NYC's Andres Alonso To Lead Baltimore Schools

The much beleagured Baltimore City School Board has finally done something that can be considered smart for a change, hiring Andres Alonso as Superintendant.

Alonso has been working for New York City School Chancellor Joel Klein for a number of years supervising the instruction in the largest school system in America.

In Baltimore, he will inherit a school system less than one-tenth the size of the one he works in now, but one beset with problems that include a decades-old special education lawsuit and deteriorating buildings.

Introducing himself to the community yesterday at school system headquarters, Alonso said he is coming to Baltimore for the long haul. His contract will be for four years, the legal limit, but he said he would have made a longer commitment if the law allowed and will face penalties if he leaves early. He will be the system's sixth leader in the past decade.

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In his new role, Alonso said, he sees the opportunity to help a system that is a manageable size to realize its potential. New York has more than 1 million students; Baltimore has 83,000. New York has more than 2,000 school buildings; Baltimore has fewer than 200.

He said he would not have accepted the offer if the school board hadn't committed itself to giving him the authority to make decisions and "cut through the politics" that typically surround the city schools.

The announcement was made as test scores were released showing substantial progress in New York City and Baltimore. Morris said he expects Alonso to take Baltimore's steady progress and make it "exponential."

At the same time the school board was announcing Alonso's hiring, test scores for Baltimore were released showing double digit gains in math for 4th through 6th graders and a closing of the achievement gap between blacks and whites statewide.

The interim Superintendent Charlene Cooper Boston had applied for the permanent post, but while

Boston was well-liked in the school system, but some critics said that with so many old friends reporting to her, she had trouble holding people accountable.

In April, The Sun reported that the school board had passed a budget submitted by Boston's staff that was filled with errors and discrepancies. Last week, the newspaper reported that staff members had falsely certified making building repairs.

These incidents probably sealed Boston's fate, despite her good relations with the state Department of Education.