LAUSD Firings Mount Since Miramonte Scandal
Los Angeles Daily News | By Barbara JonesPosted: 10/06/2013 1:42 pm EDT | Updated: 10/06/2013 6:39 pm EDT LINK The Los Angeles Unified school
board has voted to fire 127 educators and
 |
| LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy tours the campus of Esteban E. Torres High School during a walkthough in support of the L.A. expansion of NYC based non-profit organization, Exploring the Arts, on September 26, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. |
accepted the resignations of 110 more
since February 2012, when the Miramonte sex-abuse
scandal triggered a crackdown on misconduct, according to district
officials.
In providing updated tallies last
week, officials were unable to say how many of the 237 employees had quit or
been terminated because of inappropriate behavior involving students.
However, they did say that
"most" of the 413 educators pulled from the classroom over the past
20 months had been accused of some sort of misconduct. That total includes two
teachers who are under investigation as a result of a review of 40 years' worth
of personnel files that was also launched after the Miramonte scandal.
A total of 68 teachers --
including two others targeted in LAUSD's file review project -- were cleared of
wrongdoing and reinstated, officials said.
According to the most recent
figures, 209 educators are being "housed" in administrative offices
-- known in some circles as "teacher jail." They can languish there
for months, collecting their pay, while the district investigates the
allegations and decides whether to return them to the classroom or recommend
dismissal. (District officials provided the individual figures but acknowledged
that they don't add up precisely to the total of 413 because of the fluid
situation.)
Under California law, a school
board's vote to dismiss a teacher takes effect 30 days later unless the
educator appeals to the state Office of Administrative Hearings, a process that
can months and cost upwards of $200,000 in legal fees to conclude.
Because the board's dismissal vote
also terminates the teacher's salary, many educators opt to accept an offer of
back pay to drop their appeal. That's what happened with Miramonte teacher Mark
Berndt, who received $40,000 after the board voted to terminate him.
Because of the public outcry over
that deal, the district is no longer settling cases involving suspected sexual
abuse, officials said. However, teachers accused of other types of misconduct
can still negotiate a financial payout.
Over the past 20 months, the OAH
has issued rulings involving 15 teachers, finding in favor of the district in
eight of those cases. The district is appealing two of the cases it lost --
both involving teachers accused of helping students cheat on tests.
And the five teachers who won
their appeals have been placed back on the LAUSD payroll, but will not be
returned to their former assignments, General Counsel David Holmquist said.
"We felt it appropriate to
pull them from the classroom and remove them from being around students before.
Just because the three-member (OAH) panel doesn't agree with that doesn't
change our responsibility to the students.
"So we are continuing to
house them or find other work for them that does not involve students. But
they're not going to be back in the classroom." ___
