Civic leaders press Brewer to leave L.A. Unified
Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times
Key civic leaders have lost confidence in L.A. School Supt. David L. Brewer and are quietly pressing for him to leave his $300,000-a-year position as head of the nation's second-largest school system, The Times has learned.
The school board is expected to discuss buying out Brewer's contract in a private meeting Tuesday, according to sources close to the district who are not authorized to speak about closed sessions.
Months ago, Brewer handed over day-to-day operations of the district as well as long-term planning to a deputy, Ramon C. Cortines. Brewer has remained the public face of the district and acts as its most visible lobbyist.
Those who are said to favor Brewer's departure include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor Richard Riordan and billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad. Each declined to answer questions about Brewer's performance, but political allies confirmed their positions. Riordan and Broad are active and influential in local reform efforts, especially in promoting charters, public schools that are overseen but not controlled by L.A. Unified.
The seven members of the Board of Education, Brewer's bosses, have been divided over the superintendent's future, including one who has applauded the arrangement with Cortines and one who actively desires Brewer's departure.
Board President Monica Garcia, a Villaraigosa ally, was among those who had assertively urged Brewer to bring in Cortines, a former superintendent in New York City, San Francisco and, on an interim basis in 2000, in Los Angeles.
At public events, Garcia has effusively praised Brewer, but when asked recently to assess the retired admiral, she was noncommittal.
"I'm not satisfied with the rate of change," she said in advance of this week's scheduled meeting.
Others in the city's government and philanthropic circles say that the dual leadership team is effective. Supporters also characterize Brewer's Sacramento lobbying as a vital effort to confront a budget shortfall that could surpass $1 billion over the next two years.
Brewer declined to be interviewed for this article, but by some measures, he should be riding high. Two years into his tenure, test scores have bumped upward and just this month, voters resoundingly approved the largest-ever local school bond for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
