When Fulton County names its next school superintendent -- a job expected to go to Robert Avossa -- he will become the school district's seventh superintendent in 14 years.
That's a lot of churn, even for an urban district.
"Longevity is an issue because it speaks to continuity, stability and follow-through on long-term projects," said Steve Dolinger, a former Fulton superintendent and now president of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, a nonprofit think tank.
One issue of follow-through in the school system of 92,000 students is the disparity between the schools in north Fulton, among the best public schools in the state, and south Fulton, where students continue to struggle after years of efforts on the school district's part to close the performance gap. Each of the past six superintendents promised to address the gap, often attributed to socioeconomic disparities and parental involvement.
One of the things the Fulton school board liked about Avossa, 39, is that he is tackling similar issues as the chief strategy and accountability officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which has 135,000 students. One of the initiatives he pushed in the North Carolina district to address those concerns is a new regime of 52 tests for all students in all grades. He said it's a tool that can help school leaders better track the performance of each student and teacher and then direct resources as needed.
The initiative is under fire in Charlotte, though, by some parents and teachers who say it's a waste of time and money, especially at a time when school budgets are facing deep cuts.
Avossa wasn't available for an interview for this story.
Avossa, who was picked as the lone finalist out of a field of 41 candidates, is slated to replace Cindy Loe, who is retiring at the end of the school year. Loe, who has been superintendent since June 2008, followed a batch of short-timers, some lasting only a few months.
And that list doesn't include Sidney Zullinger, who broke all records by not even showing up for work. Zullinger was hired as superintendent by Fulton in July 1995 -- but then he quit less than 24 hours later to stay in Wyoming.
Dolinger, who followed Zullinger, held the job the longest of the past six superintendents -- at seven years and two months. He left to join the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education.
There's no doubt that superintendent is a tough job. Along with Fulton's 92,000 students there are about 15,000 employees.
"The place has more buses than MARTA, and since it has 80 or 90 schools, that means it also has 80 or 90 restaurants," Dolinger said.
Dolinger said a good superintendent is a leader who surrounds himself with good managers, is constantly looking at new data and gets people to follow him, not just follow orders.
Herb Garrett, the executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, said the job isn't for everyone.
"The job can be very political," he said. "On one hand you're like a CEO of a large corporation, but on the other, you have to keep the board happy, and they might have a different agenda."
Jack Parish, who was Henry County's superintendent for 11 years and is now a lecturer at the University of Georgia, said larger school districts tend to have a higher turnover than smaller ones, but that alone doesn't indicate trouble.
"If there's a continuum of solid leadership, the turnover in of itself shouldn't be seen as a problem," he said.
Loe has said she is leaving for personal reasons. She wasn't available for an interview for this story.
She followed two other short-timers. James Wilson, who was the school chief for about three years, followed Michael Vanairsdale, who lasted 13 months. His resignation came in the midst of an investigation of cost overruns and questionable accounting practices in the school district's sales-tax-funded school building program, which Vanairsdale supervised before becoming superintendent.
He followed John Haro, who lasted five months. Fulton spent about $70,000 in the search to hire him, and at the time he declared Fulton "one of the country's great school districts." He resigned in October 2003, saying he missed his family in Minnesota.
Haro followed interim Superintendent Michael Payne, who served nine months after Dolinger stepped down.
All those superintendents faced the performance gap between the schools in the affluent north Fulton and those in south Fulton. The disparity still persists, though.In 2010, north Fulton students averaged 1655 on the SAT, more than 200 points above the state's average. South Fulton students averaged 1251, more than 190 points below the state average.
"It's a tough issue," Dolinger said. "There's more to it than whether or not you have the best teachers. Poverty and home life are issues that factor in. For some children, just getting to school each day is a challenge."
Kelly Himes Brolly, who has three children in Fulton schools, said the turnover isn't a problem for her. "We have a stable and united school board," she said. "That makes all the difference."
And she said students are making gains districtwide.
"There are schools in south Fulton producing very good students," she said. "And we can keep building on that success if we get the right person in the job."
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