Ramón C. Cortines
Cortines served as LA's interim superintendent for several months in 2000, before former Colorado governor Roy Romer assumed the position.[9] The Los Angeles Times reported that he was paid $150,000 while serving at the Scholastic board, in addition to $250,000 as Superintendent of LAUSD.Cortines defended his tenure at Scholastic, and claimed he avoided any issue which involved the educational publishing company.A notable controversy occurred six months after Cortines was named Superintendent of LAUSD, after he proposed to reduce funding for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) by 75%.[11] Thornton had previously produced audit and investigative reports that showed misuse of funds, lack of financial controls and many conflict-of-interest charges against senior district management.A notable report was released four months after Jerry Thornton's departure, which found “irregularities in $65 million worth of consultant contracts.”[14] This includes costs that exceeded pre-approved amounts by 50% and additional contracts worth $31 million without school board approval, specifically against James Sohn, Chief of Facilities, whom Cortines had hired to replace the prior chief, Guy Mehula.