From: Cayata Dixon -------------------- Top schools official out; more likely -------------------- Operations guru steps down to let leadership change By Michael Martinez and Ray Quintanilla Tribune education reporters July 31, 2001 A month after Mayor Richard Daley installed new leaders at the Chicago Public Schools, a top administrator resigned Monday, beginning what is expected to be a housecleaning of the central office staff. Blondean Y. Davis, a 31-year veteran of the system who oversaw day-to-day operations of the city's 596 schools, announced her resignation, saying she is stepping aside so that the new school chief can recruit his own team. The new chief, Arne Duncan, said he is looking within and outside the school system for administrators to be part of his management team, which he said he will announce in coming weeks. Since June, when Daley picked Duncan to run the schools and Michael Scott as new board president, the two new leaders have faced questions on how they plan to satisfy Daley's demands for innovation and who will be on the new team. Davis was the No. 2 education officer. The system's chief education officer--who reports directly to Duncan--is Cozette Buckney, whose future has been in doubt since April when rumors of her being fired provoked a protest from supporters during a board meeting. Duncan declined to comment on Buckney's future. Davis, who will turn 52 Sunday, held the title of chief of schools and regions, with an annual salary of $130,000. She was often at odds with former schools chief Paul Vallas, who resigned in June. The two clashed behind the scenes over command of the system and who deserved credit for the reforms. Still, because Davis was known for her knowledge of schools and leaders in the African-American community, she maintained a high post. In fact, in the past year the mayor asked for Davis to be present during his briefings with Vallas, insiders said. Davis, whose resignation is effective Wednesday, said the change will present her with new opportunities. "This is a time of transition in the system," Davis said. "Arne Duncan, as the CEO, has the right to structure his team in the way he sees is best for the system. As an administrator, I respect that. "This is an ideal time for me to pursue my dream, which is to be a superintendent," Davis said. Davis began working for the system in 1970 as a teacher in Chicago Vocational High School on the South Side. She then served a counselor, attendance and discipline coordinator, a principal and then system administrator. In seeking to replace Davis and appoint others to his new team, Duncan said he is looking to the corporate, non-profit and university sectors for advice and talent, in addition to within the school system. "We're talking to a lot of people and we're getting a lot of ideas. We're looking to build the smartest and hardest working team," Duncan said. Duncan said Davis is resigning "to pursue other opportunities. We have great respect for her work, and we are going to keep her on as a consultant for a nine-month period," he said. Meanwhile, Duncan and Scott are scheduled Tuesday to hold their first major meeting with new Chicago Teachers Union president Deborah Lynch-Walsh. Tops on her agenda is the board's most dramatic sanction yet, imposing "intervention" on five of the worst high schools in the past school year, she said. Intervention allows the board to summarily fire teachers it deems inept at the end of the school year. But the board has delayed a decision on how many teachers, if any, would be terminated. Lynch-Walsh said intervention was a failure, adding that test scores at the five schools largely dropped. At the five high schools, 65 of the more than 300 teachers were pressured to leave on their own and 29 other teachers have been referred to the board as possible candidates for termination, an official said. Intervention stands to become the first major conflict between the union's new president and the mayor's school team. Last week, the board withdrew a proposal to make unspecified changes to the intervention policy. Copyright (c) 2001, Chicago Tribune -------------------- Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune Today! Good Eating, Your Place, and TV Week -- just a few reasons to get the Chicago Tribune at home every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Subscribe by calling 1-800-TRIBUNE (1-800-874-2863) or online at chicagotribune.com/subscribe -- This is the CPS Science Teacher List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
