By Jennifer Mrozowski, jmrozowski@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        Barbara Byrd-Bennett, CEO of 73,000-student Cleveland Public Schools, forged better relations with the teachers union as she worked to turn around a chronically low-achieving district.

        Carol R. Johnson, superintendent of 49,000-student Minneapolis Public Schools, in June oversaw the passage of one of the nation's first pay-for-performance systems for teachers.

        John Pepper, retired chairman and former CEO of consumer giant Procter and & Gamble Co., is a well-respected local leader with a time-tested reputation for getting things done.

        These are the kind of people Cincinnati Public Schools officials could recruit to the top schools job here. Nobody is saying who — if anybody — is on a list to replace schools superintendent Steven Adamowski, who is leaving to take a university job in Missouri.

        Mrs. Johnson, who was a finalist for the superintendent job in Nashville when Mr. Adamowski interviewed there last year, says she is happy where she is, and Mr. Pepper has already retired — twice — after a long career. Mrs. Byrd-Bennett was in New York City last week talking with the city's mayor about the school chancellor's job there, but said this week she's committed to Cleveland.

        As Cincinnati embarks on its nationwide search for a new schools chief to replace education reformer Mr. Adamowski by early fall, officials will look for candidates with similar successes.

        Experts experts say the 42,000-student school system will attract top-notch candidates from comparably sized districts, trailblazer school heads in smaller districts, or possibly the second-in-charge leaders of large districts, such as Boston or Dallas. It's possible, too, that Cincinnati could turn to the corporate world, to a strong manager with proven ability to work with myriad — sometimes conflicting — interests.

        “Someone who is looking to make a name for himself or herself would certainly look upon this job as attractive,” says Roger Effron, an educational consultant and former director of human resources for Cincinnati Public Schools. The district will have to overcome some obstacles, though. Although the Cincinnati superintendent's salary — now $181,282 — is near the top in Ohio, it falls in the mid-range of the nation's largest school districts. And Cincinnati isn't the only major city looking for a new schools chief. Searches are under way in New Orleans, Milwaukee and Rochester, N.Y. And a search in Salt Lake City, Utah, is expected to start soon.

        Still, the city should have no trouble filling the top job, experts say.

        “Everybody says the quality candidates aren't out there,” said Nancy Noeske, president of Proact Search Inc., the company running Cincinnati's superintendent search. She said many top candidates aren't looking for jobs now, but could be enticed by a call.

        “You have to find them,” she said. “If somebody is enjoying what they're doing and has a good relationship with the board, they're not looking. Sometimes, it takes five phone calls to get them to even consider it.”

No names yet

        Local officials were caught by surprise last month when Mr. Adamowski announced plans to leave the district to take a teaching position at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in September.

        So far, school board members say they haven't identified candidates for the district's top job and won't comment on experts' top national picks.

        “People toss out names on what they think they know about your district. Some of them would fit while some of them wouldn't,” board member Catherine Ingram said.

        Board members say they want to stay quiet about all candidates until they have selected the district's next leader early this fall.

        But this much is known: Whoever is hired in the next two to three months to lead Cincinnati schools must be able to rally the community to support schools. A $480 million bond issue for the biggest school construction program in city history could be on the ballot as early as November. And the new superintendent will have to be comfortable with such challenges as overhauling failing high schools and paying teachers based on teaching quality instead of seniority.

        A good example of such a leader is Daniel Domenech of Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, the 12th largest school district in the nation, said Thomas Glass, a University of Memphis professor and former superintendent in Arizona. Mr. Glass has co-authored a study on superintendent trends.

        Mr. Domenech made a mark appealing to the business community and county leadership to support schools. He convinced business and county leaders that they have to support schools to build a strong work force.

        His district has an office of business and industry relations, charged with developing, promoting and coordinating collaboration between the business community and the schools.

        The district's Web site includes a “Partner of the month” section.

        In May, the Fairfax County School Board adopted a $1.6 billion budget for 2003, cutting $47 million from their budget. Mr. Domenech said the cuts were made with much community input.

        Experts say such big-city superstars are not likely to come to Cincinnati to replace Mr. Adamowski. Mr. Domenech makes $217,000 — and can receive a bonus of $30,000 a year if he meets his performance goals there.

        “It would have to be a very unique challenge,” he said last week of the Cincinnati job.

        He said someone from a really large district could be attracted by a fantastic salary package, such as a five-year contract worth $1.5 million, to turn the district around, or from a district that was taken over by the governor and is being run with no board of education.

Seeking unknown gem

        But that's not going to happen. The district is more likely to find star leaders from smaller or like-size districts. Or, like Mr. Adamowski, they could find a gem tucked into an unknown corner. Mr. Adamowski wasn't a big-name candidate when he was hired here four years ago.

        He came here from the Delaware Department of Education, where he was associate secretary of education. Before that, he was superintendent in three small, suburban, predominantly white, middle- to upper-class districts. That's a far cry from this urban district, in which 71 percent of students are black.

        The board also could also could open the pool to include non-traditional school-district leaders.

        Former U.S. Attorney Alan Bersin became superintendent of San Diego Unified School System in 1998. Paul G. Vallas moved from Chicago's city budget director to CEO of Chicago Public Schools in 1995, and this month became Philadelphia school district's chief executive officer. Retired Marine Col. A.G. Davis was named CEO of the New Orleans public schools in July, 1999, a job he recently left.

        Local education experts have said that Mr. Pepper, retired chairman and former CEO of P&G, would be a solid schools chief.

        Mr. Pepper is considered a visionary leader and consensus builder, who can garner support for large community projects, such as the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

        “He's not a proven educator, but he's a true-blue leader,” Mr. Effron said. “He has a proven track record and a commitment to the city.”

        Mr. Effron said Mr. Pepper's “instant credibility” would capture community support in the district's bid for the hefty $480 million bond issue that could go on the November ballot.

        Mr. Pepper declined to comment on a possible run.

        But in a district like Cincinnati's, where the high school graduation rate is a dismal 58 percent, board members have said they want an effective chief, like Mr. Adamowski, who knows the education field.

        “The most successful urban superintendents have very good political skills and an excellent instructional background,'' said said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization representing 50 of the nation's largest public school systems.

        Sue Taylor, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers union, said the next superintendent must strategize to raise student achievement and reduce the test-score gap between black and white students.The new superintendent also must listen to and support the teachers working to implement the education reforms.

        “There's not a cookbook approach or a recipe you can follow to change test scores or for real change to happen,” she said. “If you want to do it effectively, it's going to take consensus.”

        Experts cite Thomas Fowler-Finn of 32,000-student Fort Wayne Community Schools in Indiana as a curriculum leader intent on raising student achievement.

        He founded the Network for Equity in Student Achievement, a national organization of urban school districts working to close the achievement gap between minority and white students.

        Mr. Fowler-Finn, whose salary is $151,542, was an assistant superintendent in the Forest Hills School District. Mr. Fowler-Finn was on holiday and unavailable.

        The board could also look for candidates to advance their vision of creating schools that become community centers open day and night and on weekends.

        Wayne D. Lett, superintendent of the 33,000-student Newport News Public Schools in Virginia, is overseeing that district's Smart Neighborhoods program. The project links the classroom, community and home through community technology centers. His $130,455 salary is considerably less than Mr. Adamowski's.

        Mrs. Johnson, the Minneapolis superintendent, said it takes much more than money to attract the best people, though money is a factor. She said she was offered $190,000 for the Nashville job but decided to stay in Minneapolis after her board promised to increase her $160,000 salary to match Nashville's.

        But Mrs. Johnson declined a $30,000 raise in January when the district faced a $30 million budget deficit. She asked that the money go to for the district's Arts for Academic Achievement initiative, an arts program she supports.

        She also said Cincinnati's upcoming bond issue vote, teacher pay issues, and high school overhaul initiatives probably won't deter someone from applying here.

        Her decision to stay in Minneapolis was all all about support, she said — from parents, staff, the school board and public and private organizations.

        “I don't think you can lead an urban district that is not confronted by challenges. That's the job. The question is whether the school board and community are ready to work with the school leadership to address those challenges.”

        Cindy Kranz contributed.

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