Retired Army General takes control of D.C. public schools - Lt. Gen. Julius Becton's appointment as CEO

Black Issues in Higher Education, Dec 12, 1996 by Susan Richardson

As president of Prairie View A&M University, retired Army Lt. Gen.

Julius Becton earned respect as a starched-shirt leader who demanded

accountability in academic and financial affairs and didn't mind

challenging the status quo to achieve his goals. Now, the students,

faculty and parents of the Washington, D.C., public school system will

have to determine if Becton's often gruff, no-nonsense style can help

their ailing district heal itself.

Becton, former head of the Federal Emergency Management

Agency, recently was named chief executive officer of the D.C. school

system. He will report to a new education panel appointed by the D.C.

financial control board.

The panel is expected to govern the District's schools for several

years before returning power to the elected school hoard. The decision

to establish the panel and CEO position are controversial with some

residents and home-rule proponents because the elected school board

will only serve in an advisory capacity.

Becton, who is a Prairie View A&M

alumnus with a master's degree in economics

from the University of Maryland, does not

have a traditional educational background.

That raises the issue of whether he is an

appropriate choice for chief executive officer

of a school system. His selection, however, is

not unprecedented, according to the Council of

the Great City Schools. Seattle public schools

are also administered--and with notable

success--by a retired Army general, John

Sanford.

District schools have been dogged by

violent incidents, low teacher morale and

allegations of financial mismanagement. How

academic programs fared under Becton's

leadership at Prairie View may indicate what

D.C. parents, faculty and students can expect

from him.

Becton's lack of academic background

temporarily surfaced when he first was

appointed president of Prairie View, a

historically Black college near Houston,

Texas.

"Do we need an educator or an organizer?

That was an issue at Prairie View," said

Wilbert Williams, who was president of the

Austin chapter of the college's alumni

association during Becton's five-year tenure.

Former State Rep. Wilhelmina Delco,

who chaired the higher

education committee of the

Texas House of

Representatives, said Becton

had adequate educational

experience. "He's had his hand

in education," she noted,

referring to his appointment to

a committee overseeing the

desegregation of Alabama

colleges a few years ago.

Dr. Flossie Byrd, who

worked at Prairie View from

1962 to 1994 and is now vice

president and provost

emeritus at the university,

said Becton briefly taught

classes at Prairie View.

"To be a leader and

ensure that the administration

is taken care of does not mean you have to he

down in the trenches to do the work. He was

very supportive and that gave us [deans and

administrators] the leeway to look for

funding and programs, and to make the

necessary changes to move the programs

forward," offered Byrd, who was named by

Becton as Prairie View's first provost and vice

president for academic affairs.

Supporters say Becton's experiences at

Prairie View can be beneficial in his new job as

CEO of D.C. schools. When Becton arrived at

the university in December 1989, Texas

lawmakers had attempted to place the

institution under financial receivership. The

threat never materialized, but the university was

in the spotlight. As a result, Becton quickly

made some tough and unpopular decisions.

In the late 1980s, the athletic department at

the land grant college--once called the Black

Notre Dame for its winning football team in the

1950s--had an $800,000 annual deficit which

had attracted the attention of the Texas A&M

University System. The system informed

Prairie View that something had to be done to

reduce the deficit, so Becton called on alumni to

financially support the program, just as their

counterparts did at predominantly white Texas

A&M University.

Because the level of financial support did

not rise sufficiently, Becton discontinued

football scholarships and the program in

December, 1989. Although some members of

the, Prairie View community were

disappointed that Becton did not challenge

the A&M system's authority, Delco felt that

decision revealed Becton's priorities.

"He was the one that bit the bullet and

made the decision," she said. "What his

concern was, was that [athletics] was eating

up money that was affecting academics."

The football program was reinstated in

1991, after the program became

self-sufficient. Football scholarships, however,

were not reinstated until

earlier this year.

Supporters say Becton

championed academics by

pushing for faculty

development, ensuring

that departments were

accredited, and encouraging

administrators and cleans to

focus on raising money for

programs.

Early in his

administration, he

reorganized the

university's academic

programs with an emphasis

on revising the mission

statement and strengthening

administrators'

accountability for faculty

performance and curriculum,

according to Byrd.

However, others associated with the

college who did not want to be quoted are less

certain about Becton's academic contributions.

There were concerns when Becton moved