Three urban districts last week named new leaders. Carlos A. Garcia will run the San Francisco schools, Andrés Alonso was chosen to head Baltimore’s system, and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty chose Michelle A. Rhee to lead the District of Columbia system.
The San Francisco school board voted June 13 to hire Mr. Garcia, who is the vice president of urban markets for McGraw-Hill Education. He has been a teacher and San Francisco principal as well as the superintendent of schools in Clark County, Nev., which includes Las Vegas, and Fresno, Calif.
Mr. Garcia is scheduled to begin leading the 60,000-student district on July 16, replacing interim superintendent Gwen Chan. Ms. Chan took over when Arlene Ackerman resigned in the spring of 2006.
The same day, the Baltimore school board named Mr. Alonso to head the 82,000-student district. He is currently New York City schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein’s second-in-command.
Mr. Alonso is a lawyer who became an educator in the mid-1980s. He spent 11 years teaching special-education students and English-language learners in Newark, N.J. He later earned his doctorate in education from Harvard University and completed its Urban Superintendent’s Program. Joining New York City schools in 2003, he served as chief of staff to deputy chancellors Carmen Fariña and Diana Lam.
Mr. Alonso replaces interim chief executive officer Charlene Cooper Boston, who was a finalist for the permanent job. She has led the district since the July 2006 departure of CEO Bonnie S. Copeland.
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