MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Here's another education story we wanted to tell you about from Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Unified School District is the nation's second-largest, and like many, it has been struggling with a serious budget deficit and turmoil at the top. After a nationwide search for a new leader, the school board decided on an insider - Michelle King. A former top deputy, she will become the first African American woman to lead the district. Priska Neely from member station KPCC has a report on the big job ahead.
PRISKA NEELY, BYLINE: As Michelle King ascended from classroom teacher to second-in-command in the district, she stayed mostly out of the spotlight. Now she's got one of the most high-profile jobs in U.S. public education. For clues about how she'll lead LA Unified's 900-plus schools, you need to take a look at just one. King was the principal at Hamilton High School 10 years ago. She may not have national name recognition, but to her former colleagues here, she's a superstar.
FRAN ROSE: Everybody has the sense that she cares about them.
MARLENE ZUCCARO: It was always, like, no problem was too small.
ROSEMARIE BERNIER: Boy, does she listen?
NEELY: Fran Rose, Marlene Zuccaro and Rosemarie Bernier all worked with King during her eight years at Hamilton, a school of about 2,500 students on the Westside of Los Angeles. Bernier is the school's librarian. Back in 1997, King was her supervisor.
BERNIER: And when I got national board certification - I'm choked up. I went in to tell her and show her my certificate. You know what she did? She grabbed my hands, and we jumped up and down together because she was thrilled for me. And she was thrilled for the kids.
NEELY: The school board president cited that heart-and-soul passion as one of the reasons King got the job. Now LA Unified is counting on King to turn her passion into tangible results. This is a tough job. The district is facing a huge budget deficit, declining enrollment and drops in student achievement. There's a lot of pressure on her.
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MICHELLE KING: One of the primary reasons I sought this job is because I wanted to create new pathways for all students and give them the tools they need to succeed.
NEELY: At press conferences just after her appointment, King laid out her broad goals to increase parent engagement, equity and college preparedness. She'd spent her life in the district. She attended LA Unified schools. She worked as a teacher and a school leader and then moved up the ranks of district administration.
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KING: I know that as positive as my experience with LA Unified has been, not everyone has been as fortunate
PEDRO NOGUERA: Most urban districts across the country are challenged and struggling.
NEELY: That's UCLA education professor Pedro Noguera.
NOGUERA: But you have to have some continuity in leadership in order to be able to solve these complex problems.
NEELY: As superintendent, King follows in the footsteps of a string of outsiders - a former governor, a Navy admiral and nationally known education reformers. Her predecessor, John Deasy, resigned in the midst of controversy. Noguera says King could have an insider advantage.
NOGUERA: My hope is that she'll last, that she'll get the help she needs so that she can make some real headway and progress in the system.
NEELY: As King takes the reins of a hugely diverse system, she's in a situation that bears some resemblance to her time at Hamilton High School. King became principal there in 2002. Before she took over, the school, not unlike the district now, was going through a tumultuous time. Fran Rose coordinates the school humanities magnet program. He says King was key to getting the school back on track.
ROSE: After the upheaval, she was the calming influence and I think really turned things around at this school, and I'm hoping she does the same thing with the district (laughter).
NEELY: That's Michelle King's task now - to multiply her legacy at Hamilton across all of the Los Angeles Unified School District. For NPR News, I'm Priska Neely in Los Angeles.