LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Board of Education voted Tuesday to buy out Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent David Brewer midway through his four-year contract.
No decision on a successor was announced, but it is widely expected that senior deputy superintendent Ramon Cortines will accept the position on at least an interim basis. Cortines, 76, relayed through a spokesperson that he had no comment.
Brewer, 62, announced Monday his willingness to accept a buyout, one week after Board of Education president Monica Garcia made it clear that she would seek to replace him. Brewer’s contract entitles him to an 18-month buyout, which apparently could cost in excess of $500,000, including salary and expenses. But no details of the cost were immediately available.
Garcia and some of Brewer’s critics have said the superintendent has not moved quickly enough and effectively enough to improve the nation’s second-largest school system. Brewer has pointed out that gains on test scores this year well outpaced California as a whole and that the district last month successfully passed its largest bond issue.
