New Visions of Leadership
This Education Week series covers leadership issues in education—including governance, management, and labor relations.
School & District Management
Agitator for Choice Leaves Her Mark
Through the Center for Education Reform, Jeanne Allen has supplied an arsenal of ammunition in the battle for charter schools and vouchers and a steady stream of jabs at teachers' unions, school boards, and others she collectively dismisses as "the blob."
School & District Management
Agent of Change
To his critics, Eric J. Smith, superintendent of Anne Arundel County, Md., public schools, is uncompromising, but that's also what his fans say. A year in the life of this hard-charging superintendent shows what it takes to overhaul a school system.
School & District Management
Vallas' Big Plans Raise New Hope for Philadelphia
In a city whose hopes for better schools have soared and fallen with successive superintendents, Paul G. Vallas has simultaneously created a buzz of excitement and raised many a skeptical eyebrow.
School & District Management
Doing the 'Right' Thing
Gene Hickok, the undersecretary of education in charge of making the No Child Left Behind Act a reality and a true-believer conservative with a history of hackle-raising, may be developing a taste for shades of gray.
School & District Management
Mass. Chief Steers Steady Course Through Conflicts
David Driscoll, Massachusetts' commissioner of education, is running late. For the man who oversees the commonwealth's 1,903 schools, it's a typical morning in a busy year.
School & District Management
Software Mogul Helps Guide Calif. Schools
Five years ago, former Silicon Valley software mogul Reed Hastings returned to academia and kicked off a chain of events that has catapulted him to the upper echelons of education leadership in the nation's largest state.
School & District Management
Hartford Reshuffles as Lead Actors Exit
With a new school board set to take office this week, the Hartford, Conn., district is winding up a year of dramatic leadership changes. Not only will the event mark the end of a five-year state takeover, it also comes on the heels of the resignation of Superintendent Anthony S. Amato, who is credited with putting student performance on an upward climb.
School & District Management
Restoring the Faith
Under Mike Moses' leadership, the Dallas public schools are regaining credibility in the community, and making academic strides, after years of turmoil.
School & District Management
Long Passage
Chicago's teachers' union president wants to push the organization in new directions. Many within the membership don't want to travel those routes.
School & District Management
Novice Principals Put Huge Strain on N.Y.C. Schools
With about half the city's public schools being led by someone with less than three years' experience on the job and more than 260 principals eligible to retire at the end of this school year, the New York City school system is scrambling to prepare new leaders.
School & District Management
Venture Fund Seeds School Innovations
Venture philanthropists have sought to distinguish themselves from traditional gift-giving organizations. They've raised a few eyebrows in the foundation world, where some argue that the business-investment strategy is a bad fit for trying to solve social ills like poverty, crime, and inferior education.
School & District Management
Principals: So Much to Do, So Little Time
In a recent meeting arranged for Education Week by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, six administrators who together boast nearly 90 years of experience as principals detailed a seemingly boundless job.
School & District Management
Minneapolis Labor Leaders Mold A Different Kind of Union
The president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers knows that her youngest union members don't rush home after school to paint union placards.
Teaching Profession
Gen-Xers Apathetic About Union Label
Leaders of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are aiming to overhaul the way they do business in an attempt to make their institutions more meaningful to younger teachers. Includes "Minneapolis Labor Leaders Mold a Different Kind of Union."