have to build a 29th floor at Beaudry to warehouse everyone involved in the scandal. This affair is going vertical and could reach the very top of the school district -- including Brewer himself. Brewer is the elephant on the 24th floor at 333 South Beaudry. When will everybody wake up and smell the peanuts on his breath?

Migdia Chinea

Accountability in LAUSD sex cases Deputy superintendent Cortines' move to discipline L.A. Unified officials is just what the district needs. May 8, 2008

What a difference a new senior deputy superintendent makes. The disciplining of two top Los Angeles Unified School District officials who failed to follow up on suspicions that a student had been molested is the sort of accountability the district has long needed and sorely lacked.

District rules -- and basic common sense -- required an internal investigation of Stephen Thomas Rooney after suspicions arose that he had conducted an affair with one of his under-age students at Foshay Learning Center. Instead, after temporary reassignment to a desk job, Rooney was transferred to Markham Middle School in Watts, where he allegedly molested two other girls.

At first, the results of a district investigation into its blunder looked disheartening, as Ramon C. Cortines, the new No. 2 man at L.A. Unified, released a mushy written statement. He placed most of the blame on a now-retired manager -- how convenient! -- and announced a new bureaucratic scheme for avoiding such problems. It was as though the district had gone looking for an explanation of how it disregarded its own policy and instead found what Cortines' statement called a "decision matrix flow chart."

Fortunately, Cortines' actions spoke louder than his written statement. On Tuesday, he removed Carol Truscott, the superintendent of the local mini-district where Rooney had worked, from her job. He also removed a former administrator in her office who was about to become the principal of a new high school. (For the moment, they've been assigned to the central office.) An internal memo shows that Truscott, along with 11 other L.A. Unified managers, was notified of a police investigation into allegations that Rooney "had an unlawful sexual relationship with a minor." As the manager who should have been closest to the situation at Foshay, and who would have had to approve Rooney's reassignment, Truscott bore chief responsibility.

The district's breakdown in the Rooney case kindled a new crisis of confidence in school management. That has been exacerbated by the Foshay student's recent testimony that the school's dean suggested she recant her story and by the arrests of two administrators at another school who were charged with trying to hush up allegations of molestation by a substitute teacher.

Parents demanded a clear signal that the district no longer will tolerate employees who, whether inattentive or devious, fail to place student protection over preservation of the status quo. With his action, Cortines took a step toward restoring trust in L.A. Unified. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.175.88.91 (talk) 19:10, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

LA Times - Tim Rutten:

Let down, again, by LAUSD Protecting an alleged child molester won't get you fired from L.A. Unified, but supporting a charter movement will. May 14, 2008

Every day, the Los Angeles Unified School District fails its tens of thousands of ambitious students, dedicated teachers and hardworking principals in so many ways that it's difficult to imagine how its elephantine bureaucracy could shamble into some new outrage.

Difficult, but not impossible, because the LAUSD runs this city's schools about like the generals run Myanmar.

Put aside for a moment the fact that the district can't figure out how to graduate a decent number of its students, or even how to pay its teachers on a reliable basis. Ignore the Daily News' report this week that the administration, confronted with what may be half a billion dollars in budget cuts, nonetheless is spending $173 million on consultants, many of them connected to various bureaucratic functions -- like making the computers in the superintendent's office work.

Consider, instead, how the LAUSD's highest officials have chosen to deal with what would seem to be the fairly straightforward problem of child molestation. As The Times' Richard Winton and Howard Blume reported Tuesday, Supt. David L. Brewer and Senior Deputy Supt. Ramon C. Cortines reinstated a pair of South Gate high school administrators who had failed to report a student's allegation of sexual abuse by a substitute teacher. County prosecutors, who criminally charged the pair, are outraged.

It's as if the LAUSD never learns. Earlier this year, remember, the district pulled former assistant principal Steve Rooney out of the Foshay Learning Center in South L.A. after the police informed it that he was suspected of having sex with a student. After a brief stint at a non-school job, Rooney was assigned to a middle school in Watts, where he allegedly molested two more students.

Brewer and Cortines feel the two South Gate administrators, who face criminal charges for failing to report the student's allegation, have suffered enough. After all, they were suspended for three days without pay and had a reprimand placed in their personnel files. Cortines -- who recently was installed at the LAUSD to prop up the foundering Brewer -- told The Times, "I want them to use their experience to share with others so we don't have this situation happening again."

Cortines' explanation has an appropriately pedagogic air -- until you stop and think about it. At the very least, the district should have kept South East High principal Jesus Angulo and assistant principal Maria Sotomayor on administrative leave until the criminal charges are resolved, though the senior deputy said their jobs are safe even if they're convicted. That makes his assertion that the returning administrators will somehow become object lessons about the importance of following state laws even more laughable.

If the pair had been sent back with the words "criminal incompetent" branded on their foreheads, he might have a point. Somehow, "Gee folks, don't forget to report child molesters -- or you'll get a harsh note in your permanent record," doesn't seem like much of a deterrent.

Of course, when the district's turf is at risk, its actions are swift and harsh. As The Times reported in another article Tuesday, the district last spring quickly removed Frank Wells, the principal at troubled Locke High School. Was he replaced because of the school's abysmal academic performance? Or because the campus is seething with gang activity and violent ethnic tensions between African American and Latino students?

Naw. Wells was sacked after openly supporting efforts to convert Locke into a charter school.

Maybe it's too much to demand that our schools be entirely insulated from the social ills of the communities around them. Still, it doesn't seem too much to ask that children be physically safe while they're on campus. And while it's probably not feasible to keep every swaggering little gangster or bullying race baiter off the school grounds, it certainly seems reasonable to expect that students will be protected from their teachers' criminal impulses. At a bare minimum, every allegation of faculty or staff misconduct should be treated with all the urgency that the law, decency and a simple sense of adult responsibility demand of anyone entrusted with the welfare of children.

Clueless and smug, neither Brewer nor Cortines seems to understand this. Instead, they've chosen to address a genuine human tragedy -- an adult's fundamental betrayal of a child -- in the language of callous bureaucracy, a dialect in which euphemism piles on evasion and indifference compounds mendacity until an edifice of wispy gray banality arises to shield the unforgivable from critical view.

One of the LAUSD's high-priced consultants was paid to give "media interview and presentation training to the superintendent, members of senior staff and cabinet." Was there a special session for Brewer and Cortines titled, "Defending the Indefensible"?--216.175.109.159 (talk) 14:29, 19 May 2008 (UTC)