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The LA teachers union today intensified its attack against LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy and the administration over the management of the district’s new student data computer system.
For the second time in less than a week, the union put out a press release critical of Deasy and what UTLA says are his attempts to gloss-over the bungled roll-out of MiSiS, short for My Integrated Student Information System.
“When will Superintendent Deasy step up and admit the buck stops at his desk?” UTLA said in a statement released late today. “It is time for the school board to demand accountability from the Superintendent.”
So far, the only high ranking district administrator to take public responsibility for the debacle, which has left thousands of students un-enrolled and without the proper class assignments, is Chief Information Officer, Ron Chandler. Although he has acknowledged problems with the new program, which was designed to consolidate student data, Chandler has repeatedly downplayed the severity of them.
But UTLA has called out Matt Hill, Deasy’s Chief Strategy Officer, for his role in launching MiSiS before it was ready. In an internal memo sent Thursday afternoon to a list of undisclosed recipients, Hill said, “I realize at this point, apologies are not sufficient, so I will just say that your colleagues in IT are working as hard and fast as they can to get this system performing the way it should.”
The union’s demand for the school board’s intervention comes days before the swearing in of newly elected board member, George McKenna, who many believe with be a sympathetic vote for union-favored issues that come before the board.
McKenna’s addition to the board appears to shift the balance to a majority of teachers union-backed members, which could have a significant impact on labor contract negotiations as they resume later this month.
Board member Tamar Galatzan last week called for an investigation by the district’s inspector general’s office into the development and launch of MiSiS.
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