L.A. school board weighs fate of Supt. David Brewer
The schools chief is facing increasing pressure to resign. The absence of board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte may complicate the deliberations.
The Los Angeles Board of Education is meeting in closed session at this hour, discussing the fate of schools Supt. David L. Brewer, who faces increasing pressure to step down midway through a four-year contract.
Although board members and sources close to them suggest that the votes are there to dismiss Brewer, a complication has arisen with the absence of board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte. LaMotte is representing the Los Angeles Unified School District in San Diego at a weeklong meeting of the California School Boards Assn., and she reportedly declined to return to deliberate Brewer's fate.
LaMotte is the board's only African American member, and officials are reluctant to act against Brewer, who also is black, without LaMotte in the room. LaMotte's trip to San Diego -- a two- to three-hour drive from Los Angeles -- had been scheduled some time ago.
Early this year, Brewer addressed criticism of his administration by bringing in veteran retired superintendent Ramon C. Cortines to manage day-to-day operations. That move is widely viewed inside and outside the district as a positive. It has failed, however, to repair critics' perceptions that Brewer's own management skills are not equal to the task of managing the tortured politics and current funding crisis in the nation's second-largest school system.
The situation entails some political risk for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who would inevitably be associated with dismissing Brewer. Board members crucial to the vote were elected with funds that the mayor raised. And board President Monica Garcia is an especially close ally of the mayor; it is unlikely she would act without the mayor's full knowledge and tacit approval, political observers said.
LaMotte, on the other hand, defeated a challenger supported by the mayor's allies. And part of her winning strategy was to accuse the mayor of trying to disenfranchise the black community by imposing his will on schools that serve the black community.
Already, there have been efforts to minimize backlash, and there is some evidence that such efforts are not an unqualified success.
Monday night, Garcia personally called to offer a heads-up to black City Council members Jan Perry (leaving a message), Herb Wesson and Bernard Parks.
Perry said she tried twice unsuccessfully to call Garcia back, but found out about Brewer from another city official.
