Deasy Brings Back
Tainted Legacy
January 11, 2010,
Dear Editor,
Your article on John Deasy's candidacy for Superintendent at Los Angeles
Unified School District ("Deasy
Rumored to Be in Line to Head Los Angeles Schools," January 11, 2011)
lacks a telling aspect of John Deasy's legacy in the Santa Monica-Malibu
Unified School District:
As superintendent here Deasy got rid of reform-oriented upper level staff
and hired Tim Walker, giving Walker absolute authority over special education
students with no checks and balances. Walker replaced the Individual Education
Plans (IEPs) of special education students with gagged settlement agreements
at a furious rate. District records indicate that before Deasy left for
the East Coast, Tim Walker had created more than 160 gagged settlement
agreements, which came to be known as "secret deals."
You will recall that after Santa Monica City Council heard from aggrieved
parents, they decided to withhold funds from the district until the practice
was stopped. ("Council
Withholds School Funding at District’s Request," April 23,
2008)
The independent audit that brought an end to the secret deals also brought
parents out of the shadows, making the observation that "Many parents
reported feeling physically ill because they felt forced to sign a document
that they did not agree with but had to sign to get their children services."
(An Independent Evaluation of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
Special Education Program by Lou Barber and Associates).
Your paper called the story one of the "Top Ten" of the decade.
( "Decade's
Top Stories," January 4, 2010)
Today's LA Times editorial ("Head of the Class: New L.A. Supt.
John Deasy clearly has changes in mind," Jan. 11, 2011 ) calls
Deasy "inclusive" and "affable" and "a collaborative
leader." Previous LA Times reports on Deasy make no mention of the
role he played in bringing secret deals to Santa Monica-Malibu, which
is still in the process of recovering. Many parents here continue to feel
that Deasy created a culture of secrecy and intimidation in our school
community. I thought when Deasy arrived that he would bring much needed
educational reform to special education, but instead Deasy brought in
Tim Walker.
Now that Deasy has been hired as superintendent of LAUSD, he should take
the opportunity to acknowledge the harm that was done and apologize to
the parents and disabled children who were forced to enter into secret
deals.
Tricia Crane
Santa Monica
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