They admired his tough stance on discipline in Tulsa schools, his exceptional record of managing bond projects and his approach to site-based management. For now, interim CEO David Adamany will continue to run the district. He's the former president of Wayne State University drafted in May to help shore up the Detroit district's finances and labor relations. Detroit's next school chief will be asked to improve the district's low test scores and graduation rate and shore up its financial management system. The 167,000-student district typically graduates just over half of its students and has undercut morale by frequently paying teachers late.
Pressure is great for quick change.
A citywide vote in four years will determine whether the school system will continue to operate with a board appointed by the governor and the mayor or switch back to a board elected by the people. The split vote between Murray, a Republican appointee, and his six colleagues picked by Mayor Dennis Archer, a Democrat, indicates it may be impossible to separate politics from the board's work. Ironically, the frequent impact of politics on the city's formerly elected school board provided impetus for state legislators to pass a reform law that created the current board. Critics accused past board members of cronyism, asserting that members had often used their power on the board to swap building contracts and other agreements for political favors. In recent weeks, board members appointed by the mayor scrambled to recruit additional candidates amid reports that Murray was having doubts about both finalists.