Los Angeles: The Peculiar Deal Behind the Contract
Bill Raden, the investigative journalist at Capital & Main, unearthed a surprising deal behind Austin Beutner’s decision to settle with the UTLA.
it involved hiring the son of a key politician.
Raden writes:
One political winner of last week’s Los Angeles teachers strikesettlement was L.A. Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner. The former investment banker has made no secret of his desire to one day land the top job at L.A. City Hall, and signing a deal became his first real test of public leadership. Test Two may be more daunting — namely, explaining why he put a scandal-plagued and #MeToo-accused former State Assemblymember on the district payroll as a lobbyist.
The existence of the four-week lobbying contractbetween LAUSD and Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (SRT), whose father is the powerful L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas (MRT), came to light January 16, when the Assembly released findings that SRT likely sexually harassed CONTINUE READING: Los Angeles: The Peculiar Deal Behind the Contract | Diane Ravitch's blog