Cortines faces early test

At 5:30 a.m., while most of the city is still asleep, incoming Los Angeles schools Superintendent Ramon "Ray" Cortines is already at work in his 11th-floor office. By 8 a.m., Cortines has likely concluded two meetings and is on his way to visit one of nearly 900 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. George B. Sanchez in the Daily News.

It's a habit that has been in place since Cortines' first job as superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District nearly 40 years ago. And it will not change despite his retirement-eligible age of 76.

The LAUSD governing board announced Tuesday that Cortines will take the helm of the nation's second-largest school district from retired Navy Adm. David Brewer III.