When three finalists contending for the Boston Public Schools superintendent post were announced last week, a process that thus far has been conducted out of public view suddenly entered the spotlight.
All three candidates are people of color. One is Boston-based. None has served as superintendent in a large district. The candidates are:
Brenda Cassellius, the former commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Education. Cassellius served eight years as commissioner and is credited with spearheading an increase in funding for Minnesota’s schools, enacting all-day kindergarten and expanding preschool for 25,000 students in the state.
Marie Izquierdo, the chief academic officer for the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, a district with 350,000 students. Izquierdo is credited with boosting test scores, narrowing achievement gaps and increasing high school graduation rates during her tenure. Izquierdo is a graduate of the organization Chiefs for Change, founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the Broad Academy, funded by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.