New Illinois education chief is urban school reform leader
The Illinois State Board of Education moved unanimously Wednesday afternoon to make a leadership change, replacing one of the nation's longest-serving school superintendents with a former professional football player who spent recent years at the helm of a high-poverty urban district in California that faced a multimillion-dollar deficit.
The selection of Anthony "Tony" Smith — Gov. Bruce Rauner's recommendation to the board — sends a message about the new Republican's governor's priorities for the state's 860 school districts and its outdated school funding formula during an ongoing financial crisis.
Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a prepared statement that Smith is "a transformational leader and has a proven track record of increasing student achievement, while successfully addressing fiscal and structural issues at the local district level."
Smith is scheduled to begin the role May 1 at a salary of $225,000 annually, a slight bump from the $222,468 his outgoing predecessor, Christopher Koch, earns per year. The board also approved an $89,000 severance package for Koch, who has continued to serve in recent weeks after his long-term contract expired.
Koch, who began his tenure in 2006, has been the state's longest-serving superintendent in nearly five decades, according to state board spokesman Matt Vanover. The unassuming former special education teacher has received wide praise for his oversight of changes to state testing and teacher evaluations, but Rauner recently told the Chicago Tribune editorial board that Koch was "a good person" but "not transformational."
Smith, a 48-year old father of two, is director of the W. Clement Stone and Jessie V. Stone Foundation in Oak Park, a nonprofit focused on early childhood education. The Ounce of Prevention Fund of which first lady Diana Rauner serves as president, lists the group as of one of its funding sources. Smith was a member of the new governor's transition team following the November election.
A California native, Smith played briefly with the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers, though not in any regular season games, after graduating with an English degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where he later earned master's and doctoral degrees from the graduate school of education.
A deputy superintendent of the San Francisco school district and a superintendent of a two-school district in the bay area, Smith in 2009 was named superintendent for Oakland schools, a district that was emerging from state control and faced a $40 million structural deficit. It had a balanced budget when he left the district four years later.
By statewide measures of academic progress, Oakland became the most improved school district in California during Smith's tenure, though he drew accolades and fierce criticism alike for the decisions he made along the way.
Smith is a proponent of "full-service community school" that aim to combat poverty and bring families and communities into the school improvement effort. He has advocated for charters and the privatization of Oakland public schools during his time. Smith also clashed with the district's teachers union over contract issues.New Illinois education chief is urban school reform leader - News - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL:
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