New LA deputy superintendent comes with murky past
Flickr photo by Alan TurkusA top official involved in pushing for new teacher evaluation procedures and other reforms at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was appointed Tuesday as second in command at the Los Angeles Unified School District.
After discussing the appointment in closed session, the LA Board of Education approved John E. Deasy to become Superintendent Ramon Cortines' deputy – thereby filling a post vacant since Cortines ascended to the top position in December 2008.
Deasy is deputy director of education at theGates Foundation, responsible for overseeing $200 million in education grants, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Before joining the Gates Foundation, Deasy was superintendent at Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland’s second-largest school system and the nation’s 18th largest district with 134,000 students.
His stint in Maryland became tumultous when allegations surfaced that Deasy may have awarded a $125,000 contract to his academic adviser in exchange for favorable consideration toward his doctorate. The adviser, Robert Felner, former dean of the school of education at the University of Louisville, pleaded guilty to 10 federal charges of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering. Deasy's attorney, Scott Cox, insisted his client was innocent and the victim of Felner's bad publicity:
And Dr. Deasy, as far as we can tell, earned legitimately his Ph.D. And there is so much negative publicity associated with Dr. Felner and anything he's connected with, it really is unfortunate that Dr. Deasy got dragged into this. He didn't do anything wrong except get his Ph.D.
Deasy's appointment could put him next in line to assume LAUSD's top spot, if 77-year-old Cortines decides to step down. It also could signal a more intense focus on reforming the
U.S. Department of Education unveils grant-tracking website
The U.S. Department of Education has unveiled a new transparency website that will allow people to view, analyze, map and chart information about applications for federal education programs.
So far, the website has data for one grant program – Investing in Innovation – that provides competitive grants to support innovative ways of improving student achievement, closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates.
Users can browse the applications in their region using an interactive map, filter the results by state or applicant and create charts to examine different types of applications.
Or, for data-crunchers, the site provides raw data downloads for your own analysis. A quick look at the data on the Investing in Innovation grant shows that the four largest requests, each for $50 million, came from the San Francisco-based KIPP Foundation, Teach for America, Project Lead the Way and the Wilson County Board of
So far, the website has data for one grant program – Investing in Innovation – that provides competitive grants to support innovative ways of improving student achievement, closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates.
Users can browse the applications in their region using an interactive map, filter the results by state or applicant and create charts to examine different types of applications.
Or, for data-crunchers, the site provides raw data downloads for your own analysis. A quick look at the data on the Investing in Innovation grant shows that the four largest requests, each for $50 million, came from the San Francisco-based KIPP Foundation, Teach for America, Project Lead the Way and the Wilson County Board of
