Retired Army Generak Becton named to run 78,000-student D.C. public school system

Jet, Dec 9, 1996

A 70-year-old retired Army General was selected to take over the distressed public school system in the nation's capital, now considered one of the worst in the country.

With 36 years in the military and a short stint as president of Texas' Prairie View A & M University Army Lt. Gen. Julius W. Becton Jr. has demonstrated a firm and no-nonsense manner. As the university president, he abolished the sports program for a while and brought in state police to end a wave of campus thefts. Eight school executives were indicted.

Soon after retirement, President Reagan appointed him to take over the scandal-ridden Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Washington. He served in the post for five years.

To make way for the new superintendent, the city's financial control board reduced the elected school board's power and put in its place a nine-member board of trustees. The control board is headed by economist Andrew grimmer. For the past five years, Franklin I. Smith has been the school superintendent in charge of the 78,000-student system.