LAUSD Supt. David Brewer expected to step down
Brewer is not resigning outright, district officials say. The move comes after an effort by some board members last week to unseat him.
Los Angeles Schools Supt. David L. Brewer is expected to leave his post as leader of the nation's second-largest school system, sources within the Los Angeles Unified School District said today.
Brewer will make an announcement about his future at 2 p.m. at the district's downtown headquarters. He will not be resigning outright, district sources told The Times. Nor has he yet concluded a deal with the school board, which is scheduled to meet in closed session Tuesday. But Brewer is expected to signal his understanding that a majority of the seven-member school board wants to move in a different direction.
Under terms of his contract, Brewer would be entitled to 18 months' severance, an amount estimated at about $500,000. His compensation package includes a $300,000 salary, $45,000 a year for expenses and a $3,000 monthly housing allowance.
"This is not a resignation and there is no deal with the school board," said Gayle Pollard-Terry, spokeswoman for the district. "Because of Brown Act requirements, no one on the school board is talking about this."
Brewer, 62, was the target last week of an effort led by Board of Education President Monica Garcia to unseat him. Garcia pulled back, however, when she learned that board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte would not return from a previously scheduled out-of-town trip to an education conference. LaMotte is the elected board's only African American member. Brewer too is African American, and Garcia didn't want to stoke the city's racial politics.
Brewer last week vowed to work until the last minute of the last day possible. He also defended his record, noting that test scores rose this year and that voters passed the district's largest school bond ever.
A retired Navy vice admiral, Brewer came to the job with little background in public education, but impressed the school board as an inspiring leader with a "take-charge attitude." But over time, he was criticized for moving too slowly to fill key positions and for failing to fully grasp the complexities of running a vast, politically charged organization that struggled to educate its 700,000 students, especially the many who are poor and not fully fluent in English.
Earlier this year, Brewer handed off day-to-day running of the district to deputy Ramon C. Cortines, who had briefly served as superintendent in Los Angeles and also headed school districts in New York and San Francisco. While Brewer considered the partnership to be a success, others questioned why the district should be, in effect, paying two superintendents. Cortines, 76, is widely expected to replace Brewer on at least an interim basis.
Brewer came to the district at a difficult time. He replaced former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, who served six years as schools superintendent. Brewer, who arrived as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was pressing to take control of the school system, came into the job not knowing whether his ultimate boss would be the school board, which opposed the takeover, or the mayor. The school board prevailed in court, and Brewer initially received high marks for cultivating good relations with both sides.
Villaraigosa later helped elect a new board majority that was dissatisfied with Brewer virtually from the start.
Blume and Landsberg are Times staff writers.
howard.blume@latimes.com
mitchell.landsberg@latimes.com
