The most recently published Education Next highlights two individuals who have been dubbed ‘education warriors‘ because of their progressive, straightforward mindset and overwhelming surge of activity that has ultimately led to change. The first, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been hailed as a savior for restructuring and realigning the NYC Public Schools, all 1,400 of them! Along with those schools, he commands 80,000 teachers, 6,000 central office employees, and over 1.1 million students. I say he ‘commands’ them because as mayor he successfully wrestled control of the schools away from the local Board of Education in June of 2002, immediately dissolving the Board and creating local, more accountable and manageable school clusters. Why is he considered a warrior? For his particular example, he brought to the NYC Public Schools what had been lacking for decades – accountability – and it began with him. He forged through with a plan to make academic gains, financial solvency, and increased efficiency and accountability present in a school structure that could, only in name, be described as a ’system.’ Six academic years later, mathematic gains have surpassed average statewide gains, and reading scores are set to follow along statewide average increases. As far as financial solvency is concerned, Bloomberg has used his resourcefulness and ingenuity to partner the NYC Public Schools with private corporations that fund school programs, and he also increased charter school presence in the city to help meet the unique needs of students who were previously under served in the old school structure.

I have always set out to accomplish the different things I want to do in life. There are no exceptions at this point of things I have wanted to do and have not yet done. One of the goals of mine, whether it is before or after the completion of doctoral studies, is to serve in some capacity as a superintendent of schools. A model of leadership for me, shockingly to some, is the second ‘warrior’, Paul Vallas. Currently serving as superintendent of schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, Vallas served in the troubled districts of Chicago and Philadelphia before relocating to the deep south.

Paul Vallas is a warrior in that he has forged, full speed ahead, despite the challenges and setbacks of previous leaders who set out to do similar initiatives. For Vallas, he has always kept in the forefront of his initiatives the idea of urgency and how he was not chosen as a leader to shuffle along the status quo, but transform large urban school districts. With that, he has become a superintendent with one of the best track records for transforming large, troubled school districts as he did in Chicago (3rd largest) and most recently Philadelphia (8th largest).

Vallas operates with a “do it now” and “make it happen” attitude. And, obviously, so does his staff. This is something that I can relate to as I have always taken leadership roles in schools that have a history of poor leadership, financial instability, student discipline issues, low morale, and high teacher turnover. In situations such as these, there is not much time to sit back and spend one year observing the school culture before making any institutional decisions, as most administrative textbooks and theories suggest. Vallas ushers in a new regime like a bulldog and, obviously, meets a few critics along the way.

As any initiative is concerned, money is involved. It costs money to do stuff. In schools, it costs lots of money to do anything. Vallas has been criticized for spending more than what was coming in, but these systems have huge deficits from the start. When he left Philadelphia, he left with a $40 million dollar deficit. His critics don’t mention he took over the schools with a deficit exceeding $160 million dollars. Nor do they refer to the new facilities built that replaced literally crumbling edifices and a nationally renowned, state of the art high school. What makes him a model for me? One main characteristic – program placement.

Where did he put that state of the art high school that gained national recognition because of the technology and class offerings? He put it right in the heart of Philadelphia’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods, an area far away from any of the ‘nicer’ looking buildings in the system. And he continually made decisions like that – strategically placing new school buildings in areas that were often neglected and overlooked when it came to citywide development and economic initiatives. Through the school system’s strategic placement of new and innovative programs, a system along with a number of neighborhoods were transformed.

I have been thinking about my leadership style as the days wind down before I take full control of this school as administrator. Reflecting on some of the initiatives I would like to introduce for next year and the potential roadblocks that may come my way, I am perched to face what is ahead of me. With fellow ‘warriors’ like Bloomberg and Vallas leading the way, educational advancement is not too far behind. All it takes is creativity, patience and fortitude. Oh, yea, and money.