Sorry, I couldn't resist the nautical reference. After insisting he wanted to stay, the Admiral has now raised the white flag up the mast and says that he's willing to let the LAUSD board buy out his contract for a measly half-a-million.

Brewer, who is midway through his four-year contract, did not formally resign. He said he would ask the school board to honor the buyout provisions of his contract.

Senior Deputy Supt. Ramon C. Cortines is widely expected to take over as interim superintendent, a job he held in 2000. Just prior to returning to the district, Cortines served as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top education advisor. The mayor and his school board allies have long been unhappy with Brewer's performance.

Under the terms of Brewer's contract, the 62-year-old superintendent would be entitled to 18 months' severance, an amount estimated at $500,000. His compensation package includes a $300,000 salary, $45,000 a year for expenses and a $3,000 monthly housing allowance.

While I greatly respect Admiral Brewer for his service to our country, I think his lack of any education reform experience and a failure to really appreciate the scope of the entrenched bureaucracy in LAUSD doomed him to failure. It was simply too big a problem for someone to solve while at the same time trying to come up to speed in public education.

I hope that the LAUSD board will use this opportunity to find a proven education reformer or at least someone like DC's Michelle Rhee who isn't afraid to take on the behemoth that is LAUSD. They need more than a figurehead.