Eighteen months into his three-year contract, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines disclosed Thursday that he will retire sometime next spring, ending a tumultuous tenure in which he led district reforms and dealt with massive budget cuts.

Cortines,  who turned 78 yesterday, had already been planning a transition. On Aug.2, his possible successor, John Deasy, deputy director of education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, starts as deputy superintendent.

In his long career, Cortines headed New York City’s Department of Education and served as superintendent of  schools in Pasadena, San Francisco and San Jose and advised several U.S. presidents on education. Last year, he opened up low-performing and new schools in Los Angeles Unified to charter school operators and outside groups; a second phase is in the works.