Friday, March 8, 2013

Deasy: Political contributors “invest in L.A. schools” | InterACT

Deasy: Political contributors “invest in L.A. schools” | InterACT:


Deasy: Political contributors “invest in L.A. schools”

Like many interested observers around the country, I’ve been following the school board elections in Los Angeles. That’s partly out of general interest in a high profile drama involving the politics of education, the same way I’d pay some attention to a large district election almost anywhere in the country. It’s also a personal interest in my hometown, in a district where I was a student, and where I have friends and relatives attending the schools and teaching in them. Yet at the same time I think every Californian involved in education is affected to some extent by what happens in Los Angeles Unified School District. I’ve referred to that district as the Jupiter of our solar system. Looking at the situation less metaphorically, consider the significance of LAUSD in our state legislature. This one huge district covers a densely populated area represented by at least a dozen state legislators. Meanwhile, my state legislators in the San Francisco Bay Area might be representing dozens of school school districts.
So, yes, I pay attention to the gravitational force of LAUSD politics and policy. I also pay close attention to the