Antwan Wilson, the superintendent in Oakland, Calif., was named last week as District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser’s choice to lead the city’s public schools.
Wilson, who has been schools chief in Oakland for just over two years, would succeed Kaya Henderson, who stepped down from the job in September.
Under Henderson, the District of Columbia school system made important academic strides, but achievement gaps between white and non-white students have been stubbornly persistent.
Wilson was a high-level district administrator in Denver before moving to Oakland. Wilson serves on a national commission working on a multiyear endeavor to help schools figure out how to better teach social and emotional skills to students alongside traditional academic subjects.
The District of Columbia city council will have to approve Bowser’s pick.
