The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted 5-2 on May 1 to approve Austin Beutner as the district’s new superintendent. He will officially assume the post on May 14.

Beutner (photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times)

Since last year, Beutner has co-led the LAUSD Advisory Task Force, which provides recommendations for improving the district, and founded Vision to Learn, a nonprofit organization that has provided vision screenings, eye exams and glasses to more than 100,000 youth nationwide.

He was publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times in 2014-15, during which time the newspaper launched the High School Insider initiative to give students a voice in their community. He also previously served as deputy mayor under Antonio Villaraigosa and as general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in 2010.

Beutner’s selection ends a nationwide search that began when Superintendent Michelle King announced in January she has cancer and would retire. She has been on leave since September. Vivian Ekchian, who was also a candidate for superintendent, led the district as interim superintendent in King’s absence.

“It is my distinct honor and privilege to take on the responsibility to lead the L.A. Unified School District, a complex, diverse organization full of students bursting with potential,” Beutner said. “These young women and men are the future of our community and every policy we adopt and every decision we make must be with the sole focus of doing everything we can to provide them with the best education possible. I look forward to working with the school board, parents, employees, labor partners and the community to build on the progress that has been made at L.A. Unified to address the challenges we face and to deliver on our promise to our students.”

Some board members said they believe Beutner, who has never led a school or school district, will provide the outside expertise necessary to guide the district into the future.

“Superintendent-designate Beutner will lead a team to accelerate the movement toward 100 percent graduation in collaboration with the committed professionals and community partners that serve our children and families,” LAUSD board President Mónica García said. “Our record graduation rate of 80 percent is possible because we worked with bold and optimistic stakeholders demanding a high-quality education for every child regardless of their zip code or starting point.”

Nick Melvoin, who represents the local 4th District on the LAUSD board, also supported the decision to hire Beutner.

“We need new, creative solutions to tackle old, seemingly intractable problems. Austin Beutner is the right person at this time to help us forge a new path for success in a climate of financial uncertainty, pervasive achievement gaps and severe underfunding of our public schools,” Melvoin said. “Whether it was at the city, the L.A. Times, a nonprofit or the private sector, superintendent-designate Beutner has proven his willingness to lead in difficult circumstances.

The two members of the board who voted against Beutner becoming superintendent were George McKenna and Scott Schmerelson.

“As an experienced lifelong public-school educator, I feel compelled to voice my dissent regarding the selection of a non-educator to lead the second-largest school district in the nation,” McKenna said. “In an abbreviated and rushed process without open community forums or input from school and district staff, parents and students, a majority of the Board of Education selected the new superintendent with a 5 to 2 vote. This choice of a person with no experience as an educator in K-12 school districts reflects the lack of concern for the continuity and stability of the district. The premise that a non-educator is a better fit to lead a large educational organization because of limited managerial experience in outside business experiences is fundamentally flawed and politically motivated. To intentionally seek non-educators to serve as superintendents reflects a lack of respect for the professional educators who have demonstrated effective service and leadership within school systems, along with a denial of the board’s ultimate responsibility to establish policies that govern the district and hold the superintendent accountable.”

Schmerelson echoed the sentiment.

“I do not believe that Austin Beutner, who has absolutely no experience in the field of public education, is qualified to manage the largest school district in the nation with an elected board,” Schmerelson said. “He has never taught in a public school, never managed a public school, has no instructional background and has never worked for a school district of any size. The primary purpose of a school district is to establish and adequately resource effective schools, which are ultimately dependent on teachers, administrators and other school site staff. The dream of business-style governance being used in an urban school district to turnaround failing schools and/or lessen the achievement gap is a myth that has not materialized. This continued experiment on the neediest students and families is an injustice and an avoidance of the reality that our communities need the best educational leadership that be found.”