LAUSD CHIEF WANTS A BUYOUT

 

By George Sanchez Staff Writer | LA Daily News

- David Brewer

Monday, 8 December 2008 03:17:56 PM PST -- After a week of controversy over his future, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent David Brewer III said today he wants the LAUSD board to buy out his contract.

Brewer will ask the board Tuesday to buy out the last two years of his deal, he said during a press conference this afternoon.

"To the people of Los Angeles, demand that political and adult agendas take a back seat to student agendas," he said, calling himself "an experienced warrior that had come to battle on behalf of the students of Los Angeles."

"The current debate about my leadership and the performance of the district has been contentious," he added. "It has been demoralizing and debilitating, not only to our valued employees, but has spilled over into the community."

Brewer, a retired Navy admiral and African-American, also insinuated that race was a factor in how he has been treated, saying he knows what discrimination looks and smells like and its consequences. But a troubling and disconcerting as the debate is, he does not want his situation to become an ethnic issue, he said.

"This must not become an ethnic or racial battle that infests our schools, our campuses, our playgrounds," he said.

Brewer, who makes about $300,000 a year and has been superintendent of the nation's second-largest district for two years, has been under pressure from some members of the LAUSD board to resign.

Board President Monica Garcia met with him last week to come to terms on a buyout of his four-year contract. However, the board decided to defer formal action until this week, when all seven members would be present to discuss the matter.

Brewer had sent out a memo to supporters defending his tenure and improvements made while he was superintendent.