FOUR VOTES NEEDED (AND ITS PUBLIC)
When the board meets behind closed-doors on Oct. 21 at least four members must approve of Deasy’s performance to extend his contract beyond its current expiration, in 2016.  Ditto for ousting Deasy — a consensus of four is a tall order for a fractured board, long plagued by in-fighting and competing ideologies. According to our math (see below) there are not many signs that four members are seeing eye to eye – especially when they know the vote would have to be made public.

LOOMING ELECTION
The variables at play for each board member on ‘the Deasy question’ can be reduced to the election next March, when four of the seven members must defend their seats. School board elections can cost millions, pitting the teachers union against a coalition of SEIU and reform groups. Board members and even the teachers union, may want to avoid having Deasy’s departure become a campaign issue.

STUDENTS HAVE MADE PROGRESS
To complicate matters, the district has shown improvement under Deasy, and while the teachers union may condemn him, his policies and stances seem to be popular with the public, including his pivotal support of the Vergara lawsuit last year that challenged teacher tenure laws. He has modernized, streamlined and reorganized at LAUSD, prevailed under dismal economic conditions and formulated a budget this year that was praised publicly by every single board member.

BOARD OWNS iPAD CONTROVERSY TOO
Like it or not, the school board was complicit in every phase of the now controversial initiative to purchase iPads for LAUSD students.  While Deasy is taking heat for his push to put iPads in the classroom, the board supported him in the effort, voting unanimously as recently as January to approve Phase II of the rollout. The board may now find it hard to make iPads an excuse for ousting him.

DEASY MAY LEAVE FIRST
Deasy has told close confidants that he is fed up with the hostility on the board, and is concerned about his health. The LA Times reports talks have been underway, and reaching an agreement would enable both sides to announce an amiable parting, leaving the ugliness of recent months behind them. This is the option that would suit his detractors on the board just fine.

 WHERE DO BOARD MEMBERS STAND ON JOHN DEASY?

Bennett Kayser
District 5 (Griffith Park, Huntington Park)
Kayser, a former science teacher, who was elected in 2011 with the help of more than a million dollars from the teachers union, is considered Deasy’s staunchest opponent. He has voiced opposition to most of the Deasy-led reforms including expanding school choice options and charter schools. He surprised members of the board when he circulated a memo more than a year ago asking for a Deasy succession plan. Kayser is up for re-election in March against three opponents.

Monica Ratliff
District 6 (East San Fernando Valley)
One of the most recent additions to the school board, Ratliff, a former lawyer and 5th grade teacher, was elected with the support of the teachers union. She was the only abstention last year at Deasy’s performance review. Despite voting to support Phase 2 of the iPad rollout, Ratliff has emerged as the program’s most vocal critic. In August, she released a report highly critical of Deasy’s role in the program. Deasy issued a memo calling Ratliff’s report, “false and misleading.”  

Tamar Galatzan
District 3 (West Valley, Sherman Oaks)
The only board member with children enrolled in the district, Galatzan was elected in 2007 with the help of then Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a coalition of education reformers. Re-elected in 2011, Galatzan has consistently supported Deasy-led initiatives including increased school autonomy and expanding school choice. Galatzan is up for relection in March, facing at least four opponents.

Monica Garcia
District 2 (Downtown, East Los Angeles)
First elected in a special election in 2006, Garcia ran unopposed in 2009 and won easily again in 2013 with the help of reform groups. Calling her newsletter ‘the Cradle of Reform’, Garcia is an unabashed booster of school choice, charter school expansion and a staunch supporter of Deasy. She served as the president of the school board for six years, including when Deasy was first hired as superintendent.

Richard Vladovic
District 7 (East LA, San Pedro)
A former teacher and principal, Vladovic was first elected in 2007 and again in 2011 with the help of reform groups and then Mayor Antontio Villaraigosa. While lately Vladovic has become a less predictable supporter of reform efforts and of the superintendent, he is up for re-election in March and may want to be cautious. Last year, he cast his vote to support Deasy on the same day his colleagues on the board were deciding whether or not to censure Vladovic for alleged sexual harassment.

George McKenna
District 1 (South LA)
The most recent addition to the school board, McKenna was elected last August in a special election with the support of the teachers union. He has publicly criticized Deasy for his handling of a sex abuse case at Miramonte elementary school where Deasy removed the entire staff after a teacher was accused of lewd conduct. The teacher was later convicted and most of the staff returned. McKenna himself was the area supervisor at the time.  While sources say McKenna is not an ally of Deasy’s, he did tell the LA Times that he would let Deasy serve out his contract, and he is facing an election in March.

Steve Zimmer
District 4 (West LA, Hollywood)
A former teacher, Zimmer was elected first in 2009 and again in 2013 after a bruising battle against a reform-funded candidate. While considered friendly to many reform initiatives he was elected with financial help from the teachers union. Often seen as a swing vote on the board, Zimmer avoids picking sides, and frequently steps in to play the role of conciliator in a controversy. Last year, Zimmer came out publicly to support Deasy before his review. This year, according to a source, while he would like to avoid a vote – he might not be willing to pull the trigger in a tie-breaker.

Richard Vladovic

After a tense, four-hour closed meeting with his LA Unified Board colleagues, President Richard Vladovic opened a brief public session admitting that he had violated the district’s code of conduct and apologizing to employees he may have harmed.

“I did get upset at people,” he said. “I did tell them things I shouldn’t have told them.” He said he has a “passion for the district, and I believe in my passion I crossed the line, and I intend to never do it again.” He also conceded he has sought “professional help.”

Vladovic suggested that some on the board were reluctant to accept his mea culpa: “I’m saying it publicly, so that this issue doesn’t cloud other issues affecting the board. And I know all of my colleagues don’t agree with that. But I must accept responsibility.”

The sudden admission came two weeks after an outside firm concluded an investigation into allegations of verbal and sexual harassment against Vladovic, some of them from years ago. Details were kept out of public view until Monday night, when district officials released documents involving two accusers. One case described events that could be interpreted as sexual harassment; the other, verbal.

In his apology, Vladovic made no specific reference to the charges although his admission of improper behavior seemed directed only at accusations of berating and intimidating employees, rather than any allegations with sexual or homophobic overtones.

Vladovic and his spokesman, Mike Trujillo, had “categorically denied” all of the charges but one – “occasionally using his outdoor voice.”

After the meeting, Trujillo said that Vladovic’s apology was only meant in reference to complaints about his temper.

“The apology is regarding raising his voice, which is like a drill sergeant raising his voice in boot camp,” Trujillo said, adding that Vladovic still maintains his innocence for all other charges. “The apology you heard today was acknowledging something he did in the past. He’s still board president and plans on continuing to serve the children and parents of our districts.”

The board spent considerable time in the closed session debating whether to take any punitive action against Vladovic, who was elected president earlier this year. The board has the power to censure him and even remove him as president. But people who were briefed after the meeting said members were unable to reach consensus on what, if anything, to do. It was their understanding that the question lingers and could arise at the board’s next public meeting, on Oct. 29.

Vladovic promised he’s a changed man from the one described in the complaints.

“You will see, and have seen, a more civil attitude form me, as I’ve reflected over it,” he said, adding, “There’s a better way to do things. I found that way, and we’re going to move forward.”

Before the meeting began, according to the LA Daily News reporter, Barbara Jones, a CBS news crew asked Vladovic about the charges. He said he was “innocent.”  Board member Marguerite LaMotte asked him to repeat that louder, then walked over and gave him a comforting kiss on the cheek. Vladovic looked pale and shaken.

The Board voted unanimously to approve Mayor Eric Garcetti staffer Abigail Marquez to the bond oversight committee. They then listened to public comments, the last of which was given by LaMotte herself, who told Vladovic that she admired him for his patience, and said, “I commend you and ask you to continue this fight.”

Previous posts: Complaints Against Vladovic Are Available for Viewing; Board to Review Vladovic Charges in Closed Session; Vladovic Denies Sexual Harassment, Other Claims;  Vladovic Investigation Concluded; Board Members are Briefed*

Board President Richard Vladovic

The LA Unified board is expected to review findings of an investigation into harassment charges against Board President Richard Vladovic when it meets today in closed session, according to people familiar with the meeting agenda.

The agenda makes no explicit mention of the investigation, which was concluded two weeks ago. While board members were individually briefed on the case after the report was completed, details emerged last night when the district released partial accounts through a public records request. The accounts appear here and here.

Vladovic has denied all charges against him. His spokesman, Mike Trujillo, told the L.A. Daily News that both of the cases made public were “unactionable.”

He told LA School Report: “We categorically deny the allegations in these complaints. What we have admitted to is Dr. V using his outdoor voice indoors, which makes him as guilty as every football coach in the district.”

It is unclear what action, if any, the board might take if members believe there is sufficient cause to respond. By a majority vote, the board can strip Vladovic of his presidency and censure him; it cannot remove him from office. Whatever it does would most likely be done publicly, and the day’s open agenda includes “Report on any actions taken” in the closed session.

Censure of a school board member by colleagues happens in rare instances. The most recent LA-area school board member to be censured is Joseph Chang of the Hacienda La Puente school board, whose colleagues took the action last month over allegations that he accepted trips from a private company and urged administrators to accept unqualified international students.

Previous posts: Vladovic Investigation Concluded; Board Members are Briefed*; Cleared On One of Two Investigations; Board President Hires Reform-Affiliated Consultant; Rules Allow Board Members to Censure Colleagues