Pr. George's Board Picks New Leader For Schools

Another is the daunting size of a 199-school system that has more students (133,325) than any in Maryland but Montgomery County. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified is not even among the 500 largest districts in the country.

Deasy has never led or held a senior position in a large urban system. He said he has consulted for the Los Angeles Unified School District, however, and is well versed in urban educational issues. He was chosen last month to participate in an urban superintendents academy sponsored by the Broad Foundation.

Recently, the Santa Monica Mirror newspaper reported on tensions connected to the appearance of racially charged graffiti at Santa Monica High School. More than a third of the system's students are Latino, and about a tenth are black.

Deasy also would face the pent-up frustration of many parents in a suburb east of Washington with rising wealth but chronically uneven public schools.

Prince George's has lifted student achievement at a faster clip over the past three years than its lagging reputation would indicate. Yet by the stark measure of Maryland test scores, the county ranks ahead of only Baltimore academically. More than a third of its schools -- 76 in all -- are rated in need of improvement.

"We have a number of chronically low-performing schools that are going to require immediate attention and action," Deasy said.

Deasy began his career as a biology and chemistry teacher and became superintendent of a small system in Coventry, R.I., in 1996. He has led Santa Monica-Malibu Unified since August 2001 and says he has raised achievement there significantly for Latino and black students, taking two high-poverty schools off a state watch list. He apparently has strong relationships with his school board and teachers union.

Prince George's board members said Deasy was an up-and-comer who had recently turned down offers elsewhere. They settled on him in a late-night meeting Wednesday at the Greenbelt Marriott and approved their choice publicly last night with a unanimous vote in Upper Marlboro. A final vote to hire Deasy is pending.

"There was no division, no opposition," Tignor said. "It was a consensus choice."

"Clearly, he has a passion and an energy for public education," board member Charlene M. Dukes (Glenn Dale) said of Deasy.

Many educators, politicians and community activists who reviewed the three finalists gave Deasy high marks.

"I'm happy, happy, happy," said activist Donna Hathaway Beck of Upper Marlboro, a frequent school system critic who found herself in rare agreement with the board. "The communities that [Deasy] has been in have liked him and wanted him to stay, and that speaks volumes."

The board's public unity stood in contrast to the hiring of Hornsby in 2003. Board member Judy Mickens-Murray (Upper Marlboro) voted against Hornsby. Critics said the school board should have foreseen that he would flame out barely halfway through his contract. The board hopes to avoid that mistake this time.

"This was a 100 percent choice," Mickens-Murray said.

Labor unions also were effusive. "Deasy has a lot of energy," said Carol Kilby, president of the Prince George's County Educators' Association. "He's going to be very, very positive. Unions were 100 percent behind him."

Employee relations are critical this year as teachers and the administration open talks on a new contract. Deasy said he hopes to launch an initiative to retain quality teachers.

First, Deasy must negotiate his own contract. He now makes a base salary of $153,000 a year. Prince George's advertised the position as paying a minimum of $250,000, plus benefits and performance incentives.

Tignor and Dukes plan to travel to Santa Monica soon to interview key players there in a final vetting of Deasy after investigations by, among others, search consultant Ray and Associates Inc. of Iowa.