Buy-bye Brewer?

All week LA’s newsmedia have been buzzing excitedly about the possibility that flailing David Brewer might be forced out or bought out or somehow thrown overboard the leaky ship that is LAUSD.  The LA Times (which, not so by the way, has rolled its education blog, The Homeroom, into a new blog that covers not just education but also local news, local business, AND local crime, leaving our major daily with ONE local news blog and NINE! entertainment blogs) came out today and called for his voluntary resignation.

Yessir.  Please, Mr. ex-Vice-Admiral Brewer, would you please pretty please, in the interests of the children, give up your $381,000 pay package complete with $45,000 expense account often used at your favorite restaurant, the Pacific Dining Car, where the average entree price is over $50?  And could you please forgo the $3000/month housing allowance since, although most teachers survive on much, much less, we know your base salary, $300K, is certainly not enough to live in our great city?   And, given that you’re not really doing all that much effectively and we’ve had spend another $250,000/year to hire Ramon Cortines to do your job, do you mind just giving it all up?

What kool-aid has the LA Times been drinking?  Do they seriously think, given the racial politics (Black Informant vs. LA Progressive) and financial incentives ($600,000 left on a $1.2 million contract) that Brewer is going to be shamed into simply walking away?  Bye-bye without buy-buy?!  Yeah.  Right.

Then again, the Times has been drinking that kool-aid for a while.  Here’s their view of Brewer in the resignation call:

Brewer is a man of intelligence and energy; no one could have foreseen that his previous accomplishments would never translate into the kind of educational and political acumen that would make him worth his $381,000 a year in salary and perks.

And back when he was hired:

L.A. Schools Chief a “Rare One”
Los Angeles Times
October 14, 2006

A long-serving military commander, Brewer has no experience in school administration. But in interviews Friday, Brewer, his family and friends all emphasized how his love and respect for education infuse every aspect of his life.

Both his parents were educators, as is his wife, Richardene, or “Deanie,” a middle school teacher.

Hmm.  Take a good look at that argument.  No one could have foreseen it might be a problem to hire someone with zero educational experience (but lots of teachers in the family!) to run the $14 billion, second largest school district in the country?

The San Francisco Chronicle certainly had its doubts:

While Brewer is a highly talented individual, it’s not clear if he has the knowledge base to do the job.

All the teachers I know in the district, myself included, had our doubts.

I could take that paragraph from the LA Times and rewrite it like this:

I have no experience in hospital administration. But in interviews Friday, I, my family and friends all emphasized how my love and respect for medicine and health infuse every aspect of my life.

Both my parents are doctors, as is my husband, Richard, or “Dickie,” a pediatric neurosurgeon.

Anyone planning on giving me a job resuscitating King-Drew Medical Center?

That’s what we were talking about in the lunchrooms back in 2006 when Brewer was hired.  The other two contenders back then were Ted Mitchell, the former president of Occidental College and Tom Van Der Ark, the head of Bill Gates’ education foundation (the choice of many of us).  But then, who, in this district–or any district–, ever listens to the teachers?

Who knows, maybe the Times will win.  Maybe they can use shame or an appeal to morality to 1) get Brewer to leave 2) without a huge golden parachute.  But the teachers in the lunchroom and I really, really, really doubt it.

For a great analysis of what’s wrong with LAUSD, check out Connie Rice talking on Warren Olney’s Which Way, LA? broadcast from December 2.   For a good look at what went wrong with the Admiral, check out the LA Weekly’s piece from last December.

And by the way, while David Brewer tells Patt Morrison this week how the district can save a $100,000 by networking the printers in the adminstrative offices–how’s that for vision!–here’s the big thinking that Tom Van Der Ark is coming up with.  Brewer kind of reminds me of that other ex-navy guy, Mr. John “Aware of the internet and of the Google” McCain.  Two navy men out to sea.  Waaaay out to sea.

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