John Deasy’s business dinners
The following are excerpts from the superintendent’s expense account:
Donors and the L.A. Unified School District paid about $167,000 to cover travel and meals, usually at high-end restaurants here and elsewhere, for former L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy, related to his local and national education agenda. Here are some examples:
Date: Jan. 8, 2013
Place: Craft, Los Angeles
Cost: $248.37
Purpose: Dinner with Newark schools Supt. Cami Anderson, an ideological ally, and two others.
Date: June 19, 2013
Place: Piccolo Ristorante, Venice, Calif.
Cost: $227.91
Purpose: Dinner with Pearson executives Sherry King and Judy Codding, the day after approval of iPads-for-all contract that included Pearson as curriculum provider.
Date: Oct. 22, 2013
Place: Drago Centro, Los Angeles
Cost: $1,014.45
Purpose: Dinner with midlevel teachers union leaders; Deasy wasn’t speaking to then-union president Warren Fletcher at the time.
Date: Dec. 9, 2013
Place: Bouchon Bistro, Beverly Hills
Cost: $183.60
Purpose: Dinner with board members Tamar Galatzan and Monica Garcia.
Date: June 18, 2014
Place: Water Grill, Los Angeles
Cost: $221.84
Purpose: Dinner with Tommy Chang and Donna Muncey, two senior staff members.
Date: July 23, 2014
Place: Vincenti Ristorante, Brentwood
Cost: $311.96
Purpose: Dinner with philanthropist Megan Chernin, head of L.A. Fund for Public Education, and fund manager Melissa Infusino.
Source: L.A. Unified records and interviews.
EDUCATION MATTERS: The Times’ initiative to inform parents, educators and students across California
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
