“After-School Job” for L.A. School Head

Mar 1, 2010

Ramon Cortines, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, resigned from his second job as a director of Scholastic Inc., a leading publisher of school books – after the Los Angeles Times reported it.

Since Cortines joined L.A. Unified in April 2008, the district awarded Scholastic 5.2 million dollars in contracts. In turn, Cortines collected more than $150,000 a year from Scholastic, on top of his district salary of $250,000.

District officials said that Cortines’ additional job with a major district contractor did not violate district policy. Michael Casserly, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, explained that such outside earnings for top officials are common, and that “many districts allow it as a way to supplement the compensation of their superintendents”!

No wonder big business has no difficulty milking the public school system for big profits.