Duffy

On several occasions over the last few years, A.J. Duffy sat in a conference room with the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times and expounded on the evils of charter schools, the value of teachers union contracts that included pages and pages of extensive work rules, the importance of the teacher seniority system and the nefarious intentions of those who sought to streamline the firing of bad teachers. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Duffy, who recently was termed out as president of United Teachers Los Angeles, announced that he wants to open charter schools that will make it harder for teachers to receive tenure, easier for them to lose it and allow schools to move much faster to fire ineffective instructors.

Television series may be canceled quickly or run out of steam after several seasons, but the special ones never really die. They live on in our collective memories. And thanks to cable, the Internet and DVD, these vintage series are becoming more than just fond recollections. Clint Walker, the tall, ruggedly handsome former security guard and bouncer who became an overnight sensation 57 years ago as the heroic scout in the first hour-long television western, ABC's "Cheyenne," has his own website at http://www.clintwalker.com to keep up with the worldwide demand for autographs and pictures.

A.J. Duffy is, at least for the moment, a man without a country. He led United Teachers Los Angeles, the union that represents teachers in the nation's second-largest school district, for six bruising years, tussling with the mayor and several superintendents and racking up critics. Then he went on to found a charter school, infuriating his old allies in labor who reflexively, and stupidly, reject charters as a threat to their existence. And then the school that Duffy helped create, Apple Academy, announced that it didn't have room in its budget for a chief executive officer.

A.J. Duffy is, at least for the moment, a man without a country. He led United Teachers Los Angeles, the union that represents teachers in the nation's second-largest school district, for six bruising years, tussling with the mayor and several superintendents and racking up critics. Then he went on to found a charter school, infuriating his old allies in labor who reflexively, and stupidly, reject charters as a threat to their existence. And then the school that Duffy helped create, Apple Academy, announced that it didn't have room in its budget for a chief executive officer.

Ordinarily, when someone cancels his subscription and organizes a protest outside The Times, I don't go and knock on his door to talk him into subscribing again. But I have a soft spot for A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, and I know he'd be a smarter, better-informed leader with a Times subscription, particularly since we've started a much-needed conversation on how to better serve hundreds of thousands of students. The last time Duffy and I broke bread was last summer, when I wrote a column suggesting he and his union have missed a chance to lead the way in education reform.

I was waiting for A.J. Duffy at the Farmer's Market Tuesday afternoon when I spotted someone who looked somewhat like him. But if this was the ex-president of United Teachers Los Angeles, he was out of uniform. Instead of the nice threads and two-tone Guys 'n' Dolls shoes he wore as a union boss, he was dressed like a tourist. Blue shorts past his knees. White T-shirt. Sneakers. And a Yankees cap. Then again, Duffy recently switched teams, so why not uniforms? In fact, he pulled off a flip so incredible, he could have joined Cirque du Soleil.

A few weeks ago, Disney introduced a new costumed character at its theme parks in California and Florida. He did not arrive alone. Duffy the Disney Bear debuted at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim and Epcot Center in Orlando with an army of merchandise. Park souvenir shops began stocking three sizes of stuffed-plush bears and accompanying Duffy costumes, key chains, magnets and more. Additional souvenirs are on the way: Disney says it will have nearly three dozen Duffy items for sale in its parks within the next year.

Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy, a rising star in the GOP freshman class, has kept his distance from the turmoil in his home state that has catapulted union bargaining rights to the national stage. But that doesn't appear to have put him off from appearing with Gov. Scott Walker at a GOP fundraising dinner set for Saturday in Washburn, Wis. Duffy's spokesman, Daniel Son, confirmed Thursday that the congressman would attend the Lincoln Day Dinner at the invitation of the Ashland County Republican Party, and Ashland's Daily Press reports that Walker is also slated to attend the event.

The American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of California Common Cause, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against San Diego County Sheriff John Duffy in an attempt to halt the distribution by on-duty deputies of post cards urging California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird to resign.

A self-described gigolo on probation for bilking $100,000 from rich, unsuspecting women in Orange County has been arrested in San Diego for allegedly conning a woman there out of $25,000, authorities said Friday. Joseph (Mac) Duffy, the 29-year-old playboy of Pacific Coast Highway whose lavish lifestyle was once chronicled on television's "A Current Affair," was set up Wednesday by his alleged victim and taken into custody, police said. The woman, whom authorities identified only as Laura Lowe, invited Duffy to her San Diego home after telling Orange County authorities that he had duped her out of $25,000.

For the mad month of May, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has embarked on a wildly ambitious, slightly mad operatic mission. It includes a Walt Disney Concert Hall staging of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" next week and the world premiere of John Adams' large-scale opera-oratorio, "The Gospel According to the Other Mary," at month's end. The adventure began Tuesday night with a rare and important performance of Luciano Berio's elaborately operatic study...

Los Angeles teachers who became whistle-blowers during a cheating scandal won the right Tuesday to open their own charter school. The new enterprise, called Apple Academy, won unanimous approval from the Los Angeles Board of Education. The school's chief executive, former L.A. teachers union president A.J. Duffy, had been a longtime critic of charter schools. The cheating, which came to public attention last year, ultimately led to the shutdown last summer of all six Crescendo charter schools.

Ringing like a Salvation Army bell, more Christmas-themed outrage is in the air. This time, it's a kerfuffle over some holiday carolers being ejected from a post office in a Maryland suburb outside Washington. It seems that the carolers, dressed like something out of Dickens, ran afoul of a federal law that prohibits organized groups from assembling on post office property. It's likely no one would have heard about it, except that J.P. Duffy, a spokesman for the influential conservative advocacy group the Family Research Council, was among the dozens of patrons at the post office in Aspen Hill, Md, on Saturday.

Marshall Duffield is the first to admit that the Mojave Desert is a strange place to build boats. At a factory near Adelanto, Calif., his Duffy Electric Boat Co. turns out its buoyant products even though the only water for miles around -- the California Aqueduct -- isn't navigable. "If you had said that it would have ever come to this, that I would be building boats in the middle of a desert, I never would have believed it," said Duffield, the affable boat company owner known as Duffy.

Duffy's latest vision Re "A.J. Duffy, reformer?," Editorial, Sept. 4 Your comment on United Teachers Los Angeles — "it's not their job to put the interests of children first" — is not the way that teachers unions explain their behavior. They often embellish their stances with the claim that they are supporting the interests of their students. It now appears that former UTLA President A.J. Duffy has always had the interests of students at heart. Were those views in plain view when attempts were made to dismiss teachers, to argue for excellence over seniority or to expand charter schools?

I was waiting for A.J. Duffy at the Farmer's Market Tuesday afternoon when I spotted someone who looked somewhat like him. But if this was the ex-president of United Teachers Los Angeles, he was out of uniform. Instead of the nice threads and two-tone Guys 'n' Dolls shoes he wore as a union boss, he was dressed like a tourist. Blue shorts past his knees. White T-shirt. Sneakers. And a Yankees cap. Then again, Duffy recently switched teams, so why not uniforms? In fact, he pulled off a flip so incredible, he could have joined Cirque du Soleil.

What did we talk about before June 13, 1994? PETER DUFFY Rowland Heights

If nothing else, if and when this trial ends, each juror will be awarded a degree in forensic science. PETER J. DUFFY Rowland Heights

On several occasions over the last few years, A.J. Duffy sat in a conference room with the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times and expounded on the evils of charter schools, the value of teachers union contracts that included pages and pages of extensive work rules, the importance of the teacher seniority system and the nefarious intentions of those who sought to streamline the firing of bad teachers. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Duffy, who recently was termed out as president of United Teachers Los Angeles, announced that he wants to open charter schools that will make it harder for teachers to receive tenure, easier for them to lose it and allow schools to move much faster to fire ineffective instructors.

A.J. Duffy, who headed a teachers union that has long fought against charter schools, now is starting his own. And some of his ideas are going to trouble some educators and his friends in the labor movement. The longtime anti-charter crusader wants to make it harder for teachers to earn tenure protections and wants to lengthen that process. He even wants to require teachers to demonstrate that they remain effective in the classroom if they want to keep their tenure protections. And if a tenured teacher becomes ineffective, he wants to streamline dismissals.