Job Openings: "Magnet School Principal" and "Superintendent" (soon)

MORE ON LAUSD happenings:
One news story in today's LA TIMES shows that a magnet school principal used the school credit card for personal use to the tune of over $150,000.00. He was in court Friday and entered a guilty plea on the charge of misappropriation of public funds, and ordered to pay restitution of $178,00.00 to the LAUSD. And he is just ONE who got caught because of the size of loss. Misappropriation of funds by credit card usage is a very significant area of waste and fraud in LAUSD.

Philip Toyotome of Arcadia was a principal at 32nd Street/USC Performing Arts Magnet, a school near USC, according to the story. He has resigned and since been replaced. You can see the story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-principal6-2008dec06,0,3524019.story

Another report on the use of school district credit cards is mentioned in the story, and that showed there was up to $1.8 million dollars misspent each year with the cards ($1,800,000.00).

Tax dollars that are collected is where all this money comes from. Schools also add to these tax dollars occasionally with some money, a small part, being from "gifts."

A $100,000.00 gift was the source of the money given to upgrade the Lincoln High auditorium and provide some training in fine arts, including music, in the name of Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, former LHS principal and founder of the AARP ("American Association of Retired Persons"). The auditorium was re-dedicated as the "Ethel Percy Andrus Theater."

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A second story today tells us that the LAUSD Board wants Supt. Brewer to step down. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd06-2008dec06,0,6988074.story The Board may just buyout the contract of Brewer. His contract is for $300,000.00 per year. LAUSD is so generous with money paid out but they have this tendency to pay out before they even know whether there's a reason to justify it. The payroll software that fouled up paychecks of employees for a year was one example, put into use when it was not really out of a beta-level of operation.

David Brewer might be a nice guy, but he's more and more looking like another LAUSD waste of money. Here's a column from Steve Lopez in the LA TIMES for tomorrow's column http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez7-2008dec07,0,877150.column If you want to see how the other half lives, check it out. This is the kind of behavior that we see too frequently in politicians and Brewer turns out to be no diferent. Expensive? Ouch.

Sandy Banks, another LA TIMES columnist has something to add about how Brewer is really not showing what your Superintendent should be about when it comes to the students. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks6-2008dec06,0,5614117.column

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A Concern at a Very Local Level

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As an aside, at the November alumni meeting, there was a problem mentioned in the formation of a marching band at Lincoln due to the numbers of students becoming ineligible for the program because they could not keep up a "C" grade average (2.0). An Alumni Association donation for band uniforms was made but it will be a bit longer until any of them will publicly used in performance.

This is all the information that I have and if it is accurate, it is a major disappointment for a couple of reasons.

1. That condition leaves us with no band. I saw Franklin High's band at the Veteran's Day parade and it shows a lot in terms of school pride being demonstrated when they perform, as with any school's band. We don't get that element operating at Lincoln that itself could promote a better level of morale and pride like the school had in those days we might still remember. Pride in a school should be something contagious, but that means it has to start somewhere to enable it to spread. The area of music should be where it could start. Music has the property of being something that touches everyone in many ways.
2. The fact that a "C" level is just barely "average" and that it can't be met is indicative of the academic problems at Lincoln, not just in terms of student performance lagging, but in the overall attitude of students that the need to "work as well as they can" in school is something the students don't seem to adopt as a necessity for success in school life.

I hope to be able to report here soon that there is a change happening.