NEWS

Cancer Forces King to Step Down

LAUSD: Michelle King officially resigns as LAUSD Superintendent.

By Tommy Chan
February 2, 2018

After several months of mysterious absence, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Michelle King has officially announced her retirement to undergo treatment for a form of cancer that has not yet been disclosed to the public.

King started out as a teacher in 1978 and spent 33 years with the district, climbing the ranks as the first female, African-American Superintendent.

In just two years in the top LAUSD post, King achieved the current record graduation rate of 80.2 percent in LA Unified.

Starting Sept. 15 of 2017, King went on medical leave under unknown circumstances. On Jan. 5, she officially announced her retirement as Superintendent on June 30, until which she will remain on paid leave.

King leaves the district during a time of challenge and change. Currently, the district is experiencing many difficulties, including a long term budget deficit, expired labor contracts, and a civil rift between traditional educators and those supporting the freelance charter systems. The district is now on a search for a new superintendent to lead through this time.

In the meantime, the leader of the second largest district in the country will be Vivian Ekchian, who has been acting as the interim superintendent since King’s disappearance.

The Board of Education will now be tasked with the job of selecting a new official superintendent to lead the district by the start of the new school year in Aug. 2018.

Tommy Chan is a Senior who joined The Mirror staff in his junior year. He started his journey in this field as a News Writer and has worked his way up to the position of News Editor.

Aside from Journalism, Tommy enjoys creative writing and volunteers as a teacher to children in Cambodia. Tommy hopes to major in a branch of Environmental Science to contribute to the fight against Global Warming.

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