Chief Academic Officers - hiring of professional educators as deputy school superintendents

School Administrator, June, 2001 by Jay Mathews

Susan Moore Johnson, a Harvard Graduate School of Education professor and author of Leading to Change: The Challenge of the New Superintendency, said women appear to be similarly over-represented in the traditional No. 2 job--deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction. "These people have traditionally moved up from classrooms, having spent a good deal of time in various positions that provide instructional support," she said. "It may be that elevating the jobs to CAOs makes it easier for a district to hire a non-educator as superintendent. Indirectly, that may increase the current likelihood that superintendents will be male."

To David E. Johnson, former CAO in the East Allen County, Ind., schools, this is old news. "The history of education in the United States includes that women were teachers and men were administrators. Extrapolated to the present and placed on a continuum, an assistant superintendent for instruction is more of a teacher than an administrator."

Cozette Buckney, the chief education officer and No. 2 person in the Chicago schools, sees the number of women in CAO-like positions as a hopeful sign. "It is good to see that so many females have gotten to the No. 2 position," she said. "Now it is reasonable to expect more of them will be getting to the No. 1 position."

Betty Morgan, the CAO in Baltimore, said she has read the speculation that jobs like hers are part of a female ghetto, but she thinks the focus should not be on the gender of the CAO but on the delights of that office. "For me, personally, I believe I could have been a superintendent by now, she said. "I have been approached a number of times for consideration, but I am not willing, frankly, to move anywhere in America to be a superintendent/CEO nor have I been willing to give up what I consider to be the reason I got into this business in the first place--the joy of seeing kids learn and learn well."

She added: "Now, that's not to say I may nor change my mind in the future, but for now, I feel I'm doing God's work. And if I'm in a ghetto, it's a 'golden ghetto,' because I love what I do and feel I reap rewards every day."

Roster of Chief Academic Officers

The following is a comprehensive list of individuals who carry the title of chief academic officer (or its equivalent) within a public school district. In addition, the following school districts until recently employed a chief academic officer: Palm Beach County, Fla.; East Allen County, Ind.; Columbus, Ohio; and Pittsburgh, Pa.

Anthony Alvarado, San Diego, Calif., Unified School District [*]

Cozette Buckney, Chicago, Ill., Public Schools [**]

Deidre Farmbry, Philadelphia, Pa., Public Schools

Ray Garcia, Spring Branch, Texas, Independent School District

Mary H. Gill, District of Columbia Public Schools

Debra Hamm, Richland School District 2, Columbia, S.C.

Linda Kaminski, Santa Ana, Calif., Unified School District

Betty Morgan, Baltimore, Md., Public Schools

June Collins Rimmer, Seattle, Wash., Public Schools

Judith A. Rizzo, New York City Public Schools [***]