Austin Beutner

Austin Michael Beutner (born April 8, 1960) is an American businessman who served as Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent from May 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021. He previously served as the first deputy mayor of Los Angeles from 2010 through 2013, and briefly ran in the 2013 Los Angeles mayoral election. Prior to entering politics, Beutner was an investment banker and would later become the publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune.^[1][2][3]

Austin Beutner
Beutner in 2021
Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District
In office May 1, 2018 – June 30, 2021
Preceded by	Vivian Ekchian (interim)
Succeeded by	Megan K. Reilly (interim)
1st Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles
In office January 11, 2010 – July 1, 2013
Preceded by	Office established
Personal details
Born	Austin Michael Beutner (1960-04-08) April 8, 1960 (age 63) New York, United States
Spouse	Virginia Woltz Beutner
Children	4
Education	Dartmouth College (B.A.)
Occupation	Investment banker, publisher, businessman

Life

Early life and education

Beutner was born in New York and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of German immigrants who came to the United States in the 1920s for economic opportunity. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a manufacturing engineer.^[4] His mother was Jewish and his father was Roman Catholic, although he did not find out that his father's family was Christian until he was an adult.^[4][5] He is a graduate of East Grand Rapids High School, and graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts in economics.^[6]

Beutner has lectured at the University of Southern California Bedrosian Center on Governance,^[7] the UCLA Anderson School of Management,^[8] and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.^[9] Beutner is a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School.^[10] In 2016, Beutner gave the commencement address^[11] to the 2016 graduating class of the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Personal life

Beutner is married to Virginia Woltz Beutner. They have 4 children.

Philanthropy

In 1994 Austin Beutner founded The Beutner Family Foundation with a focus on philanthropy and education for economically disadvantaged people.^[12]

In 2012 Beutner founded Vision To Learn,^[13] a; non-profit that provides children with free eye exams and free glasses by bringing its mobile eye clinics to schools and to other neighborhood youth and community organizations.^[14] Since 2012 Vision To Learn has helped more than 100,000^[15] school kids with free eye exams and glasses.

In March 2016, Beutner signed an amicus brief in support of The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) expansion and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) which would provide relief for millions of immigrant families and their communities.^[16]

On November 8, 2022, California voters approved Proposition 28: The Arts and Music in Schools Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act. The measure requires the state to establish a new, ongoing program supporting arts instruction in schools beginning in 2023–24.^[17] Beutner authored the bill and spent nearly $4.2 million of his own money to support the bill.^[18] Californians overwhelmingly passed Proposition 28, which will bring a windfall of arts education funding to California schools.^[19]

Career

Finance

After graduating in 1982 he went to work at Smith Barney as a financial analyst. At the age of 29, he became partner at The Blackstone Group.

In 1996 Beutner co-founded Evercore Partners, an American independent investment banking advisory firm, with former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Roger Altman. When Evercore went public (NYES-EVR)^[20] in 2006, the IPO reportedly made Beutner more than $100 million.^[21][22]

Government

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Beutner went to work for the U.S. State Department. The Clinton administration tapped him to lead a team into Russia and help transition them from communism to a free-market economy, including the decommission of weapons and other material.^[23][24]

In January 2010, Beutner was appointed by Antonio Villaraigosa to be the first deputy mayor of Los Angeles, with oversight of twelve city agencies, including the Port of Los Angeles, Department of Water and Power and the Housing Authority, with over 17,000 employees.^[25] As deputy mayor he focused on making the city more business-friendly and streamlining permitting processes.^[26] In 2013, with Villaraigosa's term ending, Beutner launched a campaign to run for Mayor of Los Angeles, but dropped from the race after a year having captured only 2% of likely voters.^[27] The election was a year away when Beutner suspended his efforts.

In 2013, Beutner and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor co-chaired the 2020 Commission^[28] to study and report^[29] on the financial matters in Los Angeles. One of the report's recommendations was to reform the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP). In 2016 Beutner and Kantor penned an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times aimed at bringing about reform and changes to the DWP, noting that "The city deserves a public utility that is operated in the long-term best interests of its customers, employees and our environment."^[30] In July 2017, Buetner created a task force for the Los Angeles Unified School District to look for solutions for declining attendance and other problems. Beutner co-chairs the task force with SEIU President Laphonza Butler. "We are here to support Michelle King, and offer suggestions," Beutner said in an interview with LA School Report.^[31][32]

On May 1, 2018, the Board appointed Austin Beutner and was met with criticism by United Teachers Los Angeles, who said that Beutner did not have any experience managing a school or a school district.^[33][34] In 2019, UTLA authorized a strike against LAUSD that lasted six days.^[35] About 30,000 teachers strike and only a third of about 500,000 students showed up to school, with the District losing $15 million on the first day.^[36][37] The strike ended after a deal between LAUSD and UTLA was reached.^[38] In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the schools to shut down.^[39] He pushed for the schools to become vaccination sites and for the district to do testing on students and faculty.^[40][41] In 2021, Beutner announced that he would step down on June 30.^[42][43]

Newspaper ownership

In March 2013, a group led by Beutner and Eli Broad announced their intent to purchase the Los Angeles Times from its parent Tribune Publishing.^[44] They were unsuccessful.

In 2014, Beutner took over as publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times when Eddy Hartenstein left to become the non-executive chairman of the board of Tribune Publishing.^[45] When Tribune Publishing acquired the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2015, Beutner was named its CEO and publisher, as well as CEO of the newly formed California News Group.^[46]

He was fired as publisher and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Times on September 8, 2015. He wrote on Facebook that the dismissal was not voluntary: "I am not departing by choice, nor is this some 'mutual agreement' on my part and Tribune Publishing".^[47] Beutner's firing was protested by a number of prominent community leaders.^[48][49] Media analyst Ken Doctor called Beutner's departure "a small tragedy for American journalism."^[50][51]

During Beutner's 13 months as publisher, the Times won two Pulitzer Prizes — for cultural criticism and for feature writing — along with other national journalism awards for coverage of the California drought, the plight of Mexican farm workers and other stories. The California Newspaper Publishers Association awarded the Times its 2015 general excellence award.^[52]

In 2016, Beutner was invited to speak about the role of the media in homeland security and his experiences in the media and public service at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security.^[53] His keynote address^[54] was published in Watermark, the quarterly magazine of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School – Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

In September 2017, Beutner was the keynote speaker of the Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Officers Association^[55] and United Firefighters of Los Angeles City^[56] first Leadership Symposium.^[57]

In 2018, the Los Angeles Downtown News^[58] journal recognized Beutner "as a visionary with extensive political and business connections."

References

1. Kevin Roderick (August 11, 2001). "Austin Beutner goes from potential buyer to publisher of LA Times". LA Observed.
2. Andrea Chang (May 7, 2015). "L.A. Times parent to buy San Diego paper, expanding reach in Southern California". Los Angeles Times.
3. Goffard, Christopher (12 August 2014). "Austin Beutner named publisher and CEO of Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times.
4. Williford, Stanley (November 12, 2011). "Austin Beutner speaks softly and plans to carry a big city". OurWeekly LA.
5. "Roger Earl Beutner of Jupiter, Florida, passed away on May 3, 2019". Grand Rapids Press. May 5, 2019.
6. "East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation : Alumni : Notable Alumni".
7. . bedrosian.usc.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
8. "Affiliates of UCLA Luncheon – Lunch with Austin Beutner". alumni.ucla.edu.
9. Columbia Journalism School (2015-10-22), A Conversation With Austin Beutner, retrieved 2016-03-07
10. Harbus, The (2017-04-20). "The End of Facts = The End of Empathy - The Harbus". The Harbus. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
11. USC (2016-05-16), Austin Beutner USC Commencement Speech | USC Price School of Public Policy Commencement 2016, retrieved 2018-05-02
12. "Find Grantmakers & Nonprofit Funders | Foundation Directory Online". fdo.foundationcenter.org. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
13. "Vision To Learn | Providing Free Eye Exams & Free Glasses to Children in Low Income Communities". visiontolearn.org. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
14. "Crisis in California's schools: 250,000 schoolchildren need glasses". Los Angeles Times. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
15. . visiontolearn.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
16. "United States v. Texas: A Fight for Families". www.fightforfamilies.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
17. "Proposition 28—Arts and Music Education Funding - Transforming Schools: Superintendent's Initiatives (CA Dept of Education)". www.cde.ca.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
18. "California Proposition 28: Arts Education in Public Schools". LAist. 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
19. Guengerich, Terri (2019-06-04). Californians Overwhelmingly Support Helping Older Californians Remain at Home Longer: Infographic (Report). AARP Research.
20. "Evercore". www.evercore.com. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
21. "Who is Austin Beutner? - Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
22. Christopher Goffard (August 11, 2014). "Austin Beutner named publisher and CEO of Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times.
23. Apr 2015, Mar-. "Voices in the Wilderness". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
24. "Austin Beutner speaks softly and plans to carry a big city". ourweekly.com. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
25. "LA Magagzine". lamag.com. May 2011.
26. Audi, Tamara (11 January 2010). "Wall Street Journal".
27. "Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. 9 May 2012.
28. "Los Angeles 2020 Commission - LA2020". www.la2020reports.org. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
29. (PDF). www.la2020reports.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
30. "It's time to give the DWP a reboot". Los Angeles Times. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
31. Szymanski, Mike (July 19, 2017). "Austin Beutner explains the purpose of the LA Unified Advisory Task Force, and 7 other things you should know about how it will help kids". LA School Report. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
32. "Former LA deputy mayor to head LAUSD task force. First mission: boost attendance". Retrieved 2017-08-16.
33. "LAUSD Names Philanthropist, Former Investment Banker Austin Beutner Superintendent". KCAL-TV. May 1, 2018.
34. Hitt, Brandi; Hayes. Rob (May 1, 2018). "Philanthropist Austin Beutner named next LAUSD superintendent". KABC-TV.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
35. Malas, Nour; Hobbs, Tawnell D. (January 21, 2019). "The Power Struggle Behind the Los Angeles Teachers Strike". Wall Street Journal.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
36. Cowan, Jill (January 16, 2019). "L.A. Schools Leader Says, 'Strike Is a Rallying Cry, but What Does It Lead To?'". The New York Times.
37. Haskell, Josh (15 January 2019). "LAUSD's Austin Beutner says district lost $15 million on first day of teachers strike". KABC-TV.
38. Camera, Lauren (January 22, 2019). "Tentative Deal Reached in Los Angeles Teachers Strike". U.S. News & World Report.
39. Gonzalez, Oriana (March 9, 2021). "LA schools superintendent remembers the COVID "tipping point"". Axios.
40. Garcia, Sid (January 18, 2021). "Superintendent Beutner pushes for LAUSD schools to become COVID-19 vaccination sites". KABC-TV.
41. "Beutner: COVID-19 Numbers Still Too High to Reopen LAUSD Schools". Spectrum News 1. September 28, 2020.
42. "Outgoing LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner Talks COVID Response, Legacy". KCBS-TV. June 24, 2021.
43. "L.A. schools chief Austin Beutner to leave job after three years". The Eastsider. April 21, 2021.
44. "Billionaire Eli Broad Teams With Financier to Make L.A. Times Bid". The Hollywood Reporter. 14 March 2013.
45. Lang, Brent (11 August 2014). "Los Angeles Times Taps Austin Beutner as Publisher and CEO".
46. Chang, Andrea (8 May 2015). "L.A. Times parent to buy San Diego paper, expanding reach in Southern California". Los Angeles Times.
47. Ravi Somaiya (September 8, 2015). "Austin Beutner Ousted as Los Angeles Times Publisher". The New York Times.
48. "A billionaire, a fired publisher, and a spectacle at the LA Times". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
49. "LA Civic Leadership Letter to Tribune 9-10-15". Scribd. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
50. "Publisher Austin Beutner is fired after a yearlong drive to reshape The Times". Los Angeles Times. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
51. "Former LA Times publisher calls Beutner firing 'tragic, reprehensible'". LA Observed. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
52. "Pulitzer Prizes for the Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
53. "Center for Homeland Defense and Security - APEX".
54. "Alumni magazine". www.chds.us. 2 August 2016.
55. "Home - Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Officers Association". Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Officers Association. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
56. . Archived from the original on 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
57. "Leadership Symposium - Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Officers Association". Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Officers Association. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
58. Regardie, John (July 2018). "BEST EDUCATIONAL STEP LAUSD Hires Austin Beutner". LA Downtown News.