Before retiring last week from a career in education that's covered six decades, outgoing LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines sat down with the Daily News in his Pasadena home. Here are some excerpts from the interview.
DN: How would you rank your time as Superintendent of LAUSD? Was it among the best or worst experiences of your professional career?
RC: I do not rank it grade-wise, but yes this was one of the best experiences of my professional career... We moved this district in unbelievable ways... but it has certainly been the hardest job... I think other places value people more... I tried to remind people that this business is all about people."
DN: Would you have taken this job if you knew then how bad the budget crisis was going to be?
RC: I don't know ... I usually don't do things I don't have solutions for.
DN: What would you say was your greatest success?
RC: Bringing people together around two words... teaching and learning. I started talking about that the day I came and I've never changed what it's about. You see it in the budget, facilities, maintenance and operations. It's always about how does this affect the classroom? How does this affect students? How does this affect teachers, principals, support people, counselors, librarians?
DN: How was your relationship with the school board?
RC: That is one of things I am most proud of. I worked with every single board member individually and
collectively. The thing that is different about me is I don't buy anyone's vote. I make the best recommendation... and they are the policy makers. I haven't always liked what they've done but you have never seen me angry... I just don't do that. I was also not afraid to say I made a mistake and you've seen me do that publicly. I am not always right, nobody is. If you can't change or don't change you're not a learner and one thing I am is a learner.DN: What about your rift with the Mayor? You have not spoken to him in a year. Why?
RC: What rift? Has he mentioned a rift? We have not met in about a year but I don't know why, you'd have to ask him... I think some of this is contrived... People love to take the focus away from teaching and learning in this district and I have not let that happen. I will say this. I don't think the mayor surrounds himself with the best people.... I think some of them tell him what they think he wants to hear and that is the worst disservice you can do to someone in this kind of position.
DN: How do you view the future of public education? Do you think the myriad reforms that are being proposed today - value-added evaluations, charter schools and school overhauls - are going to fix our schools?
RC: We keep giving lip service that there should be no silver bullets but we keep looking for the new elixir on the market... I think good teaching is good teaching is good teaching... And let me tell you, I think education is better now than it's ever been and that is because we don't push kids out anymore. When I was Superintendent in Pasadena, people didn't care if minority children came to school... It made test scores look better. What I am trying to say is more kids are being educated now than ever before. But because of that we are facing unbelievable issues in educating all of those children. This is an exciting period in education... But no, I don't want to start all over.
Adriana Lima Tamala Jones Laura Prepon Joanne Montanez Majandra Delfino
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