Mark Berndt, former LAUSD teacher at Miramonte elementary School.

LA Unified is suing some of its insurers for $200 million, claiming the companies refused to cover the cost of its defense of the Miramonte sex-abuse scandal.

Former elementary school teacher Mark Berndt was convicted in 2013 of sexually abusing 23 of his students and is serving a 25-year sentence. Dozens of former students of Berndt sued the district, which has made a record-breaking payout of $175 million to his victims.

But now the district is claiming in court that its insurance policies from 1975 to 2012 covered personal injuries and “expansive” liability and that the insurers improperly refused to make any payments in the case, according to the Courthouse News. The targets of the lawsuit are 20 insurers and re-insurers, including some of the nation’s biggest insurance companies, such as Aetna, Ace, AIG, Allstate, Allianz and Fireman’s.

“Despite the school district’s repeated requests for assistance, and despite the fact that the allegations in the underlying Miramonte litigation triggered coverage under the policies, each of the defendants has failed and refused to honor its basic insurance obligations owed to the school district in conjunction with the underlying Miramonte litigation,” the complaint states, according to Courthouse News.

The district pays insurance premiums of $4 million to $5 million annually, LA Unified general counsel David Holmquist told the Los Angeles Times.

“We were expecting them at the time to contribute toward the settlements and they failed to do so and left us with no alternative but to file suit,” he told the Times.

The Student Safety Investigative Team passed its one-year anniversary of active investigations on Jan. 7, and to date has investigated over 150 cases that have resulted in 32 district employees put under formal disciplinary review.

The team, made up of seven full-time investigators, a supervising investigator and two forensic specialists, is headed by Jose Cantu, a district veteran of 31 years, 14 of them as a principal.

“I’m the one that brings the school and district experience to the team so the team can undertand the rules and policies that the teachers are breaking when we are investigating,” he said.

Cantu’s team does not determine possible discipline or dismissal of employees but passes its reports on to the administration, which then decides the final outcome.

Of the investigators, four are former LAPD detectives, and one is a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigator. Cantu said he believes the unit is unique for a major school district. Other large districts, like New York, he said, have hired outside contractors for similar work, but all the members of his team are full-time LAUSD employees.

“There was nothing to look at before,” he said. “I think we are probably one of the first school districts to do this, so there wasn’t a template to go by. I’ve been learning on the job, and its been a great experience. I think we are really doing some really good things.”

The unit’s job is specifically focused on allegations of sexual abuse of students. When an allegation could be criminal, the district is required to pass it on to law enforcement — typically the police or sheriff’s department. But if no criminal charges are brought, the case goes back to the Student Safety Investigative Team, which can look for possible violations of district policy.

Law enforcement sometimes allows the LA Unified team to conduct a concurrent investigation.

Catching an employee violating district policy, even if it is does not rise to criminal behavior, is key to protecting students and preventing another Miramonte, Cantu said.

“If we look at policy violations — maybe a teacher is texting students innaporpriate stuff, or maybe inviting them to lunch, or something on their computer is not age appropriate — maybe we can get them on a policy violation before it rises to the level of something like Miramonte,” he said. “And that’s our job, to be preventive when there are policy violations. In the past, if there was an allegation, you usually can find a trail. It’s not a one time deal with some of these things, prior to the big thing happening.”

Cantu said that the unit has also helped accelerate law enforcement investigations, which in the past could drag on. With former detectives as part of the unit, they know who to call and what paper to push to get a case moving faster.

“We negotiate with them and are able to get the cases a lot sooner, and it has helped streamline the process, which is one of our big mandates,” Cantu said.

Cantu added that previously, sexual misconduct allegations would be investigated by principals.

“Myself, being a former principal, the demands you have at a school, it is difficult to do a serious investigation,” Cantu said.

One of the biggest points of contention between the district and its teachers union, UTLA, is the issue of so-called “teacher jail,” in which teachers accused of wrongdoing are pulled out of the classroom. They are sometimes made to work at district regional offices or simply sent home. At various times there have been hundreds of teachers forced into “jail,” and their cases have lingered for months, causing UTLA to call the process unfair and overused.

Teachers have been placed in “jail” for many reasons, not just sexual misconduct allegations. But Cantu said his unit has helped speed up the cases they have been handed. He said there has been talk about expanding the unit to handle all misconduct allegations, not just sexual ones.

“We have had the discussion that any employee that’s reassigned and taken out of their job should have a professional investigation done so that we can determine if there is some guilt there and if they can go back to their job,” Cantu said. “So there’s been some talk, yes.”

UTLA Presdient Alex Caputo-Pearl did not respond to a request to comment on the unit or its possible expansion. Cantu said the union has been quiet about his team’s work.

“We haven’t heard anything negative, not even from the union,” he said.

Cantu said there has also been talk of expanding the unit to look into old cases, but that it so far has only handled new allegations that have arisen since it started operations.

“There is talk of us helping with the old cases, but it is just talk at this point,” he said. “There has been talk that it might be beneficial to go back and look at some of them.”

Mark Berndt, former LAUSD teacher

LA Unified is facing yet another civil suit connected to a former teacher at Miramonte Elementary School after an LA County Superior Court judge ruled today that the case can move forward.

The case, E.Z. v LAUSD, was filed May 7 and involves a single plaintiff who says she was a student of Mark Berndt‘s in 1996-1997, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Berndt was convicted in 2013 of committing 23 counts of lewd conduct upon a child and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In November, a $139 million civil settlement for 81 former students of Berndt’s — a record payout for the district — came after the district had previously settled other 65 claims for about $30 million.

The November settlement was described as the last of the remaining Miramonte cases facing a possible trial.

The plaintiff in the new case, a 29-year-old female, is claiming to have received similar abuse for which Berndt was convicted, NBC reported.

On the November settlement, LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said at the time that the the deal “struck a balance” for the two sides.

“Our goal from the outset of these appalling revelations has been to spare the Miramonte community the anguish of a protracted trial, while at the same time being mindful of the financial consequences stemming from settlements,” Cortines said in a statement issued by the district.

A judge ruled today that a former LA Unified official’s lawsuit that claims his contract was not renewed in retaliation for criticizing the district’s handling of the Miramonte Elementary sex abuse case cannot move forward without more information being added to the complaint.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Fruin found that there are not enough details in Gregg Breed‘s complaint to support all of his lawsuit’s allegations, particularly in the areas of retaliation, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, City News Service reported.

The same judge ruled last week that LA Unified’s lawsuit against Breed that charges him with leaking confidential documents to the media can move forward.

The lawsuits are all connected to the case of former Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt, who was convicted last year of committing 23 counts of lewd conduct and sentenced to 25 years in prison. After settling with a number of student victims for $30 million, the district in November reached a record settlement of $139 million with the remaining victims.

The lawsuits between Breed, the district’s former chief risk officer, and the district stem from the cases involving the original $30 million. In a lawsuit filed in January, Breed claims his contract with the district was not renewed in 2013 after he communicated both internally and to the media that the case was mishandled by inexperienced lawyers who were hired as a result of LAUSD cronyism.

Breed told NBC Los Angeles he had proof that the district paid $470,000 apiece to three students who were not actually abused by Berndt.

The district’s lawsuit, filed in 2013, claims Breed leaked confidential papers to the media related to the Miramonte case, a suit that Fruin ruled last week can move forward. Breed’s attorneys had sought dismissal of the lawsuit, arguing that he was being punished for being a whistleblower and speaking out about alleged corruption in the district.

Mark Berndt, former LAUSD teacher

A judge has ruled that LA Unified’s lawsuit accusing its former chief risk officer of stealing confidential documents related to the Miramonte school sex abuse case and leaking them to the media will move forward, as it does not violate the defendant’s First Amendment rights, City News Service reported.

The lawsuit against Gregg Breed was filed in 2013, and Breed himself is also suing the district in a lawsuit, alleging that his contract was not renewed in retaliation for being a whistleblower.

The lawsuits are all connected to the case of former Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt, who was convicted last year of committing 23 counts of lewd conduct upon a child and sentenced to 25 years in prison. After settling with a number of student victims for $30 million, the district in November reached a record settlement of $139 million with the remaining victims.

The lawsuits between Breed and the district stem from the cases involving the original $30 million. Breed has spoken publicly about the Miramonte case, including to NBC Los Angeles, alleging that the district paid $470,000 apiece to three students who were not actually abused by Berndt. Breed also said the case was mishandled by inexperienced lawyers who were hired as a result of LAUSD cronyism.

LAUSD charges in its suit that aside from speaking the the media, Breed leaked confidential documents related to the case. Breed’s attorneys had sought dismissal of the district’s lawsuit, arguing that he was being punished for being a whistleblower and speaking out about alleged corruption in the district, according to City News Service.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Fruin wrote in his ruling that the case is not about Breed’s public statements or his freedom of speech but the alleged theft of confidential documents that violated his contract with the district.

“It was (Breed’s) alleged theft of LAUSD documents, not his public statements or subsequent filing of a lawsuit, that forms the basis of plaintiff’s claims,”Fruin wrote in his ruling. “The gravamen of this action is defendant’s wrongful misappropriation and retention of LAUSD’s confidential student information, internal communications and attorney/client privileged or work product documents.”

Mark Berndt, former LAUSD teacher

LA Unified has reached a settlement worth almost $140 million with 81 victims and their families from the sex abuse scandal involving former teacher Mark Berndt at Miramonte Elementary School.

The exact amount, $139,250,000, is the largest settlement involving LA Unified and possibly of any school district in the country.

“This puts to rest all of the litigation that is currently at issue,” General Counsel David Holmquist told LA School Report.

By reaching an agreement with the families, the district avoids going to trial in a series of civil cases. Jury selection on the latest had begun on Monday.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines said the deal “struck a balance” for the two sides.

“Our goal from the outset of these appalling revelations has been to spare the Miramonte community the anguish of a protracted trial, while at the same time being mindful of the financial consequences stemming from settlements,” Cortines said in a statement issued by the district.

Holmquist added, “Our priority has been to resolve these cases without the need for potentially painful litigation for these families. We know that these settlements will provide for the future needs of these students.”

About 65 families had accepted a separate $30 million settlement last year.

Berndt, 62, pleaded no contest last year to 23 counts of lewd conduct upon a child. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, which at the time the judge called “a life sentence” due to his advanced age.

The investigation into the veteran teacher was launched after a convenience store film processor came across a series of disturbing photos depicting blindfolded children whose hands and feet had been bound by tape.

An independent process had been established with the court, allowing the judge to review each of the claims and assign the appropriate individual amount.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has just announced a settlement today in civil cases stemming from the actions of a former teacher at Miramonte Elementary School. The school district resolved the remaining Miramonte litigation at issue for a total of $139,250,000.

“There is nothing more important to us than the safety of the students we serve,” said Superintendent Ramon Cortines. “Our goal from the outset of these appalling revelations has been to spare the Miramonte community the anguish of a protracted trial, while at the same time being mindful of the financial consequences stemming from settlements. Given these circumstances, we believe we struck a balance between those objectives.”

Check back with LA School Report later for more details.

The district school board met in a closed session yesterday reportedly to discuss a settlement offer that was made by the plaintiffs, who are former students and parents at Miramonte suing the district over the actions of former teach Mark Berndt, who is now in prison.

With no settlement reached, about 75 prospective jurors were brought in Tuesday, with roughly two dozen advancing in the selection process, according to the Long Beach-Telegram.

Attorney Brian Claypool, who represents three plaintiffs, told ABC7 that a settlement offer had been made and that they were waiting to hear back from the district. He also said he believed the district had been dragging its feet on the case.

“We’re forging ahead, we’re moving forward with the trial, we’re not going to be side-tracked anymore,” Claypool told ABC7. “There’s not going to be any more detours in this case because we feel like that’s what this was.”

LA Unified has already settled 65 claims for about $30 million in civil cases related to Berndt, and there are dozens of other plaintiffs waiting to go to trial.

Previous stories: Jury selection, settlement hearing to begin in Miramonte civil trial; First Miramonte civil trial scheduled to begin on Wednesday

Also set for today is a settlement hearing, which was scheduled by the judge in an effort to settle the case before it goes to trial.

Assuming no settlement arises out of today’s hearing, opening statements at trial are expected in early December.

Berndt plead no contest last year to 23 counts of lewd conduct on a child between 2005 and 2010 in a case that made nationwide headlines. Berndt is currently serving a 25-year sentence in prison for crimes that included feeding students cookies containing his bodily fluids. 

LA Unified has already settled 65 claims for about $30 million in civil cases related to Berndt, and there are dozens of other plaintiffs waiting to go to trial. The case heading into jury selection today involves 16 former Miramonte students and 27 parents who plan to argue that the district knew Berndt was a danger to students but kept him in the classroom, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

The district had asked for a gag order which would prevent any attorneys involved from talking publicly about trial details, but the Superior Court judge in charge of the case dismissed the motion on Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Attorneys for LA Unified asked the judge in the civil trial against the district involving the sex abuse scandal at Miramonte Elementary School for a gag order, which would prevent anyone involved with the case from talking publicly about it, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Jury selection in the case is expected to begin later this month. The case stems from the child abuse scandal involving former Miramonte teacher Mark Berndt, who pleaded no contest last year to 23 counts of lewd conduct on a child between 2005 and 2010. The judge is expected to rule on the motion on Nov. 14.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued against the gag order in court while Sean Rossall, who is a public relations specialist hired by the law firms representing LA Unified, said in a statement the request for a gag order is to “ensure that the case is argued in court, instead of through outside press conferences,” NBC reported.

So far, the district has settled 65 claims for about $30 million over the alleged abuse. About 70 others are still waiting to go to trial. The case starting this month has three plaintiffs who are former Miramonte students.

Mark Berndt, former LAUSD teacher who pleaded no contest in 2013 to abusing some of his students

*UPDATE

The first civil trial against LA Unified over the sex abuse scandal at Miramonte Elementary School is headed to court later this week but first, a County Superior Court judge has ordered the two sides to meet for a last ditch effort to settle the case.

Judge John Shepard Wiley has ordered the district to meet with three of the student plaintiffs tomorrow in a final effort to reach a settlement, otherwise jury selection begins Wednesday. Dozens of other plaintiffs are lined up for other civil trials.

The civil suits stem from the child abuse scandal involving former teacher Mark Berndt, who pleaded no contest last year to 23 counts of lewd conduct on a child between 2005 and 2010. He is now serving a 25-year sentence, a punishment the judge in the case called “a life sentence” due to Berndt’s advanced age.

“We are saddened for all parties to be preparing to start trying these cases, as we know how difficult the litigation process can be,” said Sean Rossall, a spokesman for the school district and its outside lawyers who are handling the case.

“Like the community, we were appalled to learn of Mr. Berndt’s deviant behavior, and we share in the pain felt by these children and families,” he said. “While the full facts of the matter will unfold in the courtroom, we know that Mr. Berndt went to extreme lengths to hide his disgusting fetish.”

Allegations against Berndt first surfaced when a photo processor alerted police of pictures of children in a classroom who were blindfolded with tape on their mouths. Berndt was later accused of feeding students cookies containing his bodily fluids.

So far, the district has settled 65 claims for about $30 million over the alleged abuse. About 70 others are still waiting to go to trial including the three scheduled to start later this week.

* Contains an update on the current number of cases settled by LA Unified.

“We’re still hoping to settle these cases in a way that’s in the best interest of the children,” said Sean Rossall, a spokesman for the district’s legal team.

The $27 million comes from the district’s general fund, rather than from insurance coverage. That’s because one of LAUSD’s carriers, Everest National Insurance, is suing the district, claiming that its policies don’t cover the Miramonte abuse claims.

“We’re aggressively pursuing our insurers to hold them accountable for the coverage that they had agreed to provide the district,” Rossall said.

In 2012, veteran Miramonte teacher Mark Berndt was arrested and charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct. Another Miramonte teacher, Martin Springer, was charged with molesting a 7-year-old student in his class. A third teacher was charged with “aiding and abetting” Berndt. Superintendent John Deasy responded to the scandal, which attracted worldwide media attention, by replacing the entire staff of the school.

Previous posts: LAUSD Launches Miramonte Settlement Countdown; Ex-Miramonte Principal Martin Sandoval Was Reassigned To El Sereno Elementary School; Update: Teacher Dismissal Bill Heads to State Senate; Top District Lawyer Talks Lawsuits, Unilateral Action

Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-San Ramon)

After nine months of hearings and amendments, legislation aimed to quicken and streamline teacher dismissal procedures failed to pass in the Senate Education Committee by one vote.

The Chair of the Senate Education Committee Carol Liu (D-Glendale) — the only LA-area lawmaker on the committee — decided not to vote for or against the bill because of district administrators and attorneys’ concerns. Many other lawmakers followed suit.

Liu did grant the bill reconsideration, however, but it now will not be reconsidered until at least January.

Unless the process is changed at the state-level, bill sponsor State Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-San Ramon) says LAUSD and other districts will continue to wade through onerous dismissal procedures that can last 18 months or longer.

However,  Edgar Zazueta, the director of government relations for LAUSD, said that while Buchanan’s bill would be a great improvement to the current law there are some serious flaws that could damage the district if the bill passed as is.

The Buchanan legislation has been supported by the teachers union, among others.

Assembly Bill 357 was expected to pass with strong support from teachers’ unions and student advocacy groups.  It would have made it easier for districts to suspend and fire teachers for serious offenses, an especially pertinent issue given the continuous slew of child molestation and teacher misconduct cases that continue to crop up throughout LA Unified.

First reported by EdSource Today, the failure of the Buchanan legislation was a repeat of the failure of similar legislation in 2012.

Last year, Buchanan voted against the legislation, SB 1530, which was championed by Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).  This year, she developed her own legislation and was joined by Padilla, but was met with similar push back by the state Senate.

What is really holding the bill back, from perspective of LAUSD, is the proposed seven-month time frame for dismissing teachers accused of misdeeds in the classroom.

“This bill says that if the seven months pass without a resolution, a district gets another 30 days,” Zazueta explained. “But ultimately that time period may lapse, and the bill states that the district would have to refile the case. That’s a big concern for us.”

“It doesn’t make sense for us to have to start from scratch, put people back on the stand and do the whole thing over,” he added.

District lawyers warned that Office of Administrative Hearings, where the dismissal cases are heard, has a difficult time putting these on the calendar from the get go, according to Zazueta. To district administrators, a seven month dismissal resolution seems like a long shot.

“What our lawyers told us is that the Office of Administrative Hearings (where the dismissal cases are heard) has a difficult time putting these on the calendar from the get go,” said Zazueta. “Just because we say it will happen in seven months, will it actually happen?”

Buchanan disagrees with this assessment, saying that most dismissal hearings actually take days or a week once they are scheduled at the Office of Administrative Hearings because their deadlines are written into statues, and that forces the OAH to make sure cases are concluded.

“It works,” said Buchanan. “So to say you cannot get it done in seven months’ time, I don’t believe is correct, since these cases are not part of judicial branch.”

United Teachers of Los Angeles President Warren Fletcher said the union will continue to support the bill despite the recent setbacks. The administrators’ union also said they support the bill, though they also have concerns about the hard-set time deadline, among other details.

“Yes the process should be faster, but I think [the bill’s sponsors] tried to make it faster than would be possible,” said AALA President Judith Perez.

Perez said that she was concerned at the speed teachers could be dismissed if the bill passed and explained that putting such a specific length of time could backfire for school districts.

Buchanan acknowledges that’s what prevented the bill from passing.

“The bill stalling really hinged on one law firm who testified and said the process cannot be completed in seven months so cases will get dismissed and end up costing districts more money,” said Buchanan.

Depending on the severity of the charges in a teacher dismissal case, the process can drag on for a year or more, costing districts money they don’t have.

Buchanan says the biggest problem facing schools is actually not the sexual abuse and misconduct cases like Miramonte, but the dismissals for unprofessional conduct and unsatisfactory performance which are less cut-and-dry, harder to prove, “drag on for extended periods of time” and often costs districts hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On this issue, Buchanan and LAUSD agree.

“Sometimes cases last over a year,” said Zazueta. “Some cases have even dragged on for multiple years.”

These delayed dismissal cases can cost LAUSD anywhere from $150,000 – $300,000 for one case, he said. If the district loses a case once it finally gets to trial, Zazueta says the district has to pay the two panelists it finds to sit in for the hearing about $7,000-$9,500.

Under Supt. Deasy’s administration, Zazueta says the district has tried to “be more aggressive to see which employees should be in the classroom,” which can result in more teacher dismissal cases.

With months until the January consideration, Buchanan says she will do whatever it takes to get the bill ready to pass.

“I need to sit down individually with every member of the Senate Committee on Education to make sure they truly understand what the bill really does,” she said. “If we need to amend it we will.”

Previous posts: Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill; Deasy Wants Stronger Teacher Dismissal Bill; State Teachers Union Rejects Criticism of Teacher Dismissal Bill; Deasy Requests Changes to Teacher Dismissal Bill

The LA Daily News‘ Barbara Jones describes the website launch as “the latest salvo in what has become a public campaign by both the district and plaintiffs’ attorneys.”

As the Los Angeles Times notes, the website “includes a sample lifetime payment structure that, with interest, is expected to provide victims at least $770,000 each.”

The site also includes a countdown clock at the bottom of the page, indicating the amount of time the plaintiffs have to accept the offer. As of this writing, there’s only 9 days, 7 hours, 22 minutes, and 32 seconds left!

KPCC’s brand-new education reporter, Jed Kim, talked to Luis Carillo, the lawyer for 23 of the alleged victims, who said, “To me this is unethical, because it’s a way of communicating to our clients by scaring them.”

Previous posts: Ex-Miramonte Principal Martin Sandoval Was Reassigned To El Sereno Elementary School; Top District Lawyer Talks Lawsuits, Unilateral Action; State Teachers Union Rejects Criticism of Teacher Dismissal Bill

A controversial bill aimed at ensuring teachers accused of sexual misconduct and other immoral acts can be more easily removed from the classroom is now awaiting referral in the Senate Rules Committee before its eventual hearing by the Senate Education Committee.

Given the array of allies and opponents focused on teacher misconduct — especially after reports of ongoing sexual misconduct at Miramonte Elementary School shocked LAUSD — the bill’s next step will be closely followed and hotly debated.

Recently passed by the House, the bill (known as AB 375) being championed by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) will be heard and referred in the next seven to 10 days, according to the Senate Rules Committee’s Bob Franzoia.

“The Education Committee should hear this bill by June 26 or July 3,” said Franzoia.

The Buchanan legislation is a response to the Miramonte scandal, where Los Angeles Unified elementary school teacher Mark Berndt was fired and charged with 23 counts of sexual misconduct with students.

Berndt appealed the case and the district chose to pay $40,000 to drop his challenge, according to the Sacramento Bee.

A previous and somewhat stronger version of the legislation, AB 1530, was proposed and defeated last summer, thanks in large part to opposition from teachers unions.

Lawmakers’ votes against the legislation made national news and contributed to the defeat of at least one Assemblymember in November 2012.

Buchanan’s AB 375 would set a deadline of seven months for the administrative appeal, start to finish, expanding the current law’s deadline of 60 days

However, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has expressed concerns about the legislation despite amendments made earlier this month.

Deasy is not alone.  The current union-backed bill doesn’t strengthen the teacher dismissal process nearly enough, according to former State Senator Gloria Romero.

In a highly critical piece published by the Orange County Register, Romero asked, “what good is shortening the [dismissal] timeline if it only results in a the same flawed outcome?”

The California Teachers Federation says the bill’s timeline is needed to give removed teachers ample time to prepare their cases.

And, according to CTA spokesperson Frank Wells, AB 375 is also opening the door to companion legislation aimed at holding school districts and administrators accountable for school employees accused of child abuse.

“AB 375’s companion bill, AB 1338 would strengthen reporting and employee education requirements on school districts,” Wells told LA School Report.

“We believe school districts should face penalties for not following the law and failing to report serious misconduct to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing; that is an issue that still needs to be addressed.”

Previous posts: Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill, Villaraigosa Expresses Concerns About Teacher Dismissal Bill, Deasy Wants Stronger Teacher Dismissal Bill

Former Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt (via SCPR)

California Teachers Association President Dean Vogel has issued a sharp response to criticism of the proposed teacher dismissal bill being championed by Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), focusing in particular on those of former state lawmaker Gloria Romero:

“Far from jumping late onto any dismissal bandwagon, CTA has led support of efforts to expedite the dismissal process, maintain existing safeguards that remove teachers from classrooms immediately when charged with serious offenses and toughen penalties for districts and school personnel who fail to follow mandated abuse-reporting procedures. These are the facts, despite any claims from paid spokespersons for organizations founded and funded in part by outspoken, school-privatization proponents and hedge-fund managers who see dollar signs in public-school funding… We applaud California lawmakers who are moving ahead with bills that keep children safe and streamline the process for removing people who don’t belong in our classrooms, while still maintaining safeguards against false allegations.”

Assemblymember Joan Buchanan

AB 375, a new bill meant to streamline teacher dismissals, could be headed for quick passage after clearing the State Assembly’s Education Committee with a 7 – 0 vote Thursday.

The bill’s chance at passing is undoubtedly aided by the announcement last week that the state’s largest teachers union, the California Teachers Association, was joining forces with Assemblymember Joan Buchanan and Senator Alex Padilla to support AB 375.

But the alliance of Padilla and Buchanan and the quick pace of action in the statehouse have left some observers confused and concerned. Is AB 375 a watered-down teacher dismissal bill? Or have the unions, legislators, and education advocates finally come to a working compromise that will help streamline the teacher dismissal process?

Edgar Zazueta, the director of government relations for LAUSD, praised AB 375 as a “step in the right direction.”

But he also expressed reservations.

“I think we’d argue that there’s more consideration to be done here. We thank [Buchanan] for moving in the right direction, but we think we could push envelope a little further,” Zazueta said.

LAUSD, StudentsFirst, EdVoice, and Democrats for Education Reform have expressed a mix of praise and concern.

To be sure, the CTA, Padilla, and Buchanan are unlikely allies.

The union vehemently opposed both of Padilla’s teacher dismissal bills (SB 10 and last year’s SB 1530), and when SB 1530 was up for vote in the Assembly last year, Buchanan helped kill the bill when she voted against it. Yet Padilla has shelved SB 10 and teamed up with Buchanan to help pass AB 375.

According to CTA spokesperson Frank Wells, the union supports AB 375 because the bill “does the things we wanted.” He cited how Buchanan’s bill leaves the final dismissal decision in the hands of a Commission on Professional Competence made up of two fellow teachers and an administrative law judge.

In SB 10, Padilla planned to limit the commission to having only an advisory role, instead giving the local school board the final decision on whether to fire a teacher. Padilla also wanted to exclude the teachers from the commission, reducing it to a lone judge. It was this plan to limit the commission to an advisory role that “was a major sticking point” for the CTA with SB 10, Wells said.

Reform-minded Gloria Romero, head of Democrats for Education Reform in California, is skeptical the bill will accomplish much. (Read her critical review of the CTA’s involvement with AB 375 in an O.C. Register column here.)

EdVoice and StudentsFirst praised Buchanan for lifting the statute of limitations on evidence that can be used against a teacher during the dismissal process. (Current law prohibits the use of evidence from more than four years ago.)

However, both groups said they are still reviewing the bill and deciding just what they think.

In a letter sent to Buchanan, EdVoice expressed specific concerns that AB 375 won’t effectively improve the dismissal process for teachers who have sexually or physically abused their students.

EdVoice CEO Bill Lucia told LA School Report that he has several issues with the bill. “There’s no question whatsoever that SB 10 was more streamlined than AB 375 in terms of dealing with people who are child predators on the payroll at taxpayers’ expense,” Lucia said.

Lucia’s main concern clashes directly with the CTA’s praise for AB 375: The bill maintains the current law that gives the Commission on Professional Competence the final dismissal decision for teachers accused of “immoral conduct” such as sexual and physical abuse.

“To maintain the same process for someone who can’t teach and for someone who is a child molester is unacceptable,” Lucia said. “That kind of behavior is criminal, not a matter of professional competence.”

Lucia also takes issue with AB 375’s revised timelines, which have been extended longer in some cases than the timelines SB 10 proposed. While SB 10 would have required hearings to begin 60 days after a teacher asked for it, AB 375 allows the hearing to start within six months; and while SB 10 required that the Commission reviewing the case to choose its three members within seven days, AB 375 extended the time to 45 days.

The CTA’s Frank Wells defended the new timelines: “Padilla’s bill may have had a shorter timeline, but it was less fair. We want to streamline process, but we also want to give people adequate time to prepare their cases.”

Both EdVoice and StudentsFirst say they’re in the process of carefully inspecting AB 375 and meeting with stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and community members, to decide whether or not AB 375 has enough force to merit their support. They expect to decide by the end of the month.

To read the full text of AB 375, go here; for SB 10, go here.

Previous posts: Lawmaker Supports Former Opponent’s Teacher Dismissal Bill; Report: Teacher Dismissals Costly, Lengthy; Commentary: Implications of a Bloom Win

U.S. Ed Department Agrees to Review 9 Districts’ Plan for NCLB Waiver
The nine California districts seeking a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Law have got their foot in the door. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it has accepted their waiver application and will treat it as they would an application from other states, with a formal review. EdSource

Bill Clinton Picks Wendy Greuel as L.A.’s Next Mayor
When a city’s schools fail the city fails. The next generation of L.A.’s job creators will create jobs in cities other than Los Angeles. The next Mayor of Los Angeles is going to have his or her hands full. LA Daily News Column

Miramonte Plaintiffs Want 2013 Trial; LAUSD’s 2014 Trial Request Rejected
The families of students allegedly abused at Miramonte Elementary School are pressing ahead with their demand for a trial. There was a court organizing session Tuesday as they move toward a trial. ABC LA

Banned Youth Football League Brings Concerns to County Board
Parents and players from the East L.A. Bobcats, a youth football league banned from county parks after gang-affiliated adult fans got in a fight that led to a fatal stabbing, called on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to allow the children to return to Salazar Park. LA Times

Congress Tweaks State Special Education Spending Mandates
States that run afoul of federal rules for special education funding will be punished—though not forever—under a technical, but important tweak to state maintenance of effort under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. EdWeek

Why We Can’t Threaten Our Way to Better Schools
While NCLB’s punitive approach has been softened to some extent by the Obama administration, the law’s philosophy has not. Diminished funding, school closings, turnarounds, takeovers, vouchers and the privatization of schools proliferate in a contemporary wave of reforms taking urban districts by storm. Hechinger Report Opinion

California Schools Chief to Deliver Annual Address in Lawndale
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will deliver his annual “State of the State of California Education” address Thursday at the Centinela Valley Center for the Arts auditorium in Lawndale. Daily Breeze

CTC to Survey New Teacher Prep Grads for Data on System Improvements
Concerned that too many of California’s teacher preparation programs don’t measure up to the state’s high standards, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing is set to undertake a data collection program aimed at pin-pointing strengths and weaknesses of specific institutions. SI&A Cabinet Report

California School Districts Send out Far Fewer Pink Slips
Thanks to a boost in money for public education, California school districts have issued just 3,000 pink slips to teachers this year, a dramatic drop from the 20,000 sent out last year, the California Teachers Assn. reported Monday. LA Times

School District Discriminated Against Gay Students, ACLU Alleges
In a letter from the ACLU, the Hesperia Unified School District is accused of discriminating against gay and lesbian students, including refusing to allow girls to wear tuxedos to the prom. LA Times
See also: AP

Lockyer Seeks Legal Opinion on School Construction Bond Campaigns
California Treasurer Bill Lockyer sought a legal opinion Monday to determine if some local education officials and the municipal finance firms they employ are violating state law by campaigning to get school construction bonds passed. LA Times

Highland Park School Wins $110K in National Educational Contest
A Highland Park high school is $110,000 richer after two students beat 1,600 other schools to win a national educational contest. CBS LA

Failure to Protect Kids Costs Millions
Los Angeles Unified School District, the state’s largest district and largest recipient of the Proposition 30 tax increases, figures to be writing a big check soon. Unfortunately, this check won’t be going to support math, reading or arts programs. OC Register Column by Gloria Romero

CDE, Torlakson Lead Effort to Forge Ahead on Common Core Despite Challenges
There’s no shortage of skeptics when it comes to the plan to begin testing students in the new common core curriculum standards beginning in the spring of 2015. SI&A Cabinet Report

Committee Wrestles With Incorporating Graduation Rate Into API
As part of a push to measure how well a school is educating its students based on more than just test scores, California for the first time is planning to factor graduation rates into the state’s main measure of a school’s academic achievement. EdSource

Police Union Backs Nury Martinez for LA City Council
The union that represents officers with the Los Angeles Police Department endorsed a school board member for an open L.A. City Council seat in the San Fernando Valley Monday. KPCC

SBE, School Groups in Settlement Talks Over Statewide Benefit Charters
At issue is a section of the Education Code that gives a charter operator the right to submit a petition directly to the state board for approval of a charter school that operates at multiple sites throughout the state. SI&A Cabinet Report

Miramonte Family Presses Forward With Lawsuit Against LA Unified School District
Depression, anxiety and insomnia have become almost daily challenges, according to the mother of a student allegedly abused by a teacher while attending Miramonte Elementary School.  Her family is among the 71 not included in the settlements negotiated between 58 families and the Los Angeles Unified School District. NBC LA

SoCal Olympians Mentor LA Students to Encourage Fitness, Health
While Olympians fight for the gold medal at prestigious international events, California kids are working to pass their own mandated fitness tests at schools throughout the state. These two groups come together in a program called Ready, Set, Gold! KPCC

How the Principal Is Trying to Prevent Finger-Pointing at Carpenter
One parent is afraid to schedule play dates for her daughter anymore. If the play date is at her dad’s house 45 minutes drive away from the Studio City area, suspicion is raised. Patch Studio City

Protect California’s Innovative Teacher Preparation Programs
Last week, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing could have taken a dangerous path, changing the requirements for “teacher interns” in a way that would have limited the ability of some of our best teachers to reach the students who need them most. San Jose Mercury News Op-Ed

Fragmented Data Systems a Barrier to Better Schools, Experts Say
The fragmented nature of data systems in school districts, a lack of common data standards across states, and the financial challenges of providing professional development to data users in schools combine to leave many districts and states struggling to provide meaningful, real-time data about student performance to educators. EdWeek

Public Education Being Privatized, Educators Say at League of Women Voters Meeting
Efforts to privatize public education trace their roots to movements to cut back on taxes, and their consequences vary from more emphasis on high-stakes testing to a less educated citizenry and less freedom for college teachers. Monterey County Herald

Stop the Pink Slips
Change in timing in teacher layoff notices makes sense, but the real goal should be to stop the layoffs. My Desert Editorial

States to Consider Financial Literacy Requirements for K-12 Students
Schools have long tried to impart money management skills to students through a variety of programs: elective classes in partnership with banks and nonprofit groups, after-school programs that teach economic basics and “life-skills” to round out a student’s academic education. KPCC

Lawmakers Eye Early Childhood Expansion
Prekindergarten is the hottest issue under the sun these days, ever since President Barack Obama made it a focal point of his State of the Union address, then released the bare bones of a plan to expand prekindergarten access to more low-income 4-year-olds. EdWeek