Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade’s longtime superintendent, is set to become the next chancellor of the New York City Department of Education according to Bill de Blasio, NYC mayor.
https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/968991221891903489
School district spokeswoman, Daisy Gonzalez-Diego, said Carvalho was offered the job, but has not yet formally accepted the position.
Carvalho has served as superintendent of MDCPS—the United States’ fourth-largest school system—since 2008, and is well known nationally among educators and political officials. In 2017, he considered a run for Congress according to NBC 6 South Florida, and was rumored to be a top contender for the post as Secretary of Education under a Hillary Clinton administration.
He confirmed last year that political insiders had been pushing him to run for office to replace retiring Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, but he ultimately declined, telling the Miami Herald that he was too committed to the school district.
If he accepts the position, Carvalho will replace the current NYC chancellor, Carmen Fariña, who announced in December her plans to step down as leader of the nation’s largest school system.
https://twitter.com/HarbingerMLEC/status/968986573852303360
“Alberto Carvalho is a world-class educator with an unmatched track record of success,” De Blasio said in a short statement on Wednesday evening. “I am very confident that our extensive, national search has found New York City the best person to lead the nation’s largest school system into the future.”
The mayor had held off on making a public announcement in recent days due to the fatal school shooting at Stoneman Douglas in South Florida this month, according to a person briefed by City Hall.
The school board has scheduled an emergency meeting for 10 a.m. on Thursday to “discuss the stability of the executive management leadership”—possibly to discuss Carvalho’s departure.
https://twitter.com/rloweon7/status/968993640914792448
Requirements for the role of America’s second-most-important educator were largely unspoken, but obvious: a longtime educator with experience running schools for vulnerable children, a Spanish-speaking person of color, and a New York City outsider who is also a rising star in the national education world.
Carvalho fit the description to a T.
Born in Portugal, Carvalho came to America illegally as a 17-year-old after saving $1,000 for a plane ticket from Lisbon to New York City. He began his career as a physics, chemistry, and calculus teacher at Miami Jackson Senior High. Through hard work, he rose up the ranks of the school system, eventually becoming superintendent in 2008.
In Miami-Dade, Carvalho pushed out many under-performing principals, and established an office to support needy schools with instructional and behavior coaches. Carvalho has overseen a period of steady improvement in the district’s results.
According to the Miami Herald, graduation rates rose over 20 points during his tenancy.
Between 2007 and 2016, graduation rates in Miami-Dade rose from 58.7 percent to 80.4 percent. NPR called him “a miracle worker.”
“Who wouldn’t want Mr. Carvalho? He has done an amazing job here in 10 years,” said Lawrence Feldman, a longtime Miami-Dade school board member.
Carvalho was also the named the 2014 National Superintendent of the Year, which was accompanied by a ceremony at the White House, and earned Miami-Dade the Broad Prize in Urban Education in 2012.
Additionally, he won the 2016 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. prize in K-12 education and was named the 2016 Superintendent of the Year by Magnet Schools of America. Carvalho was also appointed to the National Assessment for Education Progress by former Education Secretary Arne Duncan in 2015.
“He’s reached a ceiling here,” said Joe Gebara, the immediate-past president of the Miami-Dade County PTA.
Carvalho will have to start from scratch in a new system, but he has presided over a district that has many similarities to New York’s, likely easing his transition from Miami-Dade’s beige office building on Biscayne Boulevard to the Big Apple’s ornate Tweed Courthouse across from City Hall.
De Blasio’s choice, first reported by Politico, signals a possible change of direction for the New York City school system. Carvalho has greatly expanded the number of charter and magnet schools in his district, an approach more in line with that of de Blasio’s predecessor, Michael R. Bloomberg, than of Carmen Fariña.
As chancellor, Carvalho will be tasked with implementing Mayor Bill de Blasio’s school system reforms, such as free school lunches for the 1.1 million public school students, and full-day child education for every 3-year-old in the city.
However, his out-front leadership style could make his transition to New York City difficult, where de Blasio has appeared to be looking for someone who will run with the agenda already in place.
Carvalho, who earns a salary of $352,874 in Miami, would also likely take a pay cut if he took the job in New York. Fariña’s current salary is $234,569.
Aventura Mayor Enid Weisman, who hired Carvalho more than 30 years ago as a teacher at Miami Jackson Senior High School, said the superintendent has a lot to consider.
“He will really think tonight,” Weisman told the Miami Herald. “He’s talked to all the board members today. They all asked him to please stay. He will make a decision tomorrow.”
Media friendly and politically savvy, Carvalho is nationally well-regarded. He updates his 51,000 Twitter followers frequently; however, he has yet to tweet about the position.
“I love this community. New York is a great city. I appreciate—absolutely appreciate— the conversations I’ve had with the mayor,” said Carvalho during an interview with WPLG Local 10 News on Wednesday evening.
One thing that is certain is that Carvalho will be dearly missed by students, parents, teachers, and officials if he takes the job offer in New York.
https://twitter.com/Andreamacko/status/969035964097224704
