L.A. schools chief pushes to change system's culture

Teresa Watanabe and Howard Blume:

It's 7:30 a.m. and the chief of the Los Angeles Unified School District briskly launches a powwow on the sensitive topic of how to place the strongest math teachers with the weakest students.

Supt. John Deasy leads two dozen administrators through statistics showing the schools where the district's most effective algebra instructors teach. They brainstorm incentives to get principals and teachers to buy into the plan, aimed at raising abysmal scores on state math tests. Some may believe it a waste to put their best with the worst, one administrator cautions, but Deasy's response is quick and characteristically blunt:

"You really shouldn't teach in LAUSD if you believe that," he says.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 14, 2012 1:26 AM
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