Is John Deasy LA Unified's 'last, best hope'?
John Deasy runs a school district of more than 664,000 students with a budget of nearly $7 billion that is currently $390 million short. But, at the moment, he’s worried about toilet paper.
“Did you get the delivery of toilet paper yesterday?” he asks principal Reginald Sample of Dorsey High on one of his recent visits. (They did.)
No detail seems too small for L.A. Unified's Superintendent Deasy, who spends a few days each week making staccato surprise visits to the district’s more than 760 schools. The visits leave administrators rushing to catch up and some teachers squirming uneasily as he quizzes students on what they’re learning while class is in session.
When the Boston native completed his first year as the official head of L.A. Unified in April, multiple publicationswrote retrospectives on his time at the helm. But Deasy, 51, has emphasized looking forward, and he says