Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Steven Adamowski said during a press conference Tuesday that he's leaving his post to follow his dream.

        Mr. Adamowski, superintendent here since August 1998, is leaving Cincinnati to take a graduate faculty job in educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Adamowski

        He and the Board of Education will determine a date in August when he'll submit his official resignation. Mr. Adamowski plans to begin teaching in September.

        At the Missouri school, he plans to establish a research center for education reform.

        His decision to leave was strictly professional, Mr. Adamowski said, adding that he wants to make a difference in the last stage of his career by helping train future school leaders.

        Here are topics he addressed during a question-and-answer session at the district's Education Center in Corryville:

        Question: When did you decide to consider the offer from the University of Missouri-St. Louis?

        Answer: Within the last couple of months, I've come to the point of saying, “This is what I need to do.” Then it's just really been a question of struggling with timing.

        I've had several offers in higher education, and I've had several offers in superintendencies. I've decided in the last year I would not look at another superintendency.

        This is my 30th year (in education). I've been involved in this leadership project, and I've kind of evolved toward an understanding of what I want to do in the next few years.

        (For the past two years, Mr. Adamowski has served on the national advisory board for the Leaders Count Initiative of the Wallace/Reader's Digest Fund. He said it sharpened his understanding of the leadership supply crisis in education and the quality of preparation for leaders.)

        Q: What are some of things you're proud of that made a difference to the students of Cincinnati Public Schools?

        A: The bottom line is improved student achievement. The district has moved out of (the state category of) academic emergency. Fourth-grade (state) results went up again. Ninth-grade results are up again. We are on a very good trajectory. I think we have more students reading on grade level than ever before — at least in the last 20 years.

        I'm most proud of the fact that we've been able to demonstrate student achievement can be raised even in the most challenging conditions, even among low-income children.

        Q: What kind of person should the district consider recruiting, and do you have advice for the next superintendent?

        A: Any outgoing superintendent should do their level best to stay out of the search process and should not impose their advice on the person coming in. I will be absolutely as helpful as I can to the person.

        Q: Why leave now, especially as the district is considering asking taxpayers to support a $500 million bond issue to pay for its $1 billion school construction plan?

        A: I've gone through three levy campaigns, and I'm convinced there will be one just about every year. I'm not sure I could find a time where you couldn't look ahead and say, “Gee! There's something coming up three months from now.”

        As I mentioned, I was influenced heavily by the fact (the district's) strategic plan (outlining the district's goals) is expiring and a new one is being developed, and I think there are some very good advantages of having a new superintendent implement it from the outset. This (new job) is something I'd like to do, and I'm grateful I have the independence to do it.

Adamowski on leaving: Time is right
CPS launches superintendent search
Wanted: new superintendent with vision, energy, courage, commitment
Billy Graham mission brings message to jail
Local Jewish leaders hear direct apology by Graham
'This mission is for eternity'
Graham appears at stadium to outline mission
Summer weather wreaking havoc
Drivers coming to count on hot line
Legal costs warning raised over gun suit
Man gets 15 years in restaurant shootings
Much of country faces blood shortage
Taxpayers split Bengals' bills
Tristate A.M. Report
Violent ex-husband sought after calling former wife
BRONSON: Two crusades
HOWARD: Some Good News
KORTE: City Hall
SMITH AMOS: Our Music Man
Kim Gray returns to Franklin schools as superintendent
Leaders swap ideas for future
Poll: Townships want new library
Replacement for prosecutor in Warren Co. becoming hot topic
Sludge pit foes wary of compromise
Vote on new park toilets stalled
A.G.: Don't seal abuse lawsuits
Churchill Downs receives 30-year tax break from city
Dog in people cemetery legal
N.Ky. man helping fight Western wildfires
Owensboro man forms priest-abuse victims group