Los Angeles Times Endorsement Supports A Disastrous Status Quo and Ignores the Needs of Our Students
Last week I asked if the Times' endorsements in 2015 will help them atone for past sins? We find this week that the answer is "no."
The fires that "Deasy left burning" include an $1.3 billion iPad plan that the FBI is now investigating. Ms. Galatzan championed this plan and attempted to block Stuart Magruder's re-appointment to the Bond Oversight Committee because he correctly challenged the illegal inclusion of phantom software on these devices. Meanwhile, this program diverted money for repairs and maintenance while the district logged "nearly 500 calls for service for older air-conditioning systems" in September.
Also burning was the $13.5 million MiSiS student information system. It is estimated that $98 million will be diverted from education funding to fix this poorly designed and untested debacle. The resulting inaccurate attendance records will result in a loss of up to $100 million in state funding. As students sat without schedules on the first day of school, Tamar Galatzan could not "remember the last time we got an update on the program," claiming that she does not "supervise anyone who works for the superintendent." Matt Hill admitted to the Board that he was responsible for recommending that the system was ready to go live and still works for the district.
That fact that Ms. Galatzan "has questioned whether there is evidence to support the value of 'parent centers'" is not surprising. She also led the effort to move Board meetings back to a time when most working parents, teachers and students cannot attend. She pays more attention to her iPad and phone than to those that are able to attend.
Steve Lopez described last year as "disastrous" for the LAUSD. Re-electing Tamar Galatzan will just give us more of the same. It is time to Change The LAUSD.
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”