The three women vying to become Atlanta Public Schools' next superintendent are each ambitious, focused and capable. All have experience in systems of more than 100,000 students, are well-versed in school reform efforts and have been lauded for the steadily upward movement in their careers.
But they are also unknown in national education circles, having never led a major urban school system. Each has faced disappointments, too, including a personal bankruptcy for one of them. Announced Tuesday as finalists to take over from departing city schools Superintendent Beverly Hall, the candidates now have only weeks to make a good impression and ascend to one of the most visible school chief posts in the nation.
Atlanta, with its 49,800 students, has potential but must first face several challenges. They include a feuding school board, which the system’s accrediting agency put on probation because of poor governance. And a 10-month criminal probe into tampering with student achievement tests, which could be released as soon as this month, is expected to show educators cheated. Hall said recently that she expects the findings will be "alarming."
Here are brief summaries on each finalist, as well as information on what to expect next in the search process:
Candidate 1: Cheryl L.H. Atkinson, superintendent of Lorain City Public Schools in Ohio
It has been a whirlwind month for the Ohio-born Atkinson, 52. A finalist to become Cleveland's top schools chief, she lost out last week to an internal candidate before Atlanta announced she was also a finalist here. In a journeyman-like career, she has worked in 12 school districts in six states since 1982, including Georgia's Rockdale County. Records show she and her husband filed for personal bankruptcy in Norfolk, Va., in 1997. The filing was terminated in 2000. Her urban school district experience includes leadership posts with Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools. She was deputy superintendent for the Kansas City, Mo., School District when Lorain City hired her for its top post in 2007. At the time, Kansas City's school board president wished her well in fulfilling a lifelong dream to become a superintendent.
Candidate 2: Barbara M. Jenkins, deputy superintendent of schools in Orange County, Fla.
Atlanta-born Jenkins, 50, got her start in Orange County as a teacher and has spent most -- but not all -- of her 25-plus years in education there. She worked in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district from 1998 to 2005 as assistant superintendent of human resources. She is also a 2006 graduate of California-based Broad Superintendents Academy, a training program for urban school leaders that critics decry as too corporatized. In 2008, she was a finalist to lead Florida's Pinellas County Schools. The Orlando Sentinel reported Tuesday that Jenkins "is seen as level-headed and knowledgeable" and, if she stayed, would likely be a top candidate to replace the Orange County superintendent, who is retiring next year.
Candidate 3: Bonita Coleman-Potter, deputy superintendent of Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland
Coleman-Potter, 43, had spent nearly her whole life in Jackson, Miss., when in 2009 she accepted a job in Prince George's County as deputy superintendent of schools. It was a big change, but one foreshadowed months earlier when she got as far as finalist to lead Louisiana's East Baton Rouge Parish schools. A onetime middle school teacher, she has described her management style as hands-on -- a key detail, given that Atlanta Public Schools employees and residents have said they want a hands-on, professional educator who spent more time on campus than in an office and who paid attention to details. Coleman-Potter is a 2008 graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy.
What's next
Each of the finalists will meet Atlanta parents and residents at some point during the next several weeks. Atlanta school board members, who held private meetings with each candidate Friday and Saturday, plan to also interview them further. Some members want to talk about also forming public screening committees; a fuller discussion on that topic and other related issues is expected at the board's next meeting on Monday.
Staff writer Rhonda Cook contributed to this article.
Sources: Lorain City Schools in Ohio; Orange County Public Schools in Florida; Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland; press release from the Kansas City, Mo., School District; September 2007 issue of The School Administrator, published by the American Association of School Administrators; the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate; the Orlando Sentinel; the Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger; The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer; the Broad Superintendents Academy; and the Alliance for Excellent Education.
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