Pasadena Board Votes to Replace Superintendent

The Pasadena Board of Education has voted to replace embattled school Supt. Percy Clark Jr., who frequently clashed with the teachers union and was recently accused of plagiarizing portions of an opinion piece in a local weekly newspaper.

Clark will retire from the district no later than the end of his current contract in July 2007 and may leave sooner if a replacement is found, according to a statement released Wednesday.

“The Board of Education has reached a consensus to act expeditiously to begin a recruitment process to identify candidates for the next superintendent of schools of the Pasadena Unified School District,” the statement said. “This process will begin immediately and is anticipated to result in a change in the district leadership at such time as a new superintendent has been identified and is ready to take office.”

Clark declined to comment.

The veteran educator joined the district in 2001 with a reform-minded agenda that has resulted in higher test scores, open enrollment, new magnet schools and popular reading, math and language-arts programs.

Critics say Clark has failed to entice middle-class and white students back to the district.

Many teachers have said that Clark is a poor manager, and the leadership of the United Teachers of Pasadena -- made up of about 1,230 teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians -- recently drafted a no-confidence resolution that it will present to the general membership next week.

In addition, Clark was accused earlier this month of lifting portions of a guest column he wrote for the Pasadena Weekly. Clark said he pulled together several references for the column from the Internet and did not realize they were from the sermon.