LAUSD Ousts Superintendent

The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted to buy out superintendent David L. Brewer’s contract with two years remaining.

It will cost the district more than $500,000 to get rid of the former Navy admiral. He will be replaced temporarily by Ramon C. Cortines, a veteran school administrator who serves as LAUSD’s senior deputy superintendent.

Board president Monica Garcia and allies of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ousted the superintendent after just two years on the job, but they did it “without cause,” forcing the district to buy out Brewer’s contract.

The school district, the nation’s second-biggest, is working to close a $200 million-plus gap in its $8.6 billion operating budget this year, and officials expect to face a gap twice as big next year.

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