LAUSD Chief Gets 'F' In Teachers Union Survey

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The union representing teachers with the Los Angeles Unified School District gave Superintendent John Deasy a "failing grade" in a performance review released Thursday.

Nearly 8,500 members of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) completed the 25-question Superintendent's Performance Review in May, which was modeled after an annual survey about teachers conducted at school sites district-wide.

The vast majority of LAUSD teachers and health and human services professionals who took the survey found Deasy's performance either "below average" or "poor."

The lowest score - ranked on a scale from one to five, with five being the highest - was for morale and spending money wisely, according to the UTLA.

When asked if the superintendent positively influenced the morale of the staff, 86 percent graded him below average or poor, while 85 percent found Deasy below average or poor when asked if he spent LAUSD money wisely.

UTLA President Warren Fletcher told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO the questionnaire was intended to provide constructive feedback to LAUSD officials.

"What we wanted to do is we wanted to be able to give the school board and the superintendent information that would help him improve and help the district be a better-run district," Fletcher said.

He deferred comment on any decision to potentially call for Deasy's firing to the union's House of Representatives, the governing body of UTLA.

The union held a symbolic "no confidence" vote on Deasy in April. Less than 50% of teachers took part in that vote, but 91 percent of teachers who voted said they did not have confidence in Deasy, according to Fletcher, who added the union's recent findings were "not inconsistent" with that vote.