LAUSD REACHES OUT TO THE MIDDLE CLASS
BY BILL BOYARSKY | THE JEWISH JOURNAL OF GREATER LOS ANGELES | HTTP://BIT.LY/OQ5Z8I
July 26, 2011 | Los Angeles’ new school superintendent, John Deasy, says one of his top goals is to persuade middle-class families, including Jewish parents, to return to the Los Angeles public schools. “It’s one of the major projects I have to deliver,” he said.
<<New LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy. Photo courtesy LAUSD
I interviewed Deasy last week in his office on the 24th floor of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) headquarters, just west of downtown Los Angeles.
Deasy has been superintendent since January. Before taking the LAUSD job, he was deputy director of education for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a major supporter of charter schools. Charters are publicly funded but are run with considerable independence; they also often receive substantial private funds and operate outside of union