Rafe Esquith, book cover of ‘There Are No Shortcuts’

LA School Report has confirmed that an LAPD sex crimes unit has an open investigation of celebrated teacher Rafe Esquith involving allegations of “inappropriate touching.” Meanwhile, Esquith’s attorneys are striking back with threats of additional lawsuits and a “declaration of war against LAUSD.”

One of Esquith’s attorneys, Ben Meisales, said, “This continued defamation by LAUSD knows no bounds. This is a slap at all hard-working teachers and it has created a declaration of war against LAUSD.”

Lead attorney Mark Geragos added, “People all across the country are watching these unscrupulous tactics. LAUSD is acting as a criminal cartel that needs to be put out of business, and we will put them out of business.”

Meanwhile, the Sexually Exploited Child Unit of the West Bureau Sex Crimes of the Los Angeles Police Department has a case that is opened against Esquith and being investigated by Detective Rachel Saavedra. The attorneys for Esquith said they were unaware of the investigation, which is being conducted by police at the Olympic Division of the LAPD in the district of the Hobart Boulevard Elementary School where Esquith taught fifth grade until he was unceremoniously taken out of the classroom last April and confined during the day hours to the “teachers jail” in a downtown LA building.

On Thursday, Geragos filed a class action lawsuit against LA Unified not only claiming age discrimination and unfair business practices, but defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Hours after receiving the lawsuit, LAUSD issued a letter for the first time dealing with alleged serious allegations against Esquith, including “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 also mentions allegations of “threats to a parent and two students” and “possible ethical” violations of district policy regarding Esquith’s nonprofit after-school program, the Hobart Shakespeareans. 

Through attorneys, Esquith denies all the allegations. Esquith is the author of some popular books about teaching, won the National Medal of Arts from President Obama and was named one of the best teachers in the country by The Washington Post.

School officials are required by law to report all sexual allegations involving children to the proper authorities, and because of the “inappropriate touching” allegations, LA School Report asked LAUSD if police officials were notified.

Shannon Haber, the district’s director of Communications & Media Relations, issued a statement reading, “Yes, as mandated reporters, we always report allegations of suspected child abuse to the appropriate agency.”

LAPD officials had no further details about the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, Geragos said he plans to ask for a criminal investigation against the school district by going to the Department of Justice, and they also plan to file a lawsuit against Toni Tosello, the liabilities claims coordinator who wrote the Aug. 13 letter from LAUSD’s Risk Finance and Insurance Services department. The letter said that while investigating the original allegations (of a reading from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), they discovered “additional serious allegations of misconduct” by the 61-year-old teacher.

Meanwhile, Esquith’s attorneys claim the noted teacher is a victim of a “witch hunt” and that after one day, their class action has gone from about 200 hundred teachers to more than 1,000 who have contacted the office with similar complaints.

“The only child who was been hurt by all this is one of Rafe Esquith’s students who when LAUSD started this witch hunt attempted to commit suicide when [Esquith] was taken from the classroom,” Meiselas said.

Meanwhile, in a letter dated Thursday from Student Safety Investigation Team director Jose Cantu, the district asked for an interview with Esquith for the “investigation of alleged misconduct” according to the letter. They planned the interview on Aug. 18 with investigator Ray Johnson. That interview won’t happen, Esquith’s representatives said.

“The only discussion now about this will be in court,” Meiselas said.

Almost the same number are facing accusations of “violence.”

As of July 1, a total of 174 district employees, the vast majority of them teachers, have been taken out of classrooms, awaiting the results of an investigation into charges. The total includes 65 accused of questionable sexual abuse or harassment, about 37 percent, while the rest face accusations on a variety of other issues, including 55 (or 32 percent) who have been cited for violent acts.

The total reflects 151 certificated employees and 23 classified, such as teacher assistants, library aides, janitors and other support staff.

The list, made available to LA School Report, is the first comprehensive breakdown of misconduct allegations being investigated by the district’s Student Safety Investigative Team (SSIT). And while it suggests that large numbers of personnel are still being taken out classrooms and schools for the goal of protecting students, it also shows that the district is making progress on clearing cases at a faster pace than in years past.

The district said today that the number of housed district employees reached a peak on April 9, 2013, with 322 teachers who were removed from classrooms.

“The district continues to deal with the housed teachers situation as quickly as possible, and they have expanded the staff and the scope for the investigations,” said Shannon Haber, the LAUSD district spokeswoman. “As of July 1, the SSIT is investigating all sexual and nonsexual allegations which have resulted in the teachers being reassigned.”

In a statement, UTLA said: “The ‘teacher jail’ system that ballooned under former Superintendent John Deasy was broken. In our new collective bargaining agreement with LAUSD, important changes were made that protect both students and due process rights of educators.”

On the other hand, the union still expressed concerns that the district was using teacher jail inappropriately.

“Allegations that do not involve safety should not result in an educator being removed from the classroom—a move that is disruptive to students,” the statement said. “Unfortunately educators have been stuck in ‘teacher jail’ over concerns about field trips and science experiments, or for simply questioning a principal’s decisions. We are hopeful that the changes we negotiated will put an end to these practices.”

Suzanne Spurgeon, the union spokeswoman, added, “UTLA will be meeting with LAUSD monthly to review cases under the new contract language.”

The issue of teacher jail — more formally know as “housed teachers” — has been a persistent and contentious issue between the district and the teachers for years. Throughout his campaign for the union presidency last year and again during negotiations for a new labor contract this year, Alex Caputo-Pearl demanded an end to teacher jail, insisting that the district intentionally delayed in resolving cases and unfairly denied teachers a full explanation of why they have been removed.

Through sustained pressure from the union, the district agreed to make the process more transparent and expedite case resolution.

The latest statistics show that 65 of classified and certified personnel were taken out of the classroom for sexual abuse or harassment allegations. The vast majority of the cases, 62, involved a minor while the other three involved another adult. In five cases, the incident happened to non-LAUSD victims.

The second-largest category was violence, accounting for 55 removals — almost 32 percent — although the district did not break down what sorts of incidents were involved. Another 14 people were removed in each of two infraction categories — “inappropriate language” and “below standard performance.”

Other reasons that teachers were taken out of the classrooms include: “Failure to report child abuse” (4), “Finances”  (3), “Accepted use policy violations,” for things like inappropriate software use (2)  and “Drugs/Alcohol” (2).

The school board in 2013 instructed former Superintendent John Deasy to set up a team of professional investigators to speed up investigations of allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct against teachers and other employees. At that time, the focus was primarily accusations of sexual abuse against students, in part, due to major scandals of misconduct by teachers the year before at Telfair Elementary in Pacoima and Miramonte Elementary in south Los Angeles.

By January 2014, the district created the SSIT to accelerate investigations with a staff of seven. But over the last year or so, the staff grew to 15 as the district expanded the mission to include investigations on a wider array of alleged violations.

For now, some teachers are allowed to stay at their homes during the period of investigation while other spend time at a district holding facility during school hours, and can return home by the end of the day. They are not allowed to have computer access or work on school activities while being reassigned.

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.”

“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

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

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

UTLA: Everything to Hinder, Nothing to Help?

Lots of blame was dished out last week after a state audit found weak dismissal and reporting practices at LAUSD regarding teachers accused of sexual misconduct.

Especially vocal was UTLA president Warren Fletcher, who has consistently lobbed criticism at LAUSD for how it has managed the scandal.

Now I am a Prop-30-supporting-dyed-in-the-wool union Democrat, but I have to ask – shouldn’t the teachers union also take some responsibility here?  Not if you ask the current UTLA leadership, which continues to insist on sacrificing student well-being to protect even pedophiles.

But things could be changing.

The state audit, triggered by the Miramonte Elementary School scandal earlier this year (in which a teacher was accused of feeding his students semen) served up a series of recommendations for the district to implement.

But LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy had already beaten them to the punch; his swift response in February and overhaul of reporting practices and other measures was acknowledged in the report itself (and touted by Deasy on Thursday morning when the audit was released publicly).

The response by UTLA leadership was to go on the offensive. Fletcher accused LAUSD in the LA Times of ‘wild swings’ in response to misconduct. His remarks (see the LA Times article) ignore the most important implication of the report: that the teachers union, through years of legislation and collective bargaining, has made removing pedophiles from the classroom a lengthy and expensive endeavor.

With such an entrenched and unyielding mindset, UTLA seems bent on driving itself to the fringe and losing the support of ardent Democrats like myself. No amount of finger-pointing will conceal that union leadership has stymied, rather than helped ease the process at every turn.

Could that be the canary in the coal-mine?

On Tuesday the LAUSD School Board is set to discuss a proposal from Board President Monica Garcia to support the reintroduction of legislation in Sacramento to streamline the dismissal process. UTLA-backed board members will be squirming. We will be watching.

4 In Alleged Soccer Team Hazing File Claims Against School District
Four teenagers who say they were sexually hazed by soccer players at La Puente High School filed legal claims against the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District on Thursday. LA Times

LAUSD Students Can Win iPads, Cars For Perfect Attendance
Beginning this month and extending until May, students with perfect attendance will qualify for monthly drawings for prizes. High school students with no absences during their senior year will have the chance to win one of the two cars being given away by Clear Channel Media. Daily News

Police Pepper Spray Breaks Up Fight At Narbonne High School
A fistfight between two girls that drew a crowd of onlookers ends abruptly when a school police officer shoots pepper spray into the air, forcing 47 students to seek medical help, officials say. LA Times

LAUSD’s Tablet Plan Doesn’t Compute
An LA Times editorial dismisses Deasy’s plan as merely “a notion,” devoid of specifics. “Despite the lack of details, Deasy is forging ahead with a request for “conceptual approval.” The school board will discuss the matter next week, and the bond oversight committee will consider it the following week.” LA Times Editorial 

California School Funding Formula Not Easy To Change
Columnist Dan Walters writes about how a plan “to streamline state aid and shift more money to low-performing schools with large numbers of students who are poor or ‘English learners,'” met its untimely end. Sac Bee

Heatwave Leaves Southland Residents Weary
By the end of the school days, technicians had responded to calls for air-conditioning service at 65 San Fernando Valley campuses, about 20 percent more than usual, Los Angeles Unified School District Deputy Maintenance Director Robert Laughton said. San Bernardino Sun

Post-Miramonte, Attorney Calls For More Aggressive Measures
The Los Angeles Unified School District should agree to an independent monitor over safety issues, said Attorney Luis A. Carrillo in a news conference at his South Pasadena office. LA Times

Miramonte: Lawyers Say Picasso Print Distressed Students
The alleged victims’ lawyers claim that at least one of their clients experienced “suffering” because a print of a Pablo Picasso painting was posted in Mark Berndt’s classroom. Berndt is the former teacher who’s accused of abusing 23 students over at least five years. KPCC

State-Appointed Administrator For Inglewood Unified To Be Announced Wednesday
Inglewood Unified union leaders and a school board member say California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction is set to announce on Wednesday his pick to run the Inglewood Unified School District for the state. It’s the result of the school district’s rescue from bankruptcy. KPCC

LAUSD, 3 charter groups win grants to develop evaluation systems
The Los Angeles Unified School District and three local charter-school groups have won federal grants to develop their teacher and principal evaluation systems, the U.S. Department of Education has announced. Los Angeles Times

Activists Concerned About School Suspensions Plan A Series Of Events
A national coalition of youth groups, educators and advocacy organizations is launching the 3rd Annual National Week of Action on School Pushout starting tomorrow. KPCC

Governor Signs Off on Bill Ensuring Free Public Education
Gov. Jerry Brown has approved legislation that settles a lawsuit over public schools illegally charging students for educational activities and materials such as textbooks, exams, and field trips. Ed Source

Ex-Miramonte School Teacher to Face Trial on Molestation Charges
Former Miramonte Elementary School teacher Martin Bernard Springer must stand trial on three counts of child molestation for allegedly inappropriately touching a girl, a judge has ruled. LA Times

Obama-Care Supporting Quiet Boom In New School-Based Health Centers
Typically established as a partnership between a local educational agency and a health care provider, school-based health care centers have become an increasingly important part of the medical system nationally as well as in California.  SI&A Cabinet Report

Grant Brings Wireless Math Education To Two LA Schools
A $100,000 Verizon Grant Will Bring Wireless Education Solutions to Five Schools. Students attending Western Avenue Elementary and Dolores Huerta Elementary in Los Angeles are among the first to benefit in Southern California. Sac Bee

New “Parent Trigger” Movie Opens to Rotten Reviews
The California Teachers Association crows about the new film’s bad reception CTA Blog

Wall Of Debt Could Crush State’s Role In Funding School Construction
Unless there is a major turnaround in the California economy in the next two years, schools may be looking at a future without financial support from the state for building new classrooms and upgrading old ones. SI&A Cabinet Report

State Reported Inflated Rate Of Teachers Lacking Credentials
The percentage of teachers and other certificated staff lacking proper credentials was actually 29 percent, not the 58 percent the state reported for the 2005-06 school year. California Watch

Ex-LAUSD teacher gets 25 years for molesting 13 Pacoima students Daily News: Chapel, of Chatsworth, pleaded no contest last month to committing lewd acts against seven girls and six boys. In exchange for a 25-year sentence, prosecutors dropped 15 additional counts that could have sent him to prison for life.

Former Miramonte student allegedly beaten at new school LA Times: A former Miramonte Elementary School student, who is among a group of children suing over alleged teacher sexual misconduct, has transferred from one middle school to another after she was allegedly beaten by other students.

California leads effort to boost English learner success Ed Source: A bill on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk… would create a single definition of long-term English learners and require school districts to keep track of these students and report their numbers every year to the State Department of Education.

Brown signs legislation boosting summer school lunch program SI&A Cabinet Report: Existing law requires districts to offer each student at least one meal every school day, but there is a waiver process that can be pursued for summer session if the lunch program poses a fiscal hardship. AB 2555 by Assemblywoman Wilmer Carter, D-Rialto, increases the time period districts must meet in advance of the summer months for submitting the waiver request to the California State Board of Education.