Sad Day for Parents of School Age Children In Los Angeles
From LA Observed:
“Former School Me blogger and Current editor Bob Sipchen is believed to be on the [buy-out] list and said to be headed for a post with the Sierra Club.”
Bob Sipchen was in the process of doing more than any single individual for reforming LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District). No disrespect for Villaraigosa or others who would like to make changes, Sipchen’s willingness to call it like he saw it as well as having the platform to do so made him a critical catalyst for change against the inefficient, entrenched interests at the school district.
Being a parent of a child in LAUSD, I can tell you what a cluster f*** public education is in Los Angeles and how much Sipchen will be missed if the rumors are true and he is leaving the paper.
Bob if you are reading this I hope you have a chance to resurrect your education blog but this time free of the Times. Just a thought.
Update: See comment from Sipchen below.
tags: 
los angeles times 
Bob Sipchen
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June 4th, 2007 at 11:47 am
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June 4th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
This is a very flattering post and I appreciate it greatly as I sit at my new post as editor of Sierra magazine in San Francisco. It was a very hard choice to leave behind School Me, as challenging and rewarding an assignment as I had in my 23 years at the Times. But I think you should remember that the Times education writers who remain — Joel Rubin, Howard Blume, Mitch Landsberg, Evelyn Larrubia, Carla Rivera, and editor Beth “the Butcher” Shuster — are a tough, hard-working and awfully smart crew and they’re really the ones who are pushing the district to improve. Thanks, though, for the kind words.
June 4th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Bob:
Thank you for visiting the blog. I will watch, and possibly even prompt, for continued coverage from the writers you mentioned who are staying. Public education is so important and yet so stymied by entrenched interests that I can’t think of anything more deserving or in need of the paper’s scrutiny.
Best,
Insider
June 12th, 2007 at 4:31 am
Dear Bob,
On behalf of all my like-minded teaching colleagues, you have made a great contribution to rapid educational reform. Thank you for following the story of our school (Twenty-fourth Street Elementary in LAUSD) as it moves forward…much slower than anticipated toward excellence. Please stay in touch with us at Twenty-fourth Street School to see how our Green School Prototype for LAUSD evolves. Again…Thank you and good luck! P.S. I just re-subscribed to SIERRA CLUB!