Rafe Esquith

Lawyers for LA Unified today told the attorney representing acclaimed teacher, Rafe Esquith, that the investigation into his background has found evidence of “highly inappropriate conduct involving touching of minors” during his time as a district teacher as well as “inappropriate photographs and videos of a sexual nature” on his school computer.

The letter to Esquith’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, also claims that investigators found allegations of “threats to a parent and two students” and “possible ethical” violations of district policy regarding Esquith’s after-school program, the Hobart Shakespeareans.

The original complaint against Esquith focused on his reading of a passage from “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” to his class, financial issues regarding the Shakespeareans and a report from decades ago that he abused a student.

Esquith has been relieved of his teaching responsibilities while the investigation continues. The district said it “has a duty to thoroughly investigate these allegations before making any decisions to return Mr. Esquith to his classroom, and it takes this duty very seriously.”

The district’s letter to Geragos was sent within hours of Geragos’ announcing that he filed a class action lawsuit against the district —  a lawsuit that claims to represent several hundred district teachers — over the nature of the so-called teacher jail system. The lawsuit claims such a policy represents an unfair business practices and retaliation.

Teachers like Esquith facing allegations by students or other teachers are taken out of their classrooms and housed during their work day in a downtown location, sometimes for months, while an investigation is underway.

In particular, the class action cites “intentional infliction of emotional distress” against Esquith, who was hospitalized with “stress-induced thrombosis.”

The letter to Geragos came in response to letters from Esquith’s lawyers, accusing the district of engaging in a witch hunt against their client and threatening to file the class action lawsuit. Esquith claimed that the district actions against him violated Federal and state due process laws.

The district lawyers said they were rejecting those accusations “because while it was investigating the original allegations made against him, additional serious allegations of misconduct by Mr. Esquith came to light.”

The class action lawsuit also said that LAUSD officials confiscated more than $100,000 worth of music instruments and books from Esquith’s classroom at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School as well as a Medal of Arts presented to him by President Obama.

“Why would they come to raid his classroom?” said Ben Meiselas one of Esquith’s lawyers. “Why would they take his Medal of Arts? That is theft.”

A district spokeswoman, Monica Carazo, said, “Yes, items were removed from the classroom because the Office of Environmental Health and Safety issued a corrective action notice to the school in order to be in compliance with our health and safety rules/guidelines and the school took those necessary actions.  As for his National Medal of Arts, I am not aware of its removal.”

Meiselas said the law firm is also planning to file a federal class action lawsuit against LA Unified and a defamation lawsuit against the Sedgwick law firm, which is representing LAUSD in the case. Meiselas said several hundred teachers have contacted him about similar treatment that Esquith faced.

“This is a systematic violation of due process that we have heard over and over from teachers,” Meiselas said. “When you hear the same crazy story 12 times a day from teachers, then that is a problem. It is shocking what is going on at LAUSD.”

The launch is scheduled for early in the new school year in all middle and high schools, said Judy Chiasson, the district’s program coordinator for School Operations, Human Relations, Diversity & Equity.

“We monitor what are the emerging trends and what affects the schools, and we determined we need to focus on this issue as a standalone spotlight,” said Chiasson, who noted that the sexting issue has already been a part of the bullying prevention and safety campaign for many years. Now, she said, schools need to focus more attention on the issue.

Before launching the educational campaign to the schools, the program coordinators intend to consult with focus groups of parents, teachers, police and social service experts to make sure the message is appropriate, Chiasson said.

The anti-sexting campaign did not necessarily crop up from the Venice High School incident earlier this year when 15 boys were arrested on suspicion of sexually harassing two girls. Ultimately, prosecutors declined to file charges, and the ACLU suggested education instead of punishment at the school level.

“We have been planning something like this for a long time,” said Chiasson, who is working on the sexting education with Holly Priebe-Diaz, the intervention coordinator who is leading the campaign.

The sexting warnings will not extend to elementary schools, and will not require parental permission. It will all fall under the LAUSD Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety policies.

“We want to show students and families the risks of sexting,” Chiasson said. “Once you send it out, it is out of your control.”

The campaign will warn about sexting risks, including:

• Public humiliation: The potential of embarrassing pictures being shared with friends, parents and teachers. Youth may believe their friends will keep it confidential, but they don’t.
• Consequences at school: It could result in violations of a code of conduct for some extracurricular activity such as sports or band and cause the expulsion from the program.
• Legal consequences: It could result in criminal prosecutions, and hurt career potential, college applications and employment opportunities, Chiasson said. “It’s a matter of teaching responsibility for anyone who has a cellphone,” Chiasson said.

A recent Pew Research Center report found that 92 percent of teens go online daily and three-fourths have access to smartphones. Another study shows that 28 percent of teens surveyed have sent naked pictures of themselves, and 60 percent have been asked for one.

The wish-list for the program coordinators is to have posters, flyers, videos and handouts to explain the issues and what to do, but the program is not specifically funded and is being underwritten by the school police and other departments within LAUSD.

LA Unified Police Chief Steven Zipperman said he wanted to emphasize to students that sending the wrong pictures out could result in violation of obscenity and child pornography laws.

The plan is to educate, not scare, Chiasson explained. “A parent cannot be prosecuted if they receive these pictures, and we want to encourage them to report it to us if they find it,” she said.

Chiasson pointed to the website NetSmartz.org for more education about cellphone education for children of all ages, including videos of real-life stories and educational campaigns.

Miramonte lawsuits are on hold, attorneys hope to settle KPCC: Attorney Luis Carrillo is the one who pushed for the stay. He says the temporary delay gives his clients a chance to engage in settlement discussions with the school district. The talks would be facilitated by a mediator and could begin as early as November.

Charters draw students from private schools, study finds LA Times: The study by a Rand Corp. economist found that more than 190,000 students nationwide had left a private school for a charter by the end of the 2008 school year, the most recent year for which data was available.

CSUDH grant will aid LAUSD math teachers Daily Breeze: California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson has received the first of three grants to support the development of math teachers in economically challenged areas of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong Mother Jones: Attendance: up. Dropout rates: plummeting. College acceptance: through the roof. Kristina Rizga’s mind-blowing year inside a “low-performing” school. ALSO: The Kids Are All Right Mother Jones: Students today score better on tests than you did.

Colleges ranked by “bang for your buck”, California schools dominate list KPCC: The Washington Monthly’s top 10 “bang for your buck” schools include 5 in California: UC San Diego, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Riverside.

Cramming For Tests Doesn’t Work, Says UCLA Study LA Weekly: The main problem? Sleep deprivation.

Fairfax music program’s loss Bev Hills’ gain Weho News: Ray Vizcarra, Fairfax High School’s bandleader, has taken a job at Beverly Hills High, after facing the prospect of likely being laid off.

Los Angeles college students face more crowds, fewer classes LA Times: Students on Los Angeles campuses struggle with trying to get needed classes, or any at all, as state budget cuts continue to take their toll on the community college system.

Middle Schoolers Make a Scale Model of 6 Blocks of Broadway Curbed (blog):  Middle school students at the Bresee Foundation summer camp have created a scale model of six blocks of Broadway and the whole thing is installed temporarily right now at the Blackstone Building at Ninth and Broadway.

El Camino Real Charter High School to stage reading of ‘8’ (Press Release): El Camino Real Charter High School’s internationally acclaimed theatre program has been selected as one of the only high school companies in the nation to stage a reading of Academy Award-winner Dustin Lance Black’s latest play, “8,” it was announced today. “8” is an unprecedented account of the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), which ruled California’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples unconstitutional.

Friends i am horrified…Superintendent Deasy…SHAME ON U..Some1 please tell me it isnt so..my son attends Sierra Park Elem.. Well we had the pleasure of welcoming a new principal interestingly enough it was the same principal from Miramonte elementary school..Martin Sandoval..Sure dump him off in El Sereno..Surely no1 in El Sereno has axcess to newspaper, internet or tv..tHANK gOD he was removed after four days and the LAUSD barely made it public today after the fact.

I just spoke with someone at the school, who told to me that Sandoval’s last day was Friday and that his leaving was “his decision.” He is still listed as the school’s principal on the LAUSD website.

• Cal State University to enroll more out-of-state and international students: The move will save money, since California students payer lower tuition rates. KPCC

• Is USC’s ‘sketchy neighborhood’ reputation fair? The school did not make a list of the 25 most “crime riddled” universities. KPCC

• Latinos now biggest minority at four-year colleges: That’s in the country as a whole, not just in California. LA Weekly

I will be at the LAUSD board meeting today, which should be a hoot and a half. Follow us on twitter for updates.

Mayor Bloom

Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom, a Democrat running for the 50th State Assembly seat against Democratic incumbent Betsy Butler, isn’t refraining from criticizing his opponent for her abstention during the committee vote on SB 1530.

“I’ve never done that in 13 years of being a public official,” he told me earlier this week. “I think it’s our responsibility as elected officials to register our opinions and have discourse on them. That’s what public discourse is about.”

As you can read below, Bloom doesn’t mince words about what he thinks of Butler’s actions. Whether the vote will hurt Butler (or whether a revised version of the Padilla legislation will come out of this messy process) remains unknown.

SB 1530, sponsored by former L.A. City Councilman Alex Padilla, would have made it easier to fire teachers suspected of committing egregious acts, such as sexual or violent abuse. Written in response to the Miramonte Elementary sex scandals, the bill passed easily in the Senate on a 33-4 bipartisan vote

According to a recent op-ed by California director of Democrats for Education Reform Gloria Romero, that’s where the trouble began:

But then it came before the Assembly Education Committee, which shamefully bowed to the state’s powerful teacher unions and rejected the bill. All this took place while teacher union lobbyists communicated to committee members that they “were watching.”

The California Teachers Association is among the most powerful interest groups in the state. Between 2001 and 2011, they spent $118 million on political donations, more than any other group or individual (the 2nd highest group spent $47 million less during that same period). UTLA president Warren Fletcher was one of those who appeared before the committee to testify against the proposal.

And so, presumably thanks to pressure from the CTA, Padilla’s bill was stymied in the Assembly Education Committee after two Democrats (Tom Ammiano and Joan Buchanan) voted no and four Democrats (Butler, Mike Eng, Wilmer Amina Carter and Das Williams) refused to weigh in, killing the proposal by a single vote.

According to LA Weekly, “Butler said Padilla’s bill made the teacher-firing process “more political” and “jeopardized due process.” She and [CTA president Dean] Vogel want Padilla to compromise. She called her abstention “a nice no … that means I’m with you.'”

Butler has also recently joined an effort to find out whether state antibullying laws are effective.

Of the Padilla bill, Mayor Bloom said: “I thought it was a reasonable approach. We have a small but pernicious problem of dangerous people in the classroom.  It was just a common sense measure to protect school children.”

But even worse than voting against the bill, according to Bloom, was not voting at all.

“To not show up at all is frankly the wrong approach,” he said. “I think it’s the kind of thing that’s feeding people’s cynicism about the state legislature.”

Assembly member Butler has not yet responded to our request for comment.

Note: A previous version of this post identified Bloom as a Republican. We regret the error.

• Miramonte Elementary Teachers Return for Strange First Day: Four TV news vans and 16 psychiatric social workers were at the Miramonte campus yesterday, site of last year’s horrifying sex scandal featuring Mark Berndt. LA Weekly

• LA Unified Wants Race to the Top’s last Brass Ring: Count Los Angeles Unified in the competition – if Superintendent John Deasy can persuade United Teachers Los Angeles President Warren Fletcher to sign the application (perhaps a big “if”). LAUSD would be eligible for the maximum $40 million grant. EdSource

• East LA Catholic School Remains Saved From Closure: The 97-year-old Our Lady of Lourde’s School was on the precipice, its enrollment down to just 35 students. A new principal, a “crafty marketing campaign,” and new education model based on technology brought it back to life. CBS

• Charters Get Exemptions From State Deferrals: More than 200 charter schools, as well as 33 struggling school districts, have been given exemptions from the $3.5 billion in state payment deferrals. SI&A Cabinet Report