Author: Jason Song

City Controller Wendy Greuel has agreed to audit the Los Angeles Unified School District’s construction program, officials said Friday.

Supt. Ramon C. Cortines asked Greuel to conduct the investigation after a grand jury indicted Bassam Raslan, a subcontractor hired to help run the district’s building program.

The grand jury charged Raslan with nine counts, accusing him of funneling business from the district’s school building program to a company he co-owns.

Raslan’s attorney said his client complied with district policy and that officials knew of Raslan’s ownership in the company, TBI Associates.

The indictment, which came almost three years after a Times investigation raised questions about Raslan and his business, also accuses school district officials of doing little to prevent the conflict.

Greuel’s investigation will begin soon and Cortines promised to make the findings public.

"If we find any wrongdoing or discrepancies … we will take swift, appropriate action on the persons or companies involved," he said in a statement.

–Jason Song

Los Angeles school district and union officials announced Saturday that they have agreed to cut a dozen instructional days over the next two years to balance the budget.

If approved by members of both the teachers and administrators unions, the move would save the district about $140 million, according to Los Angeles Unified School District officials. The district is facing a $640-million deficit.

District officials had been urging unions to make concessions to help with the budget crisis, and several have already agreed to furloughs.

Administrators agreed to the furlough days on Monday night, and the teachers union reached a deal late Friday, representatives said at a news conference Saturday.

"It is extremely important in going forward that we have this kind of partnership," said Supt. Ramon C. Cortines.

Five days would be cut from this year’s calendar and seven from next year’s calendar, although educators would have two extra paid professional development days next year.

Under a new state law aimed at easing the budget crisis, school districts still will receive full funding for a year even if they eliminate some instructional days. 

The deal also would preserve current student to teacher ratios in elementary and middle schools and would save about 1,800 teacher jobs as well as 300 librarian, nurse and counselor positions.

— Jason Song

Photo: Students arrive for their first day of school at
the new Central High #9 for the visual and performing arts downtown Los
Angeles. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times. File photo.

California was not selected as one of the finalists for a $4.35-billion competitive school-reform grant program, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Officials in the state were notified early Thursday morning.

California legislators, like lawmakers in other states, amended and wrote laws to qualify for a portion of the Race to the Top funding. These included several controversial proposals, including linking teachers’ performance to their students’ test scores. States were judged on a 500-point scale that examined the applicants’ commitment to various reforms, including implementing more sophisticated data systems to track student progress and intervening in low-performing schools.

Several states, including Texas, did not apply for the first round of funding.

California could have received up to $700 million, according to federal officials.

It is unclear why California was not selected, but some experts were pessimistic about the state’s chances because fewer than half of school districts and teachers unions agreed to sign an agreement requiring them to abide by the reforms.

The 16 finalists are: Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee.

California can apply for a second phase of funding this summer.

Race to the Top was a way for the Obama administration to pressure school districts to take on reforms — if they had the political will to do so. Budget cuts to education led many states to make changes to become eligible for the federal dollars.

— Jason Song and Howard Blume

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The Los Angeles school board voted Tuesday to send about 5,200 preliminary layoff notices to teachers and other employees because of a large budget deficit.

The school district is facing a $640-million shortfall and officials have proposed shortening the school year, mandated furlough days for some employees, and asked union leadership to make salary concessions in efforts to cut costs.

The unanimous vote affects about 2,300 teachers. Final layoff notices could be issued during the summer.

— Jason Song reporting from Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters

Law enforcement officers and volunteers searched Saturday for a 17-year-old Poway High School senior who has been missing since Thursday.

Chelsea King’s parents reported her disappearance after she failed to return from a run near Lake Hodges. Her BMW was found in the Rancho Bernardo Community Park, an area where she regularly went on long runs, according to a message from the principal.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department  at (858) 565-5200. 

— Jason Song

Photo courtesy of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of students at three of the city’s worst-performing middle schools. The suit claims those students were denied their legal rights to an education and aims to prevent the Los Angeles Unified School District from laying off more teachers. 

The last round of L.A. Unified teacher firings led to chaotic conditions on some campuses that made learning nearly impossible, especially at Samuel Gompers, Edwin Markham and John H. Liechty middle schools, according to a complaint filed by the ACLU, Public Counsel and Morrison & Foerster. Between half and three-quarters of the teachers at those campuses were laid off last year, according to the class-action lawsuit filed in L.A. County Superior Court.

Because of a steep budget deficit, L.A. Unified officials issued thousands of layoff notices last year and are expected to order more this year. Citing state law, school districts typically dismiss teachers on the basis of seniority during budgetary shortfalls.

The cuts were especially devastating to Gompers, Markham and Liechty because administrators had recruited younger instructors who wanted to teach in the inner city. When those teachers were dismissed, they were often replaced by instructors who did not want to work in tough, urban schools, the suit alleges.

Many positions were also difficult to fill, so schools turned to substitutes, according to the lawsuit. Some of those teachers allowed the classes to turn chaotic or were unfamiliar with the subject matter. Several substitutes allegedly gave every student a "C" grade because they didn’t know the material well enough to grade students.

Teachers at the schools also say that layoffs have led to wasted money. Kirti Baranwal, a seventh-grade teacher at Gompers, said she and three other teachers started a reading program last year. But the other two teachers were laid off, and Baranwal said she had to retrain new staff this year.

"It’s a waste of time and money, and it leads to instability for the kids," she said.

Students at Gompers, Markham and Liechty do not have equal access to a quality education as students on other campuses, according to the suit, which also asks that no teachers be fired at the three middle school this year. L.A. Unified is facing a $640-million budget deficit, and officials have warned that teachers could be laid off. The district also has proposed furlough days and shortening the school year to close the gap.

Gompers and Markham are operated by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s nonprofit Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.

The lawsuit names the state of California and the school district as defendants.

— Jason Song

Photo:   Principal Sonia Miller of Gompers Middle
School talks with Elspeth Carden on her daily rounds. Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles
Times

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L.A. Unified Supt. Ramon C. Cortines has decided to go to work on Monday, a day he had originally planned to take off, although he will not be paid.

Cortines announced Thursday that he would take a furlough day to encourage others to do the same. The district is facing a deficit of up to $670 million, and officials have been urging union members to take four unpaid furlough days before June. If every L.A. Unified employee took four furlough days, the district could save an estimated $60 million.

But Cortines decided he had too much work to do and will go to the office. He will not be paid for his time.

— Jason Song

L.A. Unified Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said Thursday that he plans to take a furlough day next week and hopes other district employees follow his example.

The district is facing a deficit of up to $670 million and officials have been urging union members to take four unpaid furlough days. If every L.A. Unified employee took four furlough days, the district could save an estimated $60 million.

Four unions have agreed to take a monthly furlough day until May. Senior staff and non-union members must also take the time off. Teachers union officials have said they are willing to consider furlough days but want to make sure all other possibilities have been exhausted.

Cortines often reports to work before 5 a.m., so it remains to be seen whether he can resist making a few work-related phone calls Monday. It seems unlikely that he’ll attempt to run the district electronically, however, as the famously non-computer savvy superintendent doesn’t type his own e-mails.

–Jason Song