LAUSD'S IRIS STEVENSON- GUILTY OF TEACHING WHILE BLACK...AND BEING AT THE TOP OF THE SALARY SCALE
Veteran LAUSD Crenshaw High School teacher teacher Iris Stevenson has been cooling her heals in teacher jail at LAUSD for the crime of having taken her students to an event out of state without having signed LAUSD permission slips. Although she had parent permission and the prestigious trips she has taken her students on in the past have always been approved, this time she has been put in "teachers' jail" since December 2013, because she failed to get pro forma permission.
This is a completely unjustified use of incarcerating a teacher, since housing teachers should only be used when the teacher represents a threat to student safety and this form of isolation is necessary to allow a timely investigation to take place to determine if in fact the teacher threatens student safety as per the California Education Code. This was not the case with Ms. Stevenson nor is it the case with the vast majority of teachers who are being "housed" around LAUSD for the sole purpose of intimidating them into retirement.
Why? Because teachers at the top of the salary scale and/or about to vest in lifetime health benefits (which will cost LAUSD an additional $300,000 in presently unfunded liability) and/or disabled teachers are far more expensive than an uncredentialed Teacher for America-type teacher who they can get away with paying $35,000. In just the first year you force a veteran teacher into retirement, LAUSD would have a combined savings of $45,000 in salary and $15,000 in significantly diminished benefits. And that's just the first year, since the novice replacement will not attain the seniority and pay of the veteran for many years to come. And of course, LAUSD can "encourage" even these new teachers to move on after 2 or 3 years to preclude them