FIRST-YEAR HIGHLIGHTS
    'Landmark' union contract: Deasy and UTLA reach a deal giving teachers more autonomy at local campuses and the exclusive right to bid to operate new and underperforming schools. Human capital: More than 850 teachers are dismissed for misconduct or incompetence as Deasy tightens performance standards. Student achievement: Monthly updates of Deasy's performance meter show improvements in high school graduation and English and math proficiency. Healthier meals: More low-fat and vegetarian options are offered at school cafeterias, to mixed results. Sex-abuse scandal: Deasy orders a top-down review of personnel files after teachers at Miramonte and Telfair elementary schools are charged with molesting children.
Los Angeles Unified's superintendent hustled through the hallways of San Fernando High School, ducking into classrooms, spot-checking teachers' assignments and greeting every student who crossed his path. | See photo gallery.
"Hi, I'm John Deasy, howaya?" he asked, his rapid-fire patter shaped by the accent of his native Boston.
"What are you going to do after you graduate?"
That seemingly innocuous question is the heart of Deasy's administration: the right of LAUSD's 664,000 students to gradu