Community Organizations Support Appointment of Dr. John Deasy as New Superintendent for Los Angeles Unified School District

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- We encourage the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board to appoint Dr. John Deasy as the next superintendent succeeding Ramon Cortines.

We as community and civil rights leaders have had multiple opportunities to work with Dr. Deasy during the several months he has been with the district as deputy superintendent and applaud his vision and commitment to improving the quality of education in the nation's second-largest school district. Dr. Deasy not only brings 20 years' experience as a school district superintendent but commands the respect of others because of his accessible and transparent leadership style and proven track record working with teachers. We find Dr. Deasy to be incredibly experienced, highly competent, well respected and pragmatic about the work we need to do to improve our schools. He has demonstrated a sense of urgency to take best practices and models that are improving student opportunities for a quality education and apply them to LAUSD.

LAUSD is at a critical juncture and we must build on the momentum started by superintendent Cortines. We believe continuity of this leadership is of paramount importance and that Dr. Deasy is the best person in the country for this position. We face many challenges to improve our schools especially with the looming budget cuts and deficit – the time for decisive action is now.  

Education reform requires a major commitment from diverse constituents to work together. It does not rely on any single elected official but rather a strong partnership with community and civic leaders. Dr. Deasy understands the importance of involving community leaders and working in partnership with us in a shared vision to improve educational outcomes for all students at LAUSD.  

We applaud superintendent Cortines' visionary leadership and the work he has done to create more accountability in the system. His focus has been on the needs of students and making sure they receive an education that will successfully lead them to graduate prepared for college and the workforce.

We look forward to continue working with Dr. Deasy, superintendent Cortines, the School Board, teachers, labor, administrators, parents and other non profit organizations toward a quality education for all students.

SOURCE United Way of Greater Los Angeles