Essential Education: A new school year begins at L.A. Unified

USC appointed a retired aerospace executive as interim president and laid out a detailed plan for selecting a permanent leader Tuesday, ending speculation about whether outgoing President C.L. Max Nikias might remain in the post.

Nikias, embattled over his administration’s handling of a campus gynecologist accused of sexually abusing patients, relinquished his duties after a meeting of USC’s board. The trustees tapped one of their own, Wanda Austin, an alumna and former president of the Aerospace Corp., to temporarily run the university.

The trustees also approved the formation of a search committee and the hiring of firm Isaacson, Miller to coordinate the selection of a successor. A second search company, Heidrick & Struggles, will also advise trustees.

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A former student sued the elite Brentwood School on Monday in the wake of a female teacher being charged with repeatedly having sex with the minor, alleging that other faculty members encouraged the unlawful behavior and failed to report it to authorities.

The lawsuit accuses the private school, whose students include the children of many of Hollywood’s elite and L.A.’s powerful, of acting negligently and allowing Aimee Palmitessa to abuse and batter the teenager sexually.

The suit alleges that the student was abused in summer 2017 after one of the school’s counselors offered words of encouragement to the then-17-year-old, identified in the suit as only John Doe, to engage in an illegal relationship with the teacher.

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The Montebello school district is in dire straits — at risk of insolvency and under apparent criminal investigation.

An outside audit in July found some teachers earning more than $200,000 a year, as well as improper raises, excess paid vacation time and inappropriate overtime, sick leave and car allowances.

Fixing the district and pinpointing blame could take time.

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After the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, Los Angeles school officials reassured parents that much had been done to keep local schools safe. California had tougher gun laws, after all, and the school district paid close attention to students’ mental health.

But a new report issued Monday by a panel convened to take a close look offers some cause for concern, flagging inconsistent campus safety measures, thinly spread mental health staff and inadequate coordination between the school district and other public agencies.

“With the stakes this high, we must strive to do better,” said L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer, who assembled the panel.

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The L.A. Unified School District has hopes of continuing its winning streak this year with another record graduation rate, but the official numbers may not show it.

A senior district administrator warned the board Tuesday that graduation rates were likely to decline 2% to 3% across the state, even though L.A. Unified is likely doing better than ever in producing graduates, he said.

The issue is that the state will now count high school students who transfer to adult school as dropouts, said Oscar Lafarga, who heads the district’s office of data and accountability. Previously, schools treated these students as though they had simply enrolled in another high school, he said.

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Boarding school conjures a certain image: children in preppy blazers, leafy quadrangles in New England and tuition that costs more than many families earn in a year.

That stereotype would not apply if officials carry out their vision for a dusty, trash-strewn lot in South Los Angeles that has sat vacant for more than two decades.

Their pitch? A transportation boarding school, free to its students.

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In April, California’s top education officials breathed a sigh of relief. After months of debate and back-and-forth with Betsy DeVos’ staff, they had finalized a plan to satisfy a major education law that aims to make sure all students get a decent education.

The state focused on aligning its plan to fulfill the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act with California’s Local Control Funding Formula, which gives extra money to districts to help students who come from low-income families, are in the foster system or are English learners.

But this week, DeVos’ team said not so fast.

Jason Botel, the U.S. Department of Education’s principal deputy assistant secretary, sent California education officials a letter asking for more information in such areas as measuring student progress, graduation rates and English learners.

In an unsigned statement, the California Department of Education declared itself “surprised and disappointed” because officials thought — after a meeting with federal officials in Washington — that they were on the right track to get approval.

Now the Every Student Succeeds Act plan will be up for discussion once again at the July meeting of the State Board of Education.

The U.S. Department of Education has already approved most state plans.

Every Student Succeeds is the Obama administration’s 2015 replacement for the No Child Left Behind Act.

Last month, Los Angeles’ school board president proposed a spate of highly ambitious mandates aimed at ensuring that every district graduate be eligible to apply to one of the state’s public four-year universities by 2023.

By the time the L.A. Unified school board unanimously approved the resolution Tuesday, the original language had been watered down. The goal is no longer that in five years 100% of students meet the long list of benchmarks, which include not just college eligibility for graduates but first-grade reading proficiency and English fluency by sixth grade for all students who enter the district in kindergarten or first grade speaking another language.

The original college-readiness goal, for example, called for “100% of all high school students” to be eligible to apply to one of the state’s four-year universities. Now the goal seems to offer more wiggle room: “Prepare all high school graduates to be eligible to apply to a California four-year university.”

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USC student Anika Narayanan says she vividly recalls her first appointment with Dr. George Tyndall at the campus health center, alleging that he made several explicit comments during an examination she felt was inappropriate and invasive.

When she came back for a second visit in 2016 after a “nonconsensual sexual encounter,” he allegedly chastised her, she said in a civil lawsuit and at a press conference Tuesday. He “asked me if I had ‘forgotten to use a condom again,’ ” said Narayanan, 21.

At one point, she said, Tyndall asked “if I did a lot of ‘doggy style,’ ” she said.

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The Los Angeles school board on Tuesday extended the contract of Ken Bramlett, its inspector general, by three months, though his job is far from secure and questions remain about the future direction of his watchdog office.

Board members also unanimously promoted Vivian Ekchian, who had been the runner-up for the superintendent’s job, to deputy superintendent — the district’s No. 2 position.

Both moves had elements of peacemaking between different factions on the board.

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The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into how the University of Southern California handled misconduct complaints against a campus gynecologist, the latest fallout in a scandal that has prompted the resignation of USC’s president, two law enforcement investigations and dozens of lawsuits.

In revealing the inquiry by the department’s Office of Civil Rights, officials rebuked USC for what they alleged was improper withholding of information about Dr. George Tyndall during a previous federal investigation.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has been criticized for taking a less vigorous approach to examining sexual misconduct than predecessors, called for a “systemic” examination of USC and urged administrators to fully cooperate.

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Happy summer! As teachers and students take a break, this daily roundup will be on summer hiatus. But please do come back here for education coverage, and if there’s anything you feel we’re missing, let us know.

In and around Southern California:

L.A. Unified’s school board is choosing to not renew the contract of its independent inspector general.

A drug that reverses opioid overdoses is now available in Carlsbad schools.

Around the state:

State legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown are getting closer to reaching a deal on the state’s education budget.

Four financially distressed school districts, including Oakland and Inglewood, have asked the state to defer their loan repayment.

Nationwide:

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students performed “Seasons of Love” at Sunday’s Tony Awards in New York.

How to address suicide when talking to students.

Tony Thurmond and Marshall Tuck

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press; Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

In and around Southern California:

Why L.A. Unified may face financial crisis even with a large surplus this year.

An outside task force released a report saying that the district’s spending in key areas is out of step with comparable school districts.

L.A.’s school board president wants to have every graduate meeting requirements to enroll in one of the state’s public four-year universities by 2023.

A former vice dean of USC’s Keck School of Medicine testified that he expressed concerns about former dean Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito’s general well-being to the university’s No. 2 administrator before Puliafito abruptly left his job in 2016.

Around the state:

Gubernatorial primary winner Gavin Newsom talks about his struggle with dyslexia.

After this week’s voting, Marshall Tuck and Tony Thurmond — with well-heeled backers from the worlds of charter schools and teachers unions respectively — will face off in November to be state schools chief.

Nationwide:

Speakers urged Betsy DeVos’ school safety commission to focus on mental health, not arming school personnel.

New research has found that the more years you spend in school, the more likely you are to be nearsighted.

Just 31.9% of recent graduates meet requirements to enroll in a California public four-year university.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Former Los Angeles schools Supt. Michelle King made “100% graduation” her central goal for the nation’s second-largest school district. Now the school board president wants to up the ante — and, by 2023, have every student graduate meeting requirements to enroll in one of the state’s public four-year universities.

According to LAUSD board President Monica Garcia’s resolution, titled Realizing the Promise for All: Close the Gap by 2023, just 31.9% of recent graduates meet those requirements. The district currently allows students to graduate with D grades in the required classes instead of the minimum C grades that Cal State and the University of California require.

The board is scheduled to vote on the resolution Tuesday.

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A woman and her boyfriend are expected to be sentenced Thursday for the torture and murder of an 8-year-old boy whose killing in 2013 provoked public outrage, prompted sweeping reform of Los Angeles County’s child welfare system, and led to unprecedented criminal charges against social workers who handled the child’s case.

Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 34, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the death of her son, Gabriel. A jury decided last year that her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, 37, should be executed.

When paramedics arrived at the boy’s Palmdale home in May 2013, Gabriel had slipped out of consciousness. He had a fractured skull, broken ribs, burned skin, missing teeth and BB pellets embedded in his groin. A paramedic would later testify that every inch of the boy’s small body had been abused.

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The Los Angeles school district is out of step with similar school systems, spending more on teachers’ pay and health benefits and less on activities that could enhance student learning, according to a new report by an outside task force.

The L.A. Unified School District Advisory Task Force did not make specific recommendations, but instead posed a series of questions it said the district needs to answer to make sure its funding is aimed at providing a full opportunity for all students to succeed.

“What we’re trying to say is: Let’s put the data on the table. Let’s look at the truth. Let’s be transparent and here are the numbers,” said task force member Renata Simril. “This is not to say that … we should cut teachers’ salaries.”

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A former vice dean of USC’s Keck School of Medicine testified Tuesday that he feared the school’s then-dean, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, “could be doing drugs” and expressed concerns about his general well-being to the university’s No. 2 administrator before Puliafito abruptly left his job in 2016.

Dr. Henri Ford’s testimony at a hearing of the state Medical Board marks the first suggestion that any USC administrator had suspicions about Puliafito’s possible drug use before he stepped down. A Times investigation in 2017 found Puliafito led a secret second life of using illegal drugs with a circle of young criminals and addicts. Puliafito testified about his behavior at the hearing Tuesday, saying he took drugs with one young woman on a weekly basis.

Ford said that he decided to alert USC Provost Michael Quick after receiving reports in early 2016 that Puliafito was partying in hotels with people of “questionable reputation,” and that he came to worry about his mental stability.

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With more than half a billion dollars socked away for next school year, the Los Angeles Unified School District hardly seems just two years from financial ruin. It’s a scenario that is especially tough to swallow if you’re a low-wage worker seeking a raise or a teacher who wants smaller classes.

But budget documents show that today’s $548-million surplus cannot be sustained — and that even basic services face steep, seemingly unavoidable cuts because of massive problems barreling the district’s way.

“There’s a disconnect between the rosy short-term picture and what we know is coming,” said board member Kelly Gonez.

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Willow Bay, dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, speaks at the commencement ceremony in May.

(Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

In and around Southern California:

Several USC deans have sent out messages trying to reassure students and faculty that the university is committed to changing in light of misconduct allegations against the university’s longtime gynecologist.

These are the stories of the gynecologist’s former patients.

A key moment in the record of former L.A. Mayor — and current gubernatorial candidate — Antonio Villaraigosa came when he tried to take control of L.A. Unified.

Around the state:

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra issued a consumer alert to tell teachers that some of their federal grants might have been wrongly converted into loans.

How some California students graduated from state colleges in four years.

Nationwide:

Graduation at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School honored the four seniors who died in the school shooting.

In an effort to make the city’s selective public schools more diverse, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed scrapping a specialized admissions test.

Top administrators at USC are reaching out to students in the wake of misconduct allegations against the university’s longtime gynecologist, acknowledging failings and vowing reforms as they try to address growing outrage over the revelations.

Several USC deans have sent out messages trying to reassure students and faculty that the university is committed to changing.

“We have failed,” wrote Jack H. Knott, dean of USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a May 24 letter. “What happened is antithetical to everything we know is right.”

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It’s harder to learn in the heat, research finds.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

Rick Caruso, owner of the Grove and other prominent shopping centers, has been elected to lead USC’s board of trustees.In his first act as chair, he announced an outside investigation of the conduct of longtime campus gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall and of “reporting failures.”

Around the state:

Higher education advocates want the next governor to push increased funding and engagement with California’s public universities.

Outgoing state schools chief Tom Torlakson announced a plan designed to get students learning more languages.

Nationwide:

New research found that hotter temperatures make it harder for students to learn.

Betsy DeVos’ first trip for her school safety commission focused on behavioral interventions, not guns.

The University of Southern California’s board of trustees has elected mall magnate Rick Caruso to be the new chair of the board, giving fresh leadership as the university navigates a widening scandal involving a longtime campus gynecologist.

The move marks the latest effort by USC to address the case, which has sparked a criminal investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and dozens of civil lawsuits. More than 400 people have contacted a hotline that the university established for patients to make reports about their experience with Dr. George Tyndall.

In his first act as chairman, Caruso announced that the white-shoe L.A. law firm O’Melveny & Myers would conduct a “thorough and independent investigation” into the gynecologist’s conduct and “reporting failures” at the clinic. He set an ambitious timeline for the review, pledging it would conclude before students return for the fall semester.

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Tony Thurmond and Marshall Tuck

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press; Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

In and around Southern California:

State regulators suspended a UCLA cardiologist’s license, calling him a sexual predator.

Around the state:

The two major players in the state schools chief election are teachers unions and charter schools — and their big spending tends to blur a clear picture of the front-runners.

A UC Berkeley student is behind the push for a new law that loosens some requirements for in-state tuition.

Nationwide:

Cellphone videos surface of the Parkland school shooting suspect announcing his intention to kill students.

A federal magistrate has blocked the U.S. Department of Education from paring back a loan relief program for defrauded students at the failed Corinthian Colleges chain.

Ifechukwu Okeke thought she’d be a shoo-in for in-state tuition when she was admitted to UC Berkeley for fall 2016.

She had moved to the United States from Nigeria in 2012 to go to Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga. By the time she got her acceptance to transfer to UC to study molecular and cell biology, she had lived in California four years. She had a California driver’s license, bank account and rental records as proof.

UC Berkeley, however, ruled she was a nonresident — which meant she would have to pay nearly $27,000 more.

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A UCLA cardiologist has been temporarily stripped of his medical license after state regulators described him as a “sexual predator” who assaulted three female colleagues when he was working and training at L.A. County-USC Medical Center.

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In the race for state superintendent of public instruction, standard party affiliations don’t much matter. The two major players here are teachers unions and charter schools — and their big spending tends to blur a clear picture of the front-runners.

The charter camp supports Marshall Tuck, an education consultant and Democrat who formerly managed turnaround efforts at a group of low-performing Los Angeles public schools. The pick of the teachers unions is state Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, also a Democrat, who represents the Richmond area, north of Oakland.

Spending by outside groups has surpassed $10 million — even though California’s schools mostly are managed by local school boards.

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Tom Torlakson

(Andrew Seng / Associated Press)

Outgoing state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Wednesday announced a new statewide effort to encourage students to learn more languages.

Called Global California 2030, its goal is to help more students become fluent in multiple tongues.

Torlakson said that by 2030, he wants half of the state’s 6.2 million K-12 students to participate in classes or programs that lead to proficiency in two or more languages. By 2040, he wants three out of four students to be proficient enough to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy.

Torlakson announced the initiative at Cahuenga Elementary School, which offers a dual-language immersion program in English and Korean.

California’s public school students speak more than 60 languages at home, and 40% come to school with knowledge of a language other than English.

Torlakson called his plan a “call to action” that invites parents, legislators, educators and community members to pool resources to expand language offerings in schools and get more bilingual teachers trained. He said the state already is working with Mexico and Spain to expand a teacher-exchange program.

Fluency, the plan argues, can help students succeed economically — and language acquisition can help their overall critical thinking.

The initiative builds on Proposition 58, a ballot initiative passed in 2016 that undid an earlier requirement that English learners be taught in English-immersion classes unless their parents signed waivers.

Torlakson recently visited Mexico and met with that country’s education secretary. They later signed a pact to increase collaboration, particularly in language education.

“This [Global California 2030] is great follow-through on Tom’s part and very important,” Patricia Gándara, a UCLA education professor who hosted the Mexico meeting, said in an email. “It hands over a plan to move forward in an area in which California has a unique advantage, but must seize the opportunity.”

Parents, students and alumni of the Marlton School in Baldwin Hills rally to demand new leadership.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

Some parents at L.A.’s only school for the deaf think the school is in crisis and say they are considering withdrawing their children.

The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a sweeping probe into USC’s longtime campus gynecologist, saying it will investigate 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients.

A jury found a man guilty of murder in the death of a UCLA student whose body was found inside her burning apartment in 2015.

Around the state:

How California’s gubernatorial candidates responded to a detailed questionnaire about education.

Candidates for governor and for state schools chief — and their supporters — have accelerated their spending as the election nears.

Nationwide:

When a Kentucky Catholic school didn’t let its gay valedictorian speak, he brought a bullhorn. Students, teachers and family members formed a semicircle around him so he could talk.

A video game that simulates being an active shooter was pulled after Parkland parents spoke up.

A jury on Tuesday convicted a man in the 2015 slaying of a UCLA student found dead inside her burning apartment — a gruesome stabbing case that led to a fierce rebuke of the police response amid concerns that the killing could have been prevented.

The panel deliberated for about six hours before finding Alberto Medina, 24, guilty of murder, arson, burglary and animal cruelty.

On Sept. 21, 2015, firefighters found the charred body of Andrea DelVesco inside her apartment after responding to the complex a block from campus. The 21-year-old student — an Austin, Texas, native known to her sorority sisters as a “fearless giver” who befriended others with ease — was stabbed at least 19 times, authorities said.

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The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients of USC’s longtime campus gynecologist as detectives launch a sweeping criminal probe into the scandal that has rocked the university.

LAPD detectives also made an appeal for other patients who feel mistreated to come forward, noting that thousands of students were examined by Dr. George Tyndall during his nearly 30-year career at USC. More than 410 people have contacted a university hotline about the physician since The Times revealed the allegations this month.

Tyndall’s “behavior and practices appear to go beyond the norms of the medical profession and gynecological examinations,” said Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala. “We sincerely realize that victims may have difficulty recounting such details to investigators. We are empathetic and ready to listen.”

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Ever since her son was 6 months old, Juliet Hidalgo has been bringing him to the Marlton School, a low-slung building in Baldwin Hills that for generations has been a second home for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Los Angeles.

Marlton staff taught Hidalgo’s brother and sister, both of whom are deaf. The school was where her deaf son learned to make the signs for “milk” and “food.” Hidalgo had planned to enroll her daughter, taking advantage of a popular program that allows hearing children to learn American Sign Language alongside their deaf siblings.

But after more than a decade of involvement, she and other family members are considering withdrawing their children. They are not alone.

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An unprecedented amount of money from wealthy donors, unions and corporations is flowing into the California governor’s race, giving independent groups — unrestricted by contribution limits — a greater say in picking the state’s chief executive than ever before.

The groups have already spent more than $26 million through Thursday, the most ever spent by noncandidate committees in a gubernatorial primary, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance reports.

“California elections have always been expensive, and the future is even more expensive,” said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former state Republican leader. “The stakes are very real.”

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USC President C.L. Max Nikias, whose tenure was marked by a significant boost in the university’s prestige and fundraising prowess but tarnished by a series of damaging scandals, is stepping down from his post, the university’s Board of Trustees announced Friday.

The move comes after more than a week of uproar over the university’s handling of a longtime campus gynecologist accused of misconduct toward female students. More than 300 people, most of them former female patients of Dr. George Tyndall, have since come forward to USC, many with allegations of mistreatment and sexual abuse that date back to the early 1990s.

The revelations published by The Times heightened long-festering concerns about university leaders’ ethics and management style and sparked calls for Nikias to resign.

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In and around Southern California:

Unions aren’t giving new L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner a honeymoon period. They organized a large rally and job action within his first two weeks on the job.

As more women come forward with complaints about a campus gynecologist’s behavior, the USC Board of Trustees announced it would hire independent attorneys to investigate.

At least 300 people so far have called a USC hotline about the gynecologist, Dr. George Tyndall. The school has begun sharing names of former patients with the Los Angeles Police Department.

The USC Academic Senate called on President C.L. Max Nikias to resign.

Around the state:

California’s public universities are poised to get major funding boosts to help them enroll more students.

UC Regents approved a leaner, more transparent budget for UC President Janet Napolitano.

Black and Latino students have access to fewer advanced math and science courses than their peers, data show.

Nationwide:

A shooting at a suburban Indianapolis middle school Friday appears to have left two people wounded.

The Human Rights Campaign projected a video message onto the U.S. Department of Education building, asking Betsy DeVos how she sleeps at night when so few LGBTQ students feel safe in school.

Authorities say two victims in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis school are being taken to a hospital and the lone suspect is in custody.

Bryant Orem, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, said in a news release that the victims in Friday morning’s attack at Noblesville West Middle School are being taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and their families have been notified. He says no other information is available about the victims.

Orem said the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. No additional information about the suspect was made public.

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In the less than two weeks since Austin Beutner took charge of Los Angeles schools, unions representing teachers and administrators have staged a job action and a protest.

They’ve made it clear that they will not give the new superintendent the traditional honeymoon period, and they are bashing him for his wealth and lack of experience running either a school or a school district.

“Beutner is a billionaire investment banker with zero qualifications,” local teachers union President Alex Caputo-Pearl told members in a phone alert urging them to participate in a Thursday afternoon rally in Grand Park. “The board is saying that billionaires who made their money blowing institutions up and making money off it know best — not the education professionals who have dedicated our careers to working with students.”

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USC’s large and powerful Board of Trustees is coming under growing pressure to provide a stronger hand as the university faces a crisis over misconduct allegations against the campus’ longtime gynecologist that has prompted calls for President C.L. Max Nikias to step down.

Allegations that Dr. George Tyndall mistreated students during his nearly 30 years at USC have roiled the campus, with about 300 people coming forward to make reports to the university and the Los Angeles Police Department launching a criminal investigation. USC is already beginning to face what is expected to be costly litigation by women who say they were victimized by the physician.

So far, the trustees to whom Nikias reports have expressed sympathy for the women who have come forward and launched an independent investigation while also publicly backing the president.

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University of California regents on Thursday unanimously approved a leaner, more transparent budget for President Janet Napolitano, moving to address political criticism over the system’s central office operations.

The $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 reflects spending cuts of 2%, including reductions in staffing, travel and such systemwide programs as public service law fellowships, carbon neutrality and food security.

Napolitano shifted $30 million to campuses for housing needs and $10 million to UC Riverside to support its five-year-old medical school. She also permanently redirected $8.5 million annually to help enroll more California students, as required by the state.

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The body that represents USC’s faculty called on President C.L. Max Nikias to resign Wednesday in the wake of relevations that the university’s longtime gynecologist faced years of accusations of misconduct by students and colleagues at the campus’ health clinic.

The Academic Senate took the vote late Wednesday afternoon after a fiery town hall meeting attended by more than 100 faculty members, many of whom voiced outrage over Nikias and the Board of Trustees’ leadership. The vote came a day after the trustees’ executive committee stood firmly behind Nikias, saying it has “full confidence” in his leadership, ethics and values.

At the town hall meeting, Senate President Paul Rosenbloom said he did not think Nikias or Provost Michael Quick committed wrongdoing but that the university president deserved criticism for a lack of transparency.

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The University of California and California State University systems are poised to get major funding boosts that will help them enroll thousands of additional state students and eliminate the need for tuition increases in the coming school year.

A key Assembly budget panel on Wednesday approved $117.5 million in new funds for the UC. A Senate panel approved a similar sum last week.

The same committees recently approved even more funding for the Cal State system.

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USC President C.L. Max Nikias

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

Two hundred USC faculty members are demanding that university President C.L. Max Nikias resign.

County prosecutors are reviewing a complaint alleging that the Los Angeles Unified School District violated an open-meeting law during the selection of Supt. Austin Beutner.

Around the state:

The University of California regents, meeting in San Francisco, plan to take a close look at President Janet Napolitano’s budget.

State legislative panels have approved millions more in funding for Cal State. Now they have to negotiate with the governor.

Nationwide:

Civil rights groups called Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos ignorant for saying that schools can decide whether to report undocumented students to immigration officials.

To get away from systemic racism, some black families turn to homeschooling.

University of California regents this week plan to scrutinize the budget of President Janet Napolitano, whose office came under political fire last year for questionable spending and murky accounting.

Regents will vote on the proposed $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 during their two-day meeting, which starts Wednesday, at UC San Francisco. They also will discuss state funding, financial aid, online education and transfer student policies.

Board Chairman George Kieffer said regents are stepping up to exert stronger oversight of the president’s office after a blistering state audit last year found financial problems including an unreported $175 million budget reserve.

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After months of intensive lobbying, Cal State University has convinced two key legislative panels to approve funding to enroll nearly 11,000 more students, hire more faculty and expand housing aid to those without shelter this fall.

An Assembly budget panel on Tuesday approved $215.7 million more for Cal State, adding to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed $92.1 million general fund increase. A Senate budget panel approved a similar increase last week.

The extra funding — which went beyond Cal State’s own request to the Legislature of $171 million — is still subject to final budget negotiations with Brown. But the actions by the Senate and Assembly panels amount to a demand from Democrats that the governor hike higher education spending.

“Cal State University is the workhorse undergraduate university serving hundreds of thousands of Californians,” said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who heads the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance. “We need more graduates for the California workforce and higher education is the ticket to the middle class.”

Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White hailed the actions, but said it was too soon to celebrate.

“The CSU has a singular focus on helping students earn high-quality degrees sooner, and the entire university community has rallied to reinforce that message to our state’s lawmakers,” he said in a statement. “The actions taken thus far by the Assembly and Senate are promising and show that our message is being received, but there is still work to be done.”

Funding for the University of California was not taken up Tuesday as originally scheduled. McCarty would not comment on sticking points but said he was “confident” that a resolution would be reached this week.

“We’re looking to provide resources above what’s in the governor’s budget, but negotiations are ongoing,” he said in an interview.

State per-student funding is not what it once was, leaving both Cal State and the UC in a tough financial squeeze. Both systems raised tuition last year after a six-year freeze on higher costs.

For this year, Cal State had asked for funding to enroll an additional 3,621 students, but both the Senate and Assembly panels approved three times that amount. Cal State, the largest public university system in the nation, turned away 32,000 eligible students last year because its campuses weren’t able to accommodate them.

The panels asked that at least $50 million of the extra funding be used to hire more tenure-track faculty to help boost graduation rates. The Assembly panel also approved one-time funding of $5 million to ease hunger on campuses and $14 million for “rapid rehousing” pilot projects at three campuses, offering needy students rental support and short-term case management.

Other items approved include $5 million to support the CSU Long Beach Shark Lab’s research on sharks and beach safety and $2 million for equal employment opportunity practices.

This post has been updated to include comments from Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White.

Two hundred USC professors on Tuesday demanded the resignation of university President C. L. Max Nikias, saying he had “lost the moral authority to lead” in the wake of revelations that a campus gynecologist was kept on staff for decades despite repeated complaints of misconduct.

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Viva Symanski, 30, was among six women who filed a lawsuit Monday against USC.

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

Six women are suing USC, alleging that campus gynecologist George Tyndall sexually victimized them.

Columnist Robin Abcarian writes about the growing condemnation of USC leadership in the face of recently revealed scandals.

Around the state:

Educators are advocating for a significant increase in K-12 funding.

How Oakland International High School became a model for educating immigrants.

Nationwide:

The local sheriff said the way law enforcement isolated the Santa Fe, Texas, school shooter prevented him from killing more people.

A look at grass-roots efforts to try to fight New York City school segregation.

Minutes after a school shooter opened fire in an art class last week, killing 10 people and wounding 13, including a local police officer, fellow officers returned fire in a protracted gun battle before isolating the suspect, the local sheriff said Monday.

Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset praised first responders as well as Santa Fe Police Officer John Barnes, who was working as a resource officer at the school the day of the shooting. Their actions, he said, prevented the attack from spreading to other classrooms and potentially claiming additional victims.

As officials continue to probe last Friday’s shooting at Santa Fe High School, students are worried about returning to the scene of the attack when classes resume next week.

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Six women filed civil lawsuits Monday alleging that a longtime gynecologist at the University of Southern California sexually victimized them under the pretext of medical care and that USC failed to address complaints from clinic staff about the doctor’s behavior.

One woman alleged Dr. George Tyndall forced his entire ungloved hand into her vagina during an appointment in 2003 while making “vulgar” remarks about her genitalia, according to one of the lawsuits. Another woman alleged that Tyndall groped her breasts in a 2008 visit and that later he falsely told her she “likely had AIDS.” A third woman accused the doctor of grazing his ungloved fingers over her nude body and leering at her during a purported skin exam, the lawsuit states.

The wave of litigation comes as USC continues to grapple with the scandal, which legal experts said could prove costly to the university as scores of former patients come forward about their experiences with the gynecologist.

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Dr. George Tyndall, the sole full-time gynecologist at USC’s student health center for 27 years.

(USC, left,; Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

USC has heavily recruited students from China, but the school’s bond with the country has been shaken by allegations of misconduct by a longtime campus gynecologist.

Some see a pattern in the recent scandals that have plagued USC.

Meghan Markle’s Los Feliz school wants the world to learn about what its most famous alumna was really like.

Around the state:

Read about Jacque Garcia, a Compton-raised boxer who just graduated from UC Berkeley.

California doesn’t track what happens to its public school graduates.

Nationwide:

A look at the lives lost at Santa Fe High School on Friday.

Survivors of the Parkland, Fla., shooting sent their condolences to the survivors in Texas, but also expressed their outrage.

Houston-area media citing unnamed law enforcement officials are reporting that there are fatalities following a shooting at a local high school Friday morning.

Television station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are citing unnamed federal, county and police officials following the shooting at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports.

The school district has confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but said it wouldn’t immediately release further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson said a suspect “has been arrested and secured.”

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Melissa Barales-Lopez, a senior at Garfield High School followed Supt. Austin Beutner on his first day on the job, as he toured a variety of programs around the Los Angeles Unified School District. Here’s what she took from the experience.

LAUSD students and staff alike are looking for a personal champion, someone who will address and improve the difficulties afflicting their education. … What LAUSD students need is someone who’s willing to listen and learn, someone who can understand the current issues affecting their schools and act to efficiently amend them, someone who can unlock the full potential of LAUSD students and enable them to reach their goals.

During the entirety of his first day, superintendent Austin Beutner did indeed demonstrate a willingness to learn. Posing questions to teachers and students, Beutner engaged with the student communities he encountered to gain a better comprehension of the minutiae and nuances that distinguish each school inside an overwhelmingly large district.

From inquiries about Grand View Boulevard Elementary School’s dual language program to questions regarding the services of LAUSD’s after-school program, Beyond the Bell, Beutner revealed he has a lot to learn about the system. But, Beutner also showcased a willingness to tackle challenges head-on on his first day.

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In and around Southern California:

A USC gynecologist was allowed to continue practicing even after years of accusations of misconduct toward young women.

Austin Beutner spent his first day as L.A. Unified superintendent on a 13-hour crash course featuring different types of schools across the district.

Around the state:

Former state schools chief and current gubernatorial candidate Delaine Eastin debuted a video featuring her opponents agreeing with her.

Cal State officials plan a big lobbying push in an effort to get more state funding.

Nationwide:

North Carolina is the latest state where teachers are walking out of their classrooms to protest insufficient public school funding.

For nearly 30 years, the University of Southern California’s student health clinic had one full-time gynecologist: Dr. George Tyndall. Tall and garrulous with distinctive jet black hair, he treated tens of thousands of female students, many of them teenagers seeing a gynecologist for the first time.

Few who lay down on Tyndall’s exam table at the Engemann Student Health Center knew that he had been accused repeatedly of misconduct toward young patients.

The complaints began in the 1990s, when co-workers alleged he was improperly photographing students’ genitals. In the years that followed, patients and nursing staff accused him again and again of “creepy” behavior, including touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies.

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New L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner chats with children at Cleveland Early Education Center on his first official day on the job.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

Today is Austin Beutner’s first day as superintendent of the nation’s second-largest school district.

Charter school supporters are spending millions in an attempt to elect former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as governor of California.

Around the state:

Cal State trustees are meeting Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal.

A man was stabbed to death in a Sonoma State dormitory this weekend.

Nationwide:

Betsy DeVos tours private religious schools on her Tuesday visit to New York City.

How Georgia State University has worked to help its students climb the socioeconomic ladder.

Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students?

In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nation’s largest public university system.

Cal State’s leaders say that to keep their campuses’ quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, they’re also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing.

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L.A. Unified’s new superintendent, Austin Beutner, will kick off his first day of work on Tuesday with a choreographed tour of the nation’s second-largest school district, from the San Fernando Valley to Carson.

His day is scheduled to begin at 5:15 a.m. at a school bus depot and end more than 12 hours later at a parent meeting at Garfield High School. Along the way, Beutner is expected to be joined by school district administrators, L.A. Unified board members and the vice president of the union that represents school bus drivers.

Though he will be covering a lot of ground, Beutner’s tour has him skipping Tuesday’s school board meeting, when board members are expected to discuss labor negotiations in closed session.

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Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students?

In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nation’s largest public university system.

Cal State’s leaders say that to keep their campuses’ quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, they’re also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing.

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California voters have seen a barrage of sunny television ads in recent weeks touting former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s record on finances, crime and education, aired by Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018.

But the group is, in fact, largely funded by a handful of wealthy charter-school supporters. Together they have spent more than $13 million in less than a month to boost Villaraigosa’s chances in the June 5 primary — at a time when his fundraising and poll numbers are lagging. Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, jump-started the group with a $7-million check, by far the largest donation to support any candidate in the election.

Their efforts are part of a broader proxy war among Democrats between teachers’ unions — longtime stalwarts of the party — and those who argue that the groups have failed low-income and minority schoolchildren.

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Austin Beutner, center

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

Newly appointed L.A. Unified Supt. Austin Beutner spoke to The Times’ education team.

Embattled L.A. Unified school board member Ref Rodriguez has resigned from California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

A 14-year-old former student who had recently transferred out brought a rifle to Highland High School in Palmdale on Friday and fired multiple rounds. One student was wounded.

Around the state:

Taking stock of restorative justice initiatives in California.

Here’s what the gubernatorial candidates have said about education so far.

Nationwide:

Under Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Education Department has pulled back from investigating fraud at for-profit colleges.

Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman addressed the graduating class of Howard University.

Austin Beutner, who officially starts Tuesday as the new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is taking on a famously difficult job at a particularly difficult time. The school board is divided and did not back him unanimously. The nation’s second-largest school district has deep-seated problems, including declining enrollment, lagging academic achievement and rising pension and healthcare costs that eat away at its budget.

The 58-year-old former investment banker and former L.A. Times publisher has years of experience in the financial world but none as an educator. Earlier this week, he sat down with the Times education team to discuss the challenges facing the district, which has about 60,000 employees and 500,000 students in traditional public schools. He did not talk about his plans — saying repeatedly, “stay tuned” — but he spoke in broad terms about his mindset in approaching the tough decisions ahead.

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One person has been detained after a report of an armed man at a Palmdale high school sparked a massive law enforcement response Friday morning.

The suspect was spotted at 7:05 a.m. on the campus of Highland High School in Palmdale, according to Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. The person was detained in a nearby parking lot, according to Nishida, who did not know whether that person was an adult or juvenile.

Deputies at the scene are clearing the school “methodically,” and students will be transported home via school buses once the campus is deemed safe, Nishida said.

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It’s the third day of a three-day strike, and UC Merced custodian Bertha Perez is taking a break from a picket line at the university’s unremarkable entrance, an intersection with stop lights.

Photos from other UC campuses this week have shown big crowds of striking service workers — members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — marching and chanting pro-labor slogans as they try to force the University of California back to the negotiating table.

But here, at UC Merced, whose handful of big buildings rise from a flat expanse of farmland, the picket line is tiny, maybe two dozen workers and a few students. It’s not a big-city-style show of force. Then again, a union sympathizer is banging relentlessly on a snare drum, so it’s noisier than you’d expect.

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Ref Rodriguez appears during a court appearance.

(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez has resigned from the state’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which oversees the integrity and quality of California’s teachers.

Rodriguez faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. Separately, his former employer, a charter school organization, has accused him of improperly authorizing checks to a nonprofit under his control.

Rodriguez has denied wrongdoing.

Rodriguez’s resignation from the state body was effective May 4, days after he cast a crucial vote as part of a narrow majority that voted to authorize contract negotiations with Austin Beutner to become superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District. Beutner’s first official day on the job is Tuesday.

Rodriguez remains in his $125,000-a-year position on the Los Angeles Board of Education.

The mission of the state body is “to ensure integrity, relevance, and high quality in the preparation, certification, and discipline” of California’s teachers. Critics had questioned Rodriguez’s continued service on the commission, given that teachers can be suspended from work if they face criminal charges.

They also can lose their jobs for lapses in personal behavior, such as excessive drinking, with the potential to affect their performance.

Police in Pasadena arrested Rodriguez on a Friday afternoon in March for public drunkenness. He was not charged in the incident and has apologized.

The state commission reviews teacher discipline cases and can take action to remove a teacher’s credential to work in a California classroom. The commission has 15 members.

Rodriguez’s departure was disclosed in a one-sentence announcement on the agency’s website.

L.A. campus aide Nancy Ramirez-Chavez, left, joins other school workers in a February demonstration.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

L.A. Unified just averted a one-day strike by reaching an agreement with a labor union. Take a look at the deal that was made and the challenges ahead.

A judge dismisses an Orange County school board member’s request for a restraining order against a blogger.

Around the state:

State Board of Education President Mike Kirst will retire alongside Gov. Jerry Brown, a man he has advised for 44 years.

Nationwide:

A white student called the police on a black student napping in her Yale dorm’s common room.

#MeToo makes its mark on higher education, as more women come forward to describe sexual misconduct at the hands of male professors or scholars.

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied a school board member’s petition for a permanent restraining order against a Huntington Beach blogger.

Attorney Jeffrey W. Shields filed the petition on behalf of Ocean View School District trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin, 46, who alleged in court documents that Charles Keeler Johnson, 56, has threatened her on social media and at school board meetings, causing her to “fear for my own safety and for that of my immediate family members.”

Johnson, who goes by “Chuck” and publishes HBSledgehammer.com, said the trustee tried to stifle his freedom of speech. He also contended that Clayton-Tarvin took his blog posts and Facebook comments too seriously and out of context, saying anyone who is “afraid of metaphors has serious issues.”

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Nonteaching L.A. school district employees, including these who took part in a February protest, can now celebrate a new contract.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

L.A. Unified reached a tentative deal with a workers union to avert a planned one-day strike that could have shut down schools.

Meet the workers who are striking at UCLA this week.

Around the state:

The three-day UC strike expanded Tuesday as other unions picketed in support of their colleagues.

A look at how teacher strikes in other states might help California unions.

Nationwide:

The 2018 Teacher of the Year visited President Trump in the White House, but let her opposition to his policies show.

A book about a transgender child is causing controversy in Oregon.

Los Angeles school district and union officials announced a contract agreement Tuesday night that averted a one-day strike planned for next week.

The pact, which runs through June 2020, removes one labor problem from the desk of incoming Supt. Austin Beutner — whose first day on the job would have coincided with the strike.

Plenty of other challenges remain.

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Fong Chuu is a registered nurse who has assisted with countless liver transplants, kidney surgeries and gastric bypasses during 34 years at UCLA.

Working with her are scrub technicians who sterilize equipment, hand medical instruments to the surgeon and dress patient wounds.

They are a team, Chuu says, which is why she walked off her job Tuesday in support of those technicians and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. The 25,000 member AFSCME local, the University of California’s largest employee union, launched a three-day strike Monday.

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Demonstrators parade in front of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

This week, thousands of UC employees are staging a three-day strike for better pay and working conditions.

On Monday, more than 20,000 custodians, cooks, lab technicians, nurse aides and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 walked off their jobs. By Tuesday, two more unions joined in sympathy strikes.

The union and UC reached a bargaining impasse last year. The university has said it won’t meet the workers’ demands.

The strikers said they wanted better pay, more equity in the allocation of work, stable healthcare premiums and an end to the university’s use of contract workers.

These are their stories.

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Striking workers march past Royce Hall at UCLA.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Southern California:

Defense lawyers in civil cases in Torrance and other school districts are trying to work around a law that prevents those accused of sexual misconduct from claiming that young victims willingly participated in relationships.

L.A. Unified is promoting Teacher Appreciation Week.

Around the state:

Striking UC workers caused medical centers to reschedule treatments and surgeries. Some campuses had to cancel classes and limit dining options.

California’s Republican gubernatorial candidates say schools don’t need more money, they need to improve.

Nationwide:

The Gates Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are asking researchers to share their ideas for boosting student success in several key areas.

Since October, more than 700 migrant children have been taken from adults claiming to be their parents. Migrant advocates argue it’s the latest attempt by the Trump administration to stop migrant families from seeking asylum.

A massive labor strike across the University of California on Monday forced medical centers to reschedule more than 12,000 surgeries, cancer treatments and appointments, and campuses to cancel some classes and limit dining services.

More than 20,000 members of UC’s largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, walked off their jobs on the first day of a three-day strike. They include custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides.

Two altercations involving protesters and people driving near the rallies were reported at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. At UCLA, police took a man into custody Monday after he drove his vehicle into a crowd, hitting three staff members. They were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released, said Lt. Kevin Kilgore of the UCLA Police Department.

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California Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled plans to deliver UC Berkeley’s commencement address this weekend in support of UC workers who are on strike over wages and health benefits.

“Due to the ongoing labor dispute, Sen. Harris regretfully cannot attend and speak at this year’s commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley,” said a statement from Harris’ office issued Monday. “She wishes the graduates and their families a joyous commencement weekend and success for the future. They are bright young leaders and our country is counting on them.”

UC’s largest employee union, the 25,000-member American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees Local 3299, launched a three-day strike Monday and had earlier called for a speakers’ boycott.

The union and university reached a bargaining impasse last year and subsequent mediation efforts have failed to produce an agreement. The union is asking for a multiyear contract with a 6% annual pay increase while the university is offering 3% annual increases over four years.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ will deliver the keynote address instead, the university announced. About 5,800 students are expected to participate in the ceremony Saturday.

In and around Los Angeles:

A union representing L.A. Unified support workers is planning a weeklong strike.

In California:

More than 50,000 UC workers are set to strike this week, but campuses will remain open.

UC Berkeley wants to build housing — for students and the homeless — on the grounds of People’s Park.

A Chula Vista school mural included an image of President Trump’s severed head. The school has covered it up and made plans for repainting.

Nationwide:

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas prom honored the seniors killed at the school, and included a butterfly release and a reflection room.

A 19-year-old student at Parsons School of Design created a dress for this year’s Met Gala in New York.

A Chula Vista school mural that depicts the bloody, severed head of President Trump on a spear sparked a controversy that prompted officials to cover it and issue a response distancing themselves from the work.

The statement also said the artist will alter the painting.

“We understand that there was a mural painted at the event this past weekend that does not align with our school’s philosophy of non-violence,” read the statement from MAAC Community Charter School director Tommy Ramirez. “We have been in communication with the artist — who has agreed to modify the artwork — to better align with the school’s philosophy.”

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Cal Poly San Luis Obispo officials have asked the state attorney general’s office to investigate after a new photo of a white student in blackface surfaced on a fraternity group’s private Snapchat.

“I am outraged,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a video address Friday to the campus. “These vile and absolutely unacceptable acts cannot continue. We must not allow these acts to define us as an institution.”

Armstrong said the latest photo was intended to imitate an incident last month in which a white member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was photographed at a party wearing blackface.

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More than 50,000 workers across the University of California are set to strike this week, causing potential disruptions to surgery schedules, food preparation and campus maintenance.

The system’s 10 campuses and five medical centers are to remain open, with classes scheduled as planned.

UC’s largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, plans to begin a three-day strike Monday involving 25,000 workers, including custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides.

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New L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner talks to students at Belmont High School.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Los Angeles:

Austin Beutner made his first school visit as superintendent of L.A. Unified.

Teachers at three charter schools operated by the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools network submitted paperwork to form a union and begin bargaining collectively.

In California:

Stockton Unified has chosen a new leader: former L.A. Unified superintendent John Deasy.

At Cal State, “stretch classes,” which give students more time to learn material that might be harder for them, are beginning to replace remedial courses.

Nationwide:

Changes that make the Boy Scouts more inclusive and more appealing to girls set off a debate among Scouts.

In some places, teachers are paid so little that districts recruit from other countries to fill jobs.

For years, the possibility of organizing the employees of the largest charter school group in Los Angeles was an elusive goal for the teachers union. Efforts launched in 2015 sputtered out during an extended and expensive legal back-and-forth.

But on Wednesday, the movement appeared to get its momentum back.

Teachers at three charter schools operated by the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools network submitted paperwork to form a union and begin bargaining collectively. Though they make up a fraction of Alliance’s total employees — the network runs 25 schools across L.A. — their actions represented a partial victory in the union’s campaign to organize charter schools.

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New Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner proved Wednesday that he’s a quick learner even without an education background. Like countless public officials before him, he appeared at an important event — his first speech and news conference — with a photogenic background of students.

His message — that he would put those students first — seemed heartfelt if hardly original. Nor was it a huge surprise that he pledged to push cooperatively but unflinchingly to improve the district’s academic performance and stabilize its finances.

As an introduction, Beutner, a former investment banker who made a fortune on Wall Street, offered little flash, but that was partly the point.

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At the beginning of lunch one day late last month, Duarte High School, Northview Middle School, and California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley were advised by the Los Angeles’ Sheriff’s Department to go into lockdown mode due to police activity in the immediate area.

Phalaen Chang, a junior at the California School of the Arts, wrote a series of notes on her iPhone while she sat in a room with her classmates.

By the time the lockdown ended an hour later, she wrote, she knew which of her friends would “hold open the door for others,” “be the ones calming others down,” “be the ones barricading the doors.” She knew “that all of them have the potential to be such strong people.”

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(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

In and around Los Angeles:

L.A. Unified named its new superintendent Tuesday: Austin Beutner, 58, a philanthropist and former investment banker who has no experience running a school or district. Two board members voted no.

The Beutner announcement is controversial but follows a long history of the district deciding between leaders who come from inside and outside LAUSD leadership.

Columnist Steve Lopez has some homework for the incoming schools chief.

In California:

Anaheim High School is the country’s first school to be digitally mapped, a safety measure.

California schools are spending about $4 million to implement environmental education standards.

Nationwide:

Housing alone does not explain school segregation in New York City.

In a private meeting with teachers, Betsy DeVos signaled her disapproval of the recent educator strikes.

L.A. Unified has long gone back and forth between picking insiders and outsiders to run the nation’s second largest school district.

The choice of Austin Beutner, announced Tuesday, places the district squarely back in the outsider camp — months after a consummate insider, Supt. Michelle King, announced that she had cancer and would not return to the job.

Check out this timeline of former L.A. superintendents to see how the school board members have changed their minds, sometimes favoring leaders who come from the world of education and sometimes executives from elsewhere, recruited to shock the system into change.

At one point, the district hired someone from the military — retired Navy Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, who served as superintendent from 2006-2008.

“In hiring Brewer, board members had opted for a non-educator — largely because they sought a fresh thinker, unwedded to the bureaucracy, unafraid to make bold, even unorthodox moves,” reads a 2008 Times story.

Austin Beutner, a philanthropist and former investment banker, on Tuesday was named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school system.

His selection was the biggest move yet by a Los Angeles school board majority elected with major support from charter school advocates. The decision came after lengthy public testimony, most of it in support of the other remaining finalist, interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian, who is well known within the school system.

Beutner, 58, has no background leading a school or school district. Less than 2½ years ago, a school board with a very different balance of power named Michelle King, a former teacher who rose through the district throughout her career, to L.A. Unified’s top job.

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Ref Rodriguez and his attorneys will have more time to prepare their defense against charges of political money laundering, a judge ruled Monday.

The preliminary hearing in the case had been scheduled to begin May 9, but that date will now be pushed back to July 23 per the ruling from L.A. Superior Court Judge Deborah S. Brazil.

Rodriguez, 46, faces three felony charges of conspiracy, perjury and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering.

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