MiSiS: The [John Deasy] Gift That Keeps On Giving

From the July 20, 2015 issue of Update

Just when we thought there could possibly be a light at the end of the dark and winding MiSiS road, the LAUSD community now faces another hurdle—faulty transcripts. Superintendent Cortines confirmed that there have been reporting issues with graduation requirements for students in the Class of 2015 resulting in potential errors on as many as 7,500 transcripts. For some reason, several transcripts show that students had met graduation requirements when they didn't and vice versa for other students. In other cases, summer school grades just disappeared from the system, affecting credits earned and matriculation to the next grade level. While it was announced that these most recent problems have been resolved, those in the field claim there are still inaccuracies. Several additional steps for school site and local district office staff have been put in place, most of them entailing checks and balances to ensure the accuracy of the information in MiSiS.

The issue with transcripts is not new. The same problems were occurring last October as seniors were preparing their college admissions applications. The District at that time hired retired educators to come in and verify by hand that the transcripts were correct and students were asked to compare their new transcripts with their old report cards. Several more millions of dollars were allocated to fix the problem then, so it is unsettling to see that the same thing is reoccurring now.

Superintendent Cortines had hoped that the system would be operating correctly by now, but recently admitted that it may take all of 2015-16 to get it fully functional. Last week, the MiSiS log of unresolved problems still exceeded 350. School staff members report that as soon as one problem is resolved another pops up. And now as we are less than a month away from the start of the new school year, administrators, counselors and teachers are holding their breaths that students will have accurate class schedules, that attendance reporting will be correct and enrollment counts can be taken.

MiSiS: The [John Deasy] Gift That Keeps On Giving

K12NN Wire: Alex Johnson, who ducked my interview and at least six candidate forums, asks why Dr. McKenna won't respond to the Deasy School Report?

First published on K12NN Wire on August 11, 2014

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He has dodged multiple requests for policy positions, undoubtably because he is a hand puppet for the neoliberal corporate education reformers. — Robert D. Skeels

Neoliberal corporate education reform candidate for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Alex Johnson holds a Juris Doctor, while I am merely a first year law student. That said, I've already learned that one doesn't respond to factual evidence with spurious rumors and outright lies. Johnson somehow never learned that lesson. To wit, in response to my carefully documented list of his recent donors, Johnson made the mendaciousness and shameless claim that the Reverend Jesse Jackson took money to endorse Dr. George McKenna.

Learning nothing from that experience, Johnson responded to the viral article calling him out on his Jackson lie by implying that Dr. McKenna refuses to go on record with his stances on issues:

Where is @electmckenna on LAUSD issues? We don't know because he won't say. @sikivuhutch @rdsathene @LASchoolReport http://t.co/kyjXo6QUoN

— Alex Johnson (@JohnsonCampaign) August 10, 2014

Absurd on its face, Johnson's latest statement is problematic in several regards. First, Johnson is not really in a position to talk. I spent roughly ninety days calling, emailing, and tweeting to Johnson, pleading for an opportunity to interview him on his policy positions. The opening quote in this essay is the result of those efforts. Moreover, Johnson missed no less than six community forums during the primary election, including:

April 14, New Frontier Democratic Club

DWP Community Room

April 19, Committee For New South LA

West Adams Church

May 8, Black Parent Union

Betty Hill Senior Center

May 12, California Community of Elders, reparations United, council of Black Political Organizations and ACCE Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment

Vision Theatre

May 15, Dr. MLK Cultural Committee

Holly Park Center Gardena

May 19, South Los Angeles Area Neighborhood Council

Angeles Mesa Elementary School

The one forum I did see him at (USC), all he could manage to do is spout meaningless platitudes and parrot California Charter School Association talking points. He sounded vapid and vacuous, as do most school board candidates lacking pedagogical backgrounds; candidates who view LAUSD as a stepping stone to higher office.

Jamie Alter-Lynton's blog byline should read "what Deasy wants you to think is really going on in LAUSD"

The second issue is that the link in Johnson's tweet is to the notorious Deasy School Report*, an anti-public education blog created by Jamie Alter-Lynton, a wealthy reactionary who sits as a board member on Superintendent John Deasy's LA Fund slush 501c3. Alter-Lynton, sibling of corrupt charter cheerleader Jonathan Alter, practices Breitbart style "journalism" — feeling that outlets like the LA Times and LA Daily News weren't planted in the the neoliberal corporate reform camp firmly enough. Her Ayn Rand leaning views on the public sector are second to her almost maniacal hatred of working class schoolteachers. One can really gauge Alter-Lynton by her letting go of both Alexander Russo and Hillel Aron. Neither of those writers would ever be accused of supporting public schools or saying anything positive about teachers, but they weren't willing to pursue the white whale with Alter-Lynton's Ahab-like vengeance.

The distinguished Dr. George McKenna owes nothing to Alex Johnson, the Deasy School Report, or Jamie Alter-Lynton. He is right not to respond to her constant badgering and attention seeking. The best thing we could all do is allow Alter-Lynton's me-too-reformer blog die a deserved death of obscurity by not visiting or linking to it.

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* Properly "LA School Report," but most activists don't call it by that very misleading name.

K12NN Wire: Alex Johnson, who ducked my interview and at least six candidate forums, asks why Dr. McKenna won't respond to the Deasy School Report?