New Orleans district names schools chief
An administrator with a reputation for shaping up big-city schools was hired to lead New Orleans’ beleaguered district as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina, officials said.
Paul Vallas, 53, now the head of Philadelphia’s public schools, will take over as superintendent of the state-run Recovery School District on or after July 1, Louisiana Education Superintendent Paul Pastorek said.
“Everyone I spoke to said he is in the top tier of superintendents in this country,” Pastorek said.
Vallas, who is white, will be running a mostly black district.
“I’ve never had any problem with race because at the end of the day the community wants results,” he said.
“They don’t care if you’re white, black, green, brown, it doesn’t matter.”
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