Story Created:
Jul 22, 2010 at 11:39 AM PST
Story Updated:
Jul 23, 2010 at 12:52 AM PST
Ending months of speculation, Los Angeles Unified schools Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced he plans to retire next spring from a career in public education that spans six decades, it was reported Thursday.
Cortines marked his 78 birthday Thursday and has already vacated his superintendent’s office, according to the South Bay Daily Breeze.
Many district observers believe the next chief of schools will be Deputy Superintendent John Deasy, the district’s recently hired No. 2, the newspaper reported.
In an interview Wednesday, Cortines told the Daily Breeze it’s time to step aside and let the district — plagued by high turnover rates among senior administrators — find a leader who can stay for the long term.
“I have to lay the groundwork for transition,” Cortines told the newspaper. “This district needs to have continuity, flexibility, accountability.
“It’s never a good time to go,” Cortines said inside his new compact office, about half the size of those occupied by most senior district administrators.
The last two years of budget cuts and rapid reform have been exhausting, Cortines said.
He started as a sixth-grade teacher in Monterey and moved on to superintendent posts in Pasadena, San Jose, and San Francisco, he ran New York City’s Department of Education, and he worked as an education adviser in the Clinton administration.
But Cortines said his last post has been the toughest.
In the last 18 months Cortines has had to slash more than $1.5 billion from the district’s annual budget — laying off thousands of teachers, administrators, office workers, custodians and bus drivers.
District officials have said a nationwide search will be conducted to find a replacement for Cortines. But many believe that Deasy, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation director, was hired to step into that role later this year.
Deasy is expected to arrive at the district Aug. 2, the Daily Breeze reported.
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