Deasy Scores High Marks, Turns Down Bonus

By Jorge Casuso

Sept. 24 -- Schools Supt. John Deasy received high marks from the School Board for his second year on the job, but once again turned down a performance bonus, which would have added $11,250 to his annual salary.

Deasy, who took over the district in June 2001, scored high marks in the four target areas evaluated by the board, completely achieving the goals of enhancing communication with parents and the community and implementing the district's strategic plan, which follows a business model.

Deasy also has "substantially achieved" the goals of bringing local assessment standards in line with the new state standards and closing the achievement gap among students, according to the board's review. District test scores released by the state last month show dramatic gains, especially among minorities.

"I think things are going extremely well," said board president Julia Brownly, who is serving her third term on the board. "I'm completely one hundred percent satisfied with the progress we've made in the past two years. There's no question there's a tremendous amount of reform that's taken place in the district."

"John Deasy is an exceptional leader," said board member Oscar de la Torre, who is serving his first term. "He's brought a tremendous amount of vision for education reform to our district at a time of great economic uncertainty."

The deep cuts in Sacramento have made the district's goals -- some of which were hammered out during good economic times -- tougher to meet, Deasy said.

The strategic plan, for example, "was a simple straightforward set of goals to make the district run more businesslike." But the plan was "hammered out when we thought we were doing good with the state."

Now, "it's been one month after the next with cuts from the state," Deasy said.

On the other hand, the historic budget shortfall has helped meet the goal of enhancing communication, as parents and community members stepped up to pass a parcel tax in June that will pump $6.5 million a year into the cash-strapped district, Deasy said.

The district also made strides in a central goal Deasy set when he took over the district -- closing the achievement gap between predominantly white, well-to-do students, and lower-income students, who are predominantly Black and Latino.

The 2003 California Standards Test indicates that non-white students made significant strides in closing a wide achievement gap with their white counterparts in English. The results showed that the boost in English scores for African-American students was double the general gain, while Latinos boosted their scores by 50 percent.

School board members credit Deasy and his district-wide “intensive intervention” effort at elementary schools for the boost in student achievement.

"Clearly we've improved achievement and made inroads in closing the achievement gap," Brownley said. "There has been a huge focus on teaching and learning in individual classrooms led by the principals."

"He has been bold in discussing issues such as the achievement gap and making that a priority in our district," de la Torre said. "You don't usually make change without struggle, but a lot of the change that has happened wouldn't have happened without his strong leadership."

De la Torre also praised Deasy's decision to turn down the $11,250 performance bonus -- representing 7.5 percent of his $150,000-a-year salary -- awarded by the board. Last year Deasy also declined to accept his bonus -- $9,375, or 6.2 percent -- because of the severe cuts in state and federal funding to public education.

"In this country we see a huge gap in the salary of CEOs and the common worker," de la Torre said. "It shows integrity on his part to turn down the bonus."

Asked why he didn't accept the bonus money, Deasy said: "I just couldn't do it."