Award-winning Colorado Springs Superintendent Trevor Burnley has dedicated his energies to the "kid business"; he recently adopted his two young grandchildren and works diligently to keep schoolchildren away from the eight-ball. Faced with a slashed budget, he had to cut staff and freeze salaries, earning teachers' resentment. He…

Having learned power struggles and budget-busting practices can block the best educational improvement efforts, former Sacramento schools chief has assumed leadership of Tacoma schools, less visible district with 20,000 fewer students. What matters to Superintendent Rudy Crew is roots, balance in life, and the chance to stretch an urban school…

Describes lifelong commitment of middle-school principal and major W.J. Jones to Coahoma, a small town in Mississippi Delta. Thanks to his efforts, town recently acquired a sewage system, blacktopped roads, and new housing (through Habitat for Humanity and World Vision). Although town elementary school fell victim to consolidation and children are…

The reversals (including two harrowing racial incidents) confronting Ben Canada on the way to becoming Atlanta's chief educator have strengthened his convictions. Despite numerous achievements, he was bounced from Jackson (Mississippi) Schools over a school-prayer fiasco. In Atlanta, he has dealt with a school closing situation and now faces…

Two years into her first superintendency, Detroit Superintendent Deborah McGriff has advanced an ambitious and controversial urban school reform package. The public school choice plan has been expanded, and 21 schools have adopted school-based-management plans despite union opposition. This fall, the district will abolish the general education…