CHICAGO MAN TO FIX LAUSD FINANCES.Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer Kenneth Gotsch, whose management of finances earned the Chicago public school system its highest credit rating in recent history, has been named the chief financial officer for LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) , officials said Wednesday. Gotsch replaces Joseph Zeronian, 66, who will retire in September from the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. . Gotsch will start his $195,000-a-year job on March 31, working with Zeronian to ensure a smooth transition. ``We are extremely fortunate to bring Kenneth Gotsch onto our team,'' said Superintendent Roy Romer Roy R. Romer (born October 31, 1928 in Garden City, Kansas, United States) was the 39th governor of Colorado and served as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2001 to 2006. . ``It is of particular importance now, as we face major cutbacks in state funding, and I will greatly rely upon his creativity and recognized success as we work to pull this district through some very tough times.'' LAUSD faces an estimated $486 million in deficits. It must slash expenditures by $100 million by June, and the rest in fiscal 2003-04, in order to balance its budget. The school district has long struggled to reform its financial system, which has been criticized as outdated and inefficient. Payroll for the district's 80,325 employees is still done by paper and pencil. And last year, the school board increased class sizes in upper grades to balance the budget - only to find out later that it had a $578 million surplus. Gotsch, who is on vacation, could not be reached for comment. Chief fiscal officer for the Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools, commonly abbreviated as CPS by local residents and politicians, is a school district that controls over 600 public elementary and high schools in Chicago, Illinois. since 1995, Gotsch was responsible for the payroll and benefits of 45,000 employees and oversaw o·ver·saw v. Past tense of oversee. the Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), formerly the Bureau of the Budget, is an agency of the federal government that evaluates, formulates, and coordinates management procedures and program objectives within and among departments and agencies of the Executive Branch. . With an annual budget of $4 billion, CPS (1) (Characters Per Second) The measurement of the speed of a serial printer or the speed of a data transfer between hardware devices or over a communications channel. CPS is equivalent to bytes per second. is the nation's third-largest school district, after LAUSD. Susan Marek, CPS's deputy controller, said Gotsch modernized mod·ern·ize v. mo·dern·ized, mo·dern·iz·ing, mo·dern·iz·es v.tr. To make modern in appearance, style, or character; update. v.intr. To accept or adopt modern ways, ideas, or style. and streamlined the school district's once-troubled and neglected finance department. ``When we got here, people who had problems with their paychecks were waiting out the door. Vendors were complaining they weren't being paid on time,'' she said. ``Now, we have all that under control.'' Zeronian said he chose to retire in September so he can help the district balance and complete the budget, which must be adopted by Sept. 10 and submitted to the county. ``Mr. Gotsch is an experienced school business person.'' Zeronian said. ``It's a difficult time. We will both be involved in it.'' |
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