Mark Berndt

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Pours $1 Million into LAUSD Elections to Oust Steve Zimmer, Elect Monica Garcia

See also, "LAUSD's Dance of the Lemons," and "Can Kate Anderson, Mom of Twins, Fix LAUSD?"Los Angeles Unified School District, whose teachers union UTLA has squelched attempts to raise student learning by making ineffective certified teachers relearn subject matter and skills, just attracted $1 mill ... More >>

LAUSD Rubber Rooms Crowd Up

Denials and confessions by those in teacher jail

California Voter Guide for Nov. 6, 2012, Los Angeles Weekly

Confused about the measures and races on Tuesday's ballot? This California Voter Guide for November 6, 2012 contains a summary of all state measures and several key races. It does not take a position but does touch on controversies, polls and analysis. Proposition 30: Jerry Brown's Tax Hike Governo ... More >>

Will Betsy Butler's Sex Pervert Vote Kill Her Political Career?

In Assembly District 50, underdog Richard Bloom sees daylight

La Puente High Horrors: Soccer Players Claim to Have Been Hazed, Sodomized With Poles

The same lawyer currently suing LAUSD for keeping parents and students at Miramonte Elementary in the dark about Mark Berndt -- a third-grade teacher allegedly caught spoon-feeding his own semen to kids as part of a sick and sexual "tasting game" -- is now at the forefront of an unraveling scandal a ... More >>

Miramonte Elementary Teachers Return for Strange First Day Back at School

How many elementary schoolers can say that four TV news vans and 16 psychiatric social workers showed up to their campus on the first day of the school? Welcome to the strange life of a Miramonte Elementary School student. After a horrifying sex scandal rocked the South L.A. campus last year -- lon ... More >>

Why California Democrats Protect Sex Abuser Teachers

How Betsy Butler and Mike Eng torpedoed Alex Padilla's sex-pervert bill, SB 1530

FBI Looking Into School Sex Abuse Allegations at Miramonte? Nope

One of the lawyers representing parents who are suing the L.A. public school district over the Miramonte Elementary School sex abuse scandal says the FBI should look into the situation. After all, moms and dads were kept in the dark regarding longtime allegations that teacher Mark Berndt was a mole ... More >>

Miramonte Teaching Staff Not Fired Over Sex-Abuse Scandal, Despite Reports

Sunday and Monday headlines declared that the entire staff of Miramonte Elementary School in South L.A. has been fired following the sex-abuse scandal there earlier this year. Why? To quell a "culture of silence," the reports quoted L.A. Unified School District superintendent John Deasy as saying. ... More >>

Firing the Bad Teachers: Ted Olson and LAUSD Parents Sue

Francisco Aguilar, San Diego Child Rapist, Found Hanging From Electronic Cable in Lancaster Jail; Cellmate Suspected

Francisco Aguilar, a 36-year-old child rapist serving a life sentence for the "aggravated sexual assault" he committed in San Diego County many years ago, was found blue-faced in his prison cell early Tuesday morning. It looks like the prison-justice fairies, who have been especially active over th ... More >>

Jorge Dominguez, Gratts School Teacher's Aide, Arrested in Sex Abuse Investigation

Another L.A. public schools employee has been accused of "horrifying and sickening" acts with children, according to the superintendent. Jorge Dominguez was arrested this morning, and district officials said they were in the process of firing him this afternoon. That contrasts with the situation th ... More >>

LAUSD Has Dug Up 500 Cases of Unreported Teacher Misconduct Since Miramonte Scandal

Back in February, after the world found out what Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt had allegedly been feeding his blindfolded third-graders (hint: his semen), the Los Angeles Unified School District erupted in scandalous accusations against other teachers. Pervy, unfit educators had a ... More >>

Sexting Teacher Taylor Welch Wooed Teen Girl on Facebook, Cops Allege

When the Miramonte sex abuse scandal erupted early this year, the L.A. school district and detectives said they had to take time to investigate horrific allegations against teacher Mark Berndt, meaning parents were in the dark for the better part of a year. These days, somehow, some way, things hap ... More >>

Miramonte Sex Scandal Inspires Legislation to Make Firing Teachers Easy: Big Union Says No

Three bills that would make it easier for school districts to fire allegedly bad teachers are being fought by the powerful California Teachers Association. Because bad teachers need to stay on the job longer! Many California Democrats, who have shared bed sheets with the CTA for ages, have been si ... More >>

LAUSD Hires Ex-Journo Stephanie Abrams as New Social-Media Director in Wake of Sex Scandal

One thing we can say about new L.A. Superintendent John Deasy, after a year on the job: He sure knows how to smooth over a scandal. After longtime Miramonte Elementary teacher Mark Berndt was arrested in early February for allegedly spoon-feeding his semen to third-graders, an explosion of similar ... More >>

Blindfolding Kids at L.A. Unified Schools Banned

The L.A. Unified School District has reacted slowly and sometimes defensively to the horrific Miramonte Elementary School sex abuse scandal. One of the stranger outcomes will be that fourth graders will no longer be blindfolded for an exercise designed to test and strengthen kids senses. Of course ... More >>

Miramonte Scandal Fallout Prompts L.A. School District to Report Alleged Pervs to State, as It Should Have Done From Day 1

So L.A. Unified School District has had a few alleged bad apples that only it and, in some cases, police knew about. Despite what we've been told about federal Title 9 guidelines requiring parents and students to be notified when someone at their campus is accused of sexual improprieties with stude ... More >>

Mark Berndt Complains That L.A. Sheriff's Deputies Called Him a 'Child Molester' Over the Loudspeaker

KPCCNot a child molester?​L.A. County Sheriff's deputies have been accused of more inmate abuse at their notorious Twin Towers lockup downtown. Yet for once, nobody really cares. That's because the accusations are coming from alleged Miramonte Elementary sex monster Mark Berndt, in whose pos ... More >>

Mark Berndt's Settlement Document Exposed: Teacher Alleged to Have Sparked Miramonte Sex Scandal Got Paid

With reporting from Beth Barrett We already know that the L.A. Unified School District paid alleged student molester Mark Berndt $40,000 to go away. It's an astonishing fact, even though the district contends that the payoff was the only way to get him to leave as he appealed the disciplinary cas ... More >>

Mark Berndt's $40,000 Payoff

Arrested as sex pervert, former LAUSD teacher settles into retirement

Miramonte Kids to Blame For Horrendous Sex Abuse Scandal at Elementary School, Says Rosewood Principal Linda Crowder

You could point the finger at a hot mess of targets in the incredible sex-abuse scandal that has rocked Miramonte Elementary School: A school district that failed to let parents know an alleged molester on the loose for nearly a year. A teachers' union that puts its people over your kids (suspect M ... More >>

Alain Salas, Fremont High School Girls' Volleyball Coach, Arrested by FBI for Alleged Sex Crime

Updated at the bottom with a few more details from the FBI and a possible Facebook connection to the case. First posted at 6:40 a.m. It seemed like a week or so could go by without another sex abuse arrest of an L.A. Unified School District employee. Nope. KTLA News this morning reports that a Fr ... More >>

Paul Chapel, Ex-Teacher at Telfair Elementary, Is Latest Alleged Molester That LAUSD Kept Under Wraps

Seriously, what is with all these old men (allegedly) touching kids at L.A.'s low-income schools? The October 8 arrest of a former third-grade teacher at Telfair Elementary -- Paul William Chapel, 50 -- is the latest big reveal in the media hunt for more LAUSD child molesters, after Miramonte Eleme ... More >>

Miramonte Staff Will Never Return to Scandal-Plagued Campus, Teachers' Union Says

LAUSD​As was sure to happen, the sex-abuse scandal at Miramonte Elementary is turning into a battle between the powerful teacher's union and the bureaucratically stifling L.A. Unified School District. Who's right and who's wrong shouldn't even matter at this point. Sheriff's investigators bel ... More >>

Miramonte Parents Scared L.A. Sheriff Will Deport Them -- Turning Sex-Scandal Probe Into Immigration Debate

As if they don't have enough to worry about.​No matter the hot L.A. news item, it always seems to turn into an immigration debate. And that should come as no surprise: Rough estimates have placed close to 1 million illegal immigrants in Los Angeles County. And whenever law enforcement or pres ... More >>

Miramonte's Berndt Got $80,000 From L.A. School Board to Quietly Walk Away Despite Alleged Sex-Abuse Atrocities

KPCCA photo of Berndt released by attorneys suing the district.​If it weren't for his eventual arrest, we might have never found out about the atrocities alleged to have happened in Mark Berndt's Miramonte Elementary School class. That's because the L.A. Unified School District's elected boar ... More >>

Miramonte Lawsuit Claims a Victim Was Transferred From Class of One Alleged Molester to That of Another After Dad Complained

Berndt.​One of two lawsuits filed in the wake of the Miramonte Elementary School sex abuse scandal alleges one girl was victimized by suspect Mark Berndt and then transferred to the classroom of Martin Springer, who then touched her inappropriately. In fact, according to the suit, the school' ... More >>

Areceli Luisjuan, Former Miramonte Aide: Did She Write 'Love Letters' to 11-Year-Old, or Has Media Witch Hunt Gone Too Far?

Every L.A. media outlet from KNX news radio to HuffPost has picked up the Los Angeles Times' latest Miramonte Elementary reveal this morning, in which one mother claims that a former teacher's aide at the beleaguered campus wrote numerous "love letters" to her 11-year-old son. There are certainly s ... More >>

Ricardo Guevara: Meet Miramonte's Original Molester

You can add a third man to the string of accused sex criminals at embattled Miramonte Elementary School in Florence-Firestone. Actually, he's not accused. He's convicted. The story of Ricardo Guevara is getting renewed attention this week after the Los Angeles Times and Univision 34 broke his stor ... More >>

Sex Abuse Scandal at Miramonte, Hamilton High Claims Jobs of Two Accused Teachers: Martin Springer and Vance Miller

In the midst of a historic scandal, the L.A. school district board today fired two teachers accused of molesting students. A firestorm was sparked when ex-Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt was charged last week with 23 counts of unspeakable acts against children under his care: But he ... More >>

Miramonte Parents to Protest Outside Scandal-Plagued School This Morning

LAUSD​Parents of kids at Miramonte Elementary School in Florence-Firestone have had enough. After last week's revelations that not one but two teachers are alleged to have molested students in-class, and after at one report that a girl might have been assaulted by both suspects, there's actio ... More >>

Kennedy High Students Rally Against Suspension of Star Baseball Coach Manny Alvarado for 'Hazing Incidents'

Parents, students and star alumni gathered in front of Granada Hills Kennedy High this morning to protest the pending suspension of Manny Alvarado, the school's beloved (and wildly successful) baseball coach of almost a quarter-century. Alvarado "was informed last week he will be suspended for three ... More >>

Miramonte Staff Replaced Amid Sex Abuse Scandal, but They'll Be Back

L.A. Unified School District chief John Deasy told parents tonight that the entire staff of the school would be replaced as authorities investigate the atrocious alleged sex crimes that took place at the Florence-Firestone campus. However, many staff members would be allowed to eventually return, a ... More >>

Mark Berndt Fed Filthy Cookie to Third-Grader, Parent Obdulia Bueno Says: VIDEO

The horrific tale of Mark Berndt, the South L.A. third-grade teacher accused of binding and gagging at least 23 of his students, keeps getting worse. He was accused of fondling a girl in 1994 and, even though charges were never brought, it didn't appear that the L.A. Unified School District paid an ... More >>

Martin Bernard Springer: Second Teacher at Miramonte Elementary School Arrested in Sex Crime Scandal

​Updated at the bottom with the suspect's ID, more info from the sheriff's department. First posted at 11:36 a.m. Miramonte Elementary School in South L.A. is turning into a big shop of horrors. Following this week's arrest of former teacher Mark Berndt, charged with committing lewd acts on ... More >>

Mark Berndt Sex Abuse Case at Miramonte School: Silence by John Deasy, Plus Parent Hysteria, Can Turn This Into McMartin

Parent hysteria at Miramonte School today -- parents are pulling kids out of school over alleged pervert teacher Mark Berndt and the arrest of a second teacher -- could degrade into a McMartin Preschool witch hunt or Wenatchee child sex orgies B.S. Both of those were false, created by lying children ... More >>

Police Say Alleged Pervert Teacher Mark Berndt Fondled Girl 18 Years Ago, LAUSD Let Him Continue Teaching

New information is coming out about the alleged 'sex game' teacher, and it's not looking good for LAUSD, a district that has continually failed to fire its screwed-up teachers. Police say Mark Berndt, the former Miramonte Elementary School teacher who allegedly bound and gagged students and spoon-f ... More >>

Mark Berndt, L.A. Teacher Accused of Horrific Sex Crimes, Still Being Paid More Than $3,800 a Month -- Report

Mark Berndt, the 63-year-old former teacher accused of horrific crimes against children at a South Los Angeles elementary school, is actually enjoying a $3,800-a-month-plus pension that you couldn't take away from him even if he was put away for life. It's true. The revelation came last night afte ... More >>

Alleged 'Sex Game' Teacher Mark Berndt Went Free for Over a Year: How Did LAUSD, L.A. Sheriff Let This Happen?

It's hard to imagine child-molester charges more horrific than those pinned on ex-Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt, 63, yesterday. The L.A. County Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau arrested the teacher, who had been at the school for over 30 years, for binding and gagging at least 23 ... More >>