District Leadership

Learn more about the work of district-level leaders including superintendents, chief academic officers, and other administrators
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2025 EdWeek Leaders To Learn From
We're excited to reveal our 2025 leaders. These district leaders have shown persistence and creativity as they navigate the challenges facing schools in a rapidly changing world.
Meet the 2025 Leaders

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People stand at the counter of a pharmacy in the Queens borough of New York City, on Nov. 18, 2025. President Trump has made certain drug prices drop and has made deals with pharmaceutical companies to continue to keep prices down.
People stand at the counter of a pharmacy in the Queens borough of New York City, on Nov. 18, 2025. School district leaders in a new survey identified rising prescription drug costs as one leading cause for rising health insurance premiums that are straining district budgets.
Anthony Behar/Sipa via AP
Budget & Finance Rising Healthcare Costs Force School District Budget Tradeoffs
The growing cost of such a large expense in school district budgets requires tradeoffs, a new survey shows.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, June 26, 2026
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4 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
School & District Management Letter to the Editor ‘We Are Very Engaged in Our Work,’ Says Superintendent
A district leader adds more context to what it's like working in his profession.
June 26, 2026
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1 min read
Members of the school board sit on stage in the school auditorium to respond to questions from residents during the annual Town Meeting, on March 5, 2024, in Stowe, Vt. Town Meeting is a tradition that, in Vermont, dates back more than 250 years, to before the founding of the republic. But it is under threat. Many people feel they no longer have the time or ability to attend such meetings. Last year, residents of neighboring Morristown voted to switch to a secret ballot system, ending their town meeting tradition.
Members of the school board sit on stage in the school auditorium to respond to questions from residents during the annual Town Meeting, on March 5, 2024, in Stowe, Vt. A new survey suggests that political conflict that rose during the pandemic has remained relatively high for many school boards across the country.
Robert F. Bukaty/AP
School & District Management How School Board Members Really Feel About Political Conflict
Political tensions remain high for many school boards across the country, new survey data show.
Evie Blad, June 25, 2026
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3 min read
Acting Superintendent Andres Chait at a Los Angeles Unified School District Board meeting in Los Angeles on June 23, 2026 .
Acting Superintendent Andres Chait at a Los Angeles Unified School District Board meeting in Los Angeles on June 23, 2026. LAUSD has named Chait its new superintendent on a permanent basis following Alberto Carvalho's resignation earlier this week.
Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via TNS
School & District Management LAUSD Taps Interim Chief as Superintendent 3 Days After Carvalho's Resignation
Andres Chait has served as a teacher, principal, and regional superintendent in Los Angeles.
Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2026
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6 min read
20260622 AMX US NEWS WHAT ALBERTO CARVALHOS RESIGNATION MEANS 1 LD
Alberto Carvalho, then the Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent, listens to parents of students at a Los Angeles high school on March 30, 2022. Carvalho resigned from his position Sunday night under the cloud of a failed AI chatbot initiative and an FBI investigation.
Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG
School & District Management Lessons Learned About Bold Tech Initiatives From the LAUSD Chief's Departure
Bold initiatives can cut both ways, says a leadership expert, sparking achievement gains or falling apart.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, Arianna Prothero & Jennifer Vilcarino, June 23, 2026
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8 min read
Los Angeles Schools Federal Raid 26059057494102
Alberto Carvalho speaks about Los Angeles students' improved scores before Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation related to student literacy in Los Angeles on Oct. 9, 2025. The Los Angeles Unified superintendent, facing an FBI investigation, resigned June 21.
Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo
School & District Management Carvalho Resigns as L.A. Unified Superintendent Amid Federal Investigation
Alberto Carvalho has been under FBI investigation for four months after a failed AI chatbot venture.
Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2026
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6 min read
WASHINGTON,DC - JUNE 10: Dr. Macquline King, Superintendent and CEO of Chicago Public Schools speaks with Mr. Johnathan Smith, Managing Director, Education and Federal Strategic Advocacy, National Center for Youth Law and Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent, Loudoun County Public Schools with US Representative Mark Takano, Democrat from California, before a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing titled “Breaking Trust: Attacks On Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content, And Legal Abuses In America’s Schools” on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Chicago Superintendent Macquline King speaks with Johnathan Smith, the managing director for education and federal strategic advocacy at the National Center for Youth Law, and Loudon County, Va. Superintendent Aaron Spence, before a hearing on parents rights in schools on Capitol Hill on June 10, 2026 in Washington.
Jabin Botsford/For Education Week
Families & the Community Lawmakers Grill Superintendents on Transgender Student Policies
The districts' policies around transgender students were repeatedly questioned.
Evie Blad, June 10, 2026
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5 min read
Image of an organizational chart with "prompt."
Getty + Canva
Artificial Intelligence Why This Large District Used AI to Simplify Its Org Chart
The school system's organizational chart evolved organically for decades. Can AI bring cohesion?
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, June 10, 2026
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3 min read
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School & District Management Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Events and PD for K-12 Educators?
From peer-led sessions to AI training, see how well you understand today’s K-12 professional development priorities.
June 9, 2026
Seminole County, Fla., deputies remove parent Chris Mink of Apopka from an emergency meeting of the Seminole County School Board in Sanford, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. Mink, the parent of a Bear Lake Elementary School student, opposes a call for mask mandates for Seminole schools and was escorted out for shouting during the standing-room only meeting.
Seminole County, Fla., deputies remove parent Chris Mink of Apopka from an emergency meeting of the county school board in Sanford, Fla., Sept. 2, 2021, after he opposed a call for mask mandates and shouted. A new report gives a national picture of how school board conflict, including between boards and their communities, rose during the pandemic.
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP
School & District Management School Board Conflict Surged During the Pandemic. Has It Gone Away?
New research reveals how school boards navigated heightened levels of conflict in recent years.
Evie Blad, June 8, 2026
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5 min read
Screenshot 2026 06 08 at 7.13.09 AM
Canva
School & District Management Opinion The 3 Predicable Struggles That Thwart Education Leadership Teams
Even highly capable leadership teams can struggle to translate their strengths into school impact.
Peter DeWitt & Michael Nelson, June 8, 2026
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4 min read
AASA National Conference on Education attendees and exhibitors arrive for registration before the start of the conference at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 11, 2026.
Attendees arrive before the start of the AASA National Conference, which hosted scores of superintendents and district leaders, in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 11, 2026. The organization's new survey indicates that most superintendents want to stay put for now.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
School & District Management Superintendents Increasingly Report Economic Pressures on Their Districts
Nevertheless, most superintendents hope to remain in their current roles next year, a new survey finds.
Evie Blad, March 31, 2026
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3 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion ‘This Isn’t Working’: Educators Share Unsolicited Advice for District Leaders
How can superintendents improve student outcomes—without micromanaging teachers?
Larry Ferlazzo, March 31, 2026
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8 min read
Tue., March 10, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
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