It’s hard to believe that more than three years have passed since school reformers ushered in Ted Kimbrough as the general superintendent who would turn the system around. Of course things didn’t work out that way. In January Kimbrough’s many squabbles with activists and board members caught up with him. The board bought out his contract, and many of his erstwhile allies hollered good riddance. Now school leaders are conducting another national search for superintendent. At least 200 people have inquired or applied so far. Charlie Kyle and Reginald Brown are two somewhat unlikely candidates.
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Byrd eventually got the job in 1985, only to be ousted in 1989, when reform leaders hired a group of consultants to solicit applications from across the country. The consultants narrowed the field to ten, but the board chose Kimbrough, an obscure school administrator from southern California who, according to an article by Michael Klonsky in the Catalyst newsletter, wasn’t even on the consultants’ list. “Kimbrough magically appeared out of the woodwork,” says Thomas Glass, an education professor at Northern Illinois University who has written extensively on how school superintendents are selected. “That’s not unusual; most viable candidates do not even make their interest known until the last minute.”
This year the board hired a company to train them in the art of head-hunting; it also created a six-person search committee of volunteers who come from out of town. “The screening committee will help us assess candidates’ strength to capitalize on school reform in order to improve the quality of public education in Chicago,” board president Florence Cox said in a prepared statement announcing the committee’s creation.
“I’m against vouchers because I think that they will destroy hope for universal education, but I think that many things Catholic schools do in poor neighborhoods should be done in the public schools,” says Kyle. “Everyone has been making so many excuses for so long they feel they can’t confront the problem. But all it takes is some creative leadership from school administrators. Look at DuSable High School, under the leadership of principal Charles Mingo, who was chosen by the community. They have hallway monitors; there’s terrific discipline. The monitors have instilled a sense of respect and dignity in that school.”
Brown was born and raised on the city’s south side; like his younger brother Charlie he was a basketball star at DuSable High School. He began his career as a substitute teacher. Over the years he rose through the ranks; in 1985 Byrd appointed him district superintendent in charge of south-side high schools. He’s best known for his ten-year stint as principal of Chicago Vocational High School. “I was Joe Clark before Joe Clark,” says Brown, referring to the principal about whom the movie Lean on Me was made. “I don’t take nonsense. I came into CVS when the school was going from white to black and there was a lot of turbulence. What I did was to continue the school’s great tradition, particularly in athletics. I’m proud of what we did there; the kids identified with me.”
