The Los Angeles Unified School District Board met today to select a new superintendent, but there was no quorum. They recessed until May 1. No Austin Beutner, the investment banker. Not yet.
The board is split 4-3, with charteristas in the slim majority. The swing vote is a Ref Rodriguez, who will soon be tried on several felony indictments.
The board would be wise to pick an experienced educator, a consensus candidate with the confidence of the full board.
If the current majority picks a hard-driving charter zealot, that person may soon be leading a 3-3 Board and unable to do anything at all.
Will the current majority put the well-bring of the children above their political agenda?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Charter schools are a last resort. If they become the norm then even fewer talented young Americans will become teachers. That is one of the strongest arguments against Charter schools. As it is public school teaching is, let’s face it, a mediocre and underpaid and underrespected career choice.
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Our newspaper is reporting that Dr. Andres Alonso (former Balto City Super) is being considered for the job in L.A. I didn’t follow the man’s progress in the city, but there were many closures of schools and many charters opened under his tenure. I can say that he seemed to be well liked and responsive to students and teachers needs.
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I think the fact that Alonso is being considered may indicate that the LAUSD charter friendly board majority feels that interim superintendent Echkian is not as supportive of charters as they would like. That may be why they may be willing to settle on Alonso now that we are now finding out about Beutner’s family history with DeVos’ and Amway and his June personal meeting with Betsy in D.C.
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Troubling news. The Board has been under the microscope recently, but now they’re going back into shadows for a news cycle.
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There may be hope in LA. The Times reported today that investment banker Beutner was losing steam, while Alonso and Echkian were gaining. Some District parent groups were advocating for Echkian, while pro-charter Board Member Gonez was reported to want a professional educator. Alonso might qualify, though his tenure in Baltimore and subsequent “escape” to Harvard might benefit Echkian. At least she knows where the bodies are buried and would be less inclined to torture schools with the latest “flavor of the month.”
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