Zacarias

Republicans are livid about the way the Obama administration handled the apprehension and arrest of an accused Somali terrorist. But — with one exception — the treatment of Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was a creditable balancing of national security concerns and due process. President Obama should resist pressure in Congress to make such an approach impossible. Warsame was arrested April 19 and interrogated on a U.S. Navy ship before being flown to New York. He is accused in a nine-count federal indictment of supplying material support to Al Qaeda in Yemen and the Somali group Shabab.

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday removed Supt. Ruben Zacarias from direct authority over any member of the school district staff, appointing a chief executive to oversee all day-to-day operations. In announcing a nine-month appointment of former board member Howard Miller to the new post, the board said he would report directly to Zacarias. "All other departments, divisions and units of every kind of the LAUSD will report to Mr.

The Los Angeles school board signaled its intention Tuesday to vote on extending the contract of Supt. Ruben Zacarias before three new members take office next month. The move, which would deny the new board members what they have described as one of their most important jobs--evaluating the superintendent--follows an election marked by hard-fought campaigns and record spending.

Claiming he has become a victim of "intimidation tactics" in the battle for control of Los Angeles Unified, the school district's top spokesman said late Sunday that he will resign his $101,000-a-year post in protest. Brad Sales, communications assistant to embattled Supt. Ruben Zacarias, lashed out at what he said were attempts by newly appointed chief executive officer Howard Miller and board President Genethia Hayes to control information.

School Supt. Ruben Zacarias is getting tough on administrators and principals, demanding, as he promised when he sought this job, new accountability at the district's 100 lowest-performing schools. Principals at these schools must improve their students' test scores within two years or face demotion or dismissal, he said.

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday ordered Supt. Ruben Zacarias to devise a comprehensive, five-year plan that charts a new course for the city's public school system and its 700,000 students. Acting on a motion by board member Caprice Young, the board asked Zacarias to present it with a draft of the plan by January.

Like a hero returning to his hometown, Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ruben Zacarias spent his last day on the job Friday reading to students and counseling teachers at the modest Boyle Heights school he attended as a boy 65 years ago. "This is where it all started, and this is where I want it to end," the 71-year-old veteran said before getting down to the business of reading "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss to a kindergarten class at Breed Street Elementary School.

Supt. Ruben Zacarias, now seven months on the job, has outlined an ambitious vision for Los Angeles' public schools. Whether he can turn that vision to reality depends on many factors, including his own level of determination, and whether the school unions give him substantial support.

Los Angeles school Supt. Ruben Zacarias has pledged to spend an additional $4.5 million on textbooks this year, an increase of nearly 50% per student at the high school level. The size of the increase reflects the depth of the need in a school district where far too few students have textbooks they can take home. Zacarias says his proposal is a beginning, and he has directed staff members to identify more funds that can be spent on textbooks.