Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, July 19, 2013

Is Kayser Pushing Deasy Out the Door? - LA School Report

Is Kayser Pushing Deasy Out the Door? - LA School Report:

Is Kayser Pushing Deasy Out the Door?

John Deasy, left, Bennett Kayser, right, at a Jerry Brown-led press conference in May
John Deasy, left, Bennett Kayser, right, at a Jerry Brown-led press conference in May
School Board member Bennett Kayer is asking Superintendent John Deasy, to draw up a “succession plan” for the superintendent and his senior staff.
“As the District mandates that every school have an emergency plan, so must our leadership and its structure,” Kayer says in a letter addressed to Deasy, a copy of which was obtained by LA School Report.
The letter (which can be download here) was apparently not sent to Deasy; he said he only learned of it when another LAUSD employee asked his secretary about it.
“I have to assume it was intended to come to me,” Deasy told LA School Report. “I don’t know how to interpret the contents of that. I look forward to finding out more when the Board meets.” He called the implications of the letter “unclear.”
A senior school board official said members routinely communicate with the superintendent on a spectrum of issues, but no individual can require the superintendent to act.
“The board acts as a body,” he said. “Not through an individual.”
When asked if the letter marked the beginning of the search to replace him, Deasy replied, “That could be part of the interpretation, but that could also be for the replacement of the 20 other senior members [of the Superintendent's staff].” When