LA Makes a Billionaire Privatizer Superintendent of Schools (Updated)

25 Apr

By Thomas Ultican 4/25/2018

Eli Broad and friends have picked his wealthy business partner, Austin Beutner, to lead LA schools. Their kindred spirit from San Francisco, Reed Hastings, is chipping in for the cause as are Fisher, Walton, Bloomberg and several other billionaires. The selection of Beutner would signal another existential crisis for America’s second largest public-school district.

Update: When I originally published this article, a board member who had voted against Beutner, Scott M Schmerelson‘s came to the mic on Friday, April 27 and announced that no decision had been made. He said the next board meeting would be May 1. That was subterfuge.

1. The vote to hire Beutner was taken on April 20th.
2. Board member Richard Vladovic who was considered opposed to Beutner voted to hire him.
3. It was a 5-2 vote for his contract.

In May of 2017, these pro-privatization forces bankrolled a successful destroy public education (DPE) take-over of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). For the first time ever, a pro-charter school voting bloc is in control. Now, they appear ready to select Beutner as their leader.

On April 16, Howard Blume reporting for the Los Angeles Times said, “Austin Beutner has emerged as a leading contender to run the Los Angeles school district, with backers saying he is smart enough and tough enough to confront its financial and academic struggles.” However, the selection has been surprisingly stalled.

April 20, Blume updated the story for the LA Times. He speculated Beutner would be selected that day. Blume wrote, “Some of the city’s power brokers seem to be invested in Beutner, 58, who is himself one of L.A.’s more influential leaders.” However, later in the day, the Daily News reported, “The board met for hours Friday but announced shortly after 7 p.m. that it would be reconvening at 11 a.m. May 1 to resume the discussion”.

Four Finalist in Superintendent Bid

In the April 16 LA Times article, Blume also stated that in addition to front runner Beutner, three finalists are in contention. He noted:

“Interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian, who has been managing the district since King left on medical leave last fall, also made it to the second round, according to insiders. The other two apparent finalists are more difficult to confirm, but several sources have named Indianapolis Supt. Lewis Ferebee and former Baltimore Supt. Andres Alonso, who teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.”

Popular LAUSD Superintendent Michelle King resigned on January 5th. She had been fighting cancer since the summer of 2017 and had been on medical leave since the fall.

Superintendent Candidates

Four finalists for LAUSD Superintendent: Alonso, Beutner, Ekchian, Ferebee.

Lewis Ferebee

Ferebee has been the Superintendent of Schools in Indianapolis, Indiana since 2013. Influenced by The Mind Trust, Indianapolis has become a model for the DPE movement. The fact that Ferebee, who is a member of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change, is a finalist speaks volumes about the direction the new LAUSD board is charting.

The 74, a noted DPE oriented publication started by Campbell Brown, said that when first appointed he looked like a strange choice then continued,  “But since he stepped into the role of superintendent in 2013, Ferebee has developed stronger relationships between traditional district and charter schools, grown the city’s network of innovation schools, and worked toward giving principals more decision-making power.”

Last week Ferebee removed himself from consideration. On April 18, the Indianapolis Star quoted him:

‘“Recently, I was announced as one of the finalists for the Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent position,’ Ferebee’s statement said. ‘After further discussing this endeavor with my family, the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners, and those handling the search process, I have withdrawn my name from consideration. It was an honor to have been considered for an opportunity of this magnitude.”’

Austin Beutner

He has no educational training or experience. His only qualification seems to be his willingness to do the job and the support he has from LA’s power elites. They claim his background in investment banking will lead to a solution to the charter school induced deficits plaguing LAUSD.

Beutner grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan just thirty miles up the road from Holland Michigan and the DeVos clan. His father, Roger Earl Beutner, was the Vice-President of Operations at AmWay. He and his siblings Sheryl and Brian all attended East Grand Rapids High School, a public school.

He went to Dartmouth in the fall of 1978 majoring in economics. That seems to be the extent of his formal education.

His Revolvy biography states,

“After graduation in 1982 he went to work at Smith Barney as a financial analyst. At the age of 29, he became the youngest partner at The Blackstone Group, one of the largest private equity firms in the world. In the 1990s he co-founded the investment banking group Evercore Partners which went public in 2006.”

Dartmouth magazine noted, “In the mid-1990s President Bill Clinton asked him to advise Russia on transitioning to a free-market economy. (During his three years in Moscow, Beutner met with both Yeltsin and Putin.)”

After recovering from a serious biking accident, Beutner started looking for new challenges outside the banking industry. In 2009, LA’s economy was in the tank, companies were leaving town and business insiders were not happy with Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa’s “feckless response.” Former mayor and billionaire, Richard Riordan, hosted a breakfast for city movers and shakers to discuss the issue. In a 2011 puff piece about Beutner, Gabriel Kahn of Los Angeles Magazine provided a description of the event:

“Riordan wanted to bring together some of the most prominent people in L.A. to see what could be done. Among those attending were Michael Milken, Eli Broad, and Disney senior executive Jay Rasulo, along with [George] Kieffer [from the LA law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips], City National Bank chairman Russell Goldsmith, and Jay Carson, who was chief deputy mayor at the time. Beutner also had a seat, though few of the guests knew him well. One after the other they rattled off ways to address L.A.’s most glaring problems: slash the lengthy business permitting process, do away with arcane business taxes, tackle runaway pension costs. Then Beutner spoke up. The proposals were all fine, he said, but until a person inside city hall is charged with implementing them, nothing would change. Those present took notice.”

Villaraigosa appointed Beutner to a new position he created, Deputy Mayor. He was given an extensive portfolio of responsibilities. Kahn wrote, “Beutner, who had decades of experience in investment banking but none in local government, was granted oversight of 12 city agencies, from the Port of Los Angeles to the Housing Authority.” He was the supervisor of 17,000 city employees.

Kahn ended his LA Magazine article with:

“No matter what happens, Villaraigosa says he wants someone doing Beutner’s job. After all, someone’s got to run the city.”

In February 2016, the San Diego Reader reported,

“Last May, when Chicago-based Tribune Publishing bought the San Diego Union-Tribune from developer Douglas Manchester, Austin Beutner seemed poised to take the city by storm. Appointed publisher of both the U-T and the Los Angeles Times, the former Wall Street wheeler-dealer and Democratic ex-deputy mayor of L.A. and friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton pledged to make over failing newspaper models and personally oversee everything from interviews with governor Jerry Brown to daily editorials.

 “Then Beutner was suddenly gone, dumped in September by Tribune after a reportedly failed attempt by his onetime associate, Democratic billionaire Eli Broad, to buy out the Times and U-T as part of Broad’s effort to build a personal Southern California newspaper empire.”

No training or experience in education but lots of money and connections. Isn’t this the requirement for top management positions in banana republics?

Andres Alonso

This finalist was the Superintendent of education in Baltimore, Maryland for six years. He resigned in 2013. Before Baltimore, he was chief of staff and then deputy chancellor for Teaching and learning during the first phase of New York’s Children First reforms. [Update: A reliable source says Alonso actually had no supervisory authority in NY. The information cited is from his Harvard biography.]

In his doctoral thesis Danial Voloch studied the Children First reform. He begins,

“During the first decade of the 21st century, Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg oversaw a radical transformation of the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) into a portfolio management district in which the primary responsibility of the NYCDOE was not to develop the capacity of school leaders or teachers, but instead to create a marketplace through which strong schools could be created and failing schools could be closed.” (emphasis added)

Alonso was an early practitioner of the DPE favored portfolio management theory with its associated churn and disruption.

Upon his resignation the Baltimore Sun wrote of Alonso’s performance:

“Under Alonso’s leadership, city schools saw growth in test scores, graduation rates and enrollment, but his administration was dogged by fiscal problems and cheating scandals.

 “The first half of his tenure was marked by a series of reforms: closing more than one dozen failing schools and programs and creating several others that have thrived; decentralizing the system by cutting the headquarters staff by more than half; giving principals power over budget decisions; creating choice for city families, and competition among middle and high schools; and signing a landmark pay-for-performance teachers’ union contract that was hailed as a model in the nation. (emphasis added)

 “Test scores stalled, and a series of cheating scandals — found by the state to have taken place during the year the district’s progress was most celebrated — cast a cloud over the success story.

 Since leaving Baltimore, Alonso has been teaching at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He does have extensive experience and training, but his philosophy of education leadership is deeply flawed.

Vivian Ekchian

Her LAUSD biography informs us that Ms. Ekchian is a 32-year veteran of L.A. Unified and has served in a variety of roles: teacher assistant, classroom teacher, principal, director of instruction, chief of staff to the superintendent of schools, chief human resources officer, chief labor negotiator, local district superintendent, associate superintendent, and acting superintendent. In January, LAUSD Board of Education voted unanimously to appoint Ms. Ekchian as interim superintendent.

She was awarded a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential from California State University, Northridge, as well as a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, Ekchian is working toward a doctorate in educational leadership through the University of Southern California.

She is a naturalized Armenian-American born in Iran to Armenian parents. Ekchian was raised and educated in Heidelberg, Germany so she naturally understands the challenges facing students with diverse backgrounds.

Of the four finalists for the position, Ekchian is the most experienced and most committed to seeing LAUSD succeed at its mission to maintain high-quality professionally run public schools in every neighborhood. Unfortunately, the new LAUSD board appears committed to the DPE path.

Who Does the LAUSD Board Represent?

It is widely acknowledged that the last LAUSD board election was the most expensive school board election in history. The spending by the DPE movement was approximately double that of the teacher’s unions. However, this is misleading.

Over 7,000 teachers voluntarily contributed and average of $9.50 a month for a total of $67,000 starting in January 2017. By the election in May, those 7,000 people had contributed over $300,000. On February 22, 2017, the former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg contributed $500,000.

Broad Hastings Cartoon Coopmike48

Graphic Courtesy of the Big Education Ape

Howard Blume and Ben Poston wrote a post-election piece describing the sources the money spent on the election. They said,

“It’s an oversimplification to say the outcome was all about money, but charters spent more ($9.7 million compared with $5.2 million), and their candidates finished first in both races on Tuesday’s ballot.”

 “Based on spending since the March primary, pro-charter outside groups and individuals spent $144 for every vote cast for one of the charter-endorsed candidates. Unions spent $81 for every vote received by teachers union-backed candidates.”

 “More information will be revealed with ongoing disclosure filings, but Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix and a Democrat, appears to lead the pack with nearly $7 million donated since last September to California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates. Hastings, like others, does not appear in city filings as a contributor because he gave to the charter association. That association then spent money on the campaign or transferred funds to other pro-charter groups.”

 “How easy is it to figure out the source of the money in the school board races?

 “Not very. California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates, for example, files with state regulators, not the city, and the state requires only a semi-annual report. It won’t be possible to look up who gave in the five months leading up to the May 16 election until sometime after June.”

Major contributors are required to file their contributions with the State of California. The following table is of contributions in 2017, most of which came in before May.

Spending Table

Data on Campaign Giving by Major Donors in 2017

CCSA Advocates is an independent expenditure committee associated with the California Charter Schools Association. Ref Rodriquez, who is charged with campaign finance and charter school money fraud, is the forth vote for the DPE side. Marshal Tuck is the DPE backed candidate for state superintendent of instruction. Kellen Gonez and Nick Melvoin were just elected to the LAUSD board. Much of the independent expenditure money went to them. Ed Voice, Ed Voice for Kids and LA Students are all independent expenditure committees supporting the DPE movement. LA Students is Richard Riordan’s independent expenditure committee. It has nothing to do with students.

Melvoin and Gonez claim they are not ruled by these big money spenders. Their vote for the next LAUSD superintendent will be telling.

11 Responses to “LA Makes a Billionaire Privatizer Superintendent of Schools (Updated)”

  1. leonie haimson (@leoniehaimson) April 25, 2018 at 6:24 pm #

    sad so little public input into this decision — contrast the selection process of the Seattle school board where there were surveys, and public forums where the candidates could be asked questions about their visions etc.

    Like

    • tultican April 25, 2018 at 7:59 pm #

      I think there is an inherent set of problems with giant school districts. Parents do not have a true sense of influence like in smaller districts and it provides a target for control. I believe SDUSD should be broken into 4 districts and LAUSD into 6 or 8 districts. I don’t have a good sense about NY. As a rule of thumb, I think more that 100,000 to 150,000 students is too big.

      Like

      • melchi34 April 29, 2018 at 5:28 pm #

        You are probably right, in that the chiefs can be far from the students and teachers, making rules the effect of which he or she cannot see. Smaller districts might be more accessible by parents and community. Big districts can easily become top heavy with bureaucrats out of touch with rank and file and, effectively, with the goals of education.

        Like

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Ninovus | Blue-State Revolt - December 19, 2018

    […] in this country are targets.” In Los Angeles, deep-pocketed pro-charter ideologues recently installed Austin Beutner — a billionaire investment banker with zero educational experience — as […]

    Like

  2. LA’s teachers can teach the working class about the power of labor strikes | Eric Blanc and Meagan Day | Opinion – Smart way to compare - January 14, 2019

    […] To the contrary: Austin Beutner, the billionaire investment banker installed as superintendent by deep-pocketed backers of school privatization, is a proud liberal and a longtime funder of the Democratic […]

    Like

  3. LA’s Teachers Strike Will Be the Toughest Yet – "Standing Strong for Public Education!" #iBELIEVE - January 14, 2019

    […] Pro-charter billionaires like Eli Broad and Reed Hastings spent an unprecedented $9.7 million in the spring of 2017 to ensure the election of a pro-privatization majority to the school board. In early 2018 the new board installed billionaire investment banker, and former Los Angeles Times publisher, Austin Beutner as superintendent. What the new head of LA public schools lacks in job credentials—Beutner has no professional experience in the education system—he more than makes up for in connections to California’s rich and powerful, and a solid track record of downsizing and privatizing. […]

    Like

  4. LA teachers can teach working class about power of labour strikes | The High Asia Herald - January 17, 2019

    […] To the contrary: Austin Beutner, the billionaire investment banker installed as superintendent by deep-pocketed backers of school privatization, is a proud liberal and a longtime funder of the Democratic […]

    Like

  5. LA's Teachers' Strike Will Be the Toughest Yet | TheHatTip | POLITEIA - January 19, 2019

    […] Pro-charter billionaires like Eli Broad and Reed Hastings spent an unprecedented $9.7 million in the spring of 2017 to ensure the election of a pro-privatization majority to the school board. In early 2018 the new board installed billionaire investment banker, and former Los Angeles Times publisher, Austin Beutner as superintendent. What the new head of LA public schools lacks in job credentials—Beutner has no professional experience in the education system—he more than makes up for in connections to California’s rich and powerful, and a solid track record of downsizing and privatizing. […]

    Like

  6. What the LA Teachers Won, and How They Won It | TheHatTip | POLITEIA - January 24, 2019

    […] a fight around wages—rather it was a political struggle against the billionaires and their proxies in […]

    Like

  7. What LA’s Teachers Taught America During Their Strike – Agreeing Loudly - January 28, 2019

    […] a fight around wages—rather it was a political struggle against the billionaires and their proxies in […]

    Like

  8. Los maestros de Los Ángeles educan a la clase trabajadora de Los Ángeles sobre el poder de las huelgas laborales – Noticias Ultimas - May 14, 2019

    […] Austin Beutner, el banquero de inversiones multimillonario instalado como superintendente por profundo partidarios de la privatización escolar, es un liberal orgulloso y un financiador de larga data […]

    Like

Leave a comment