Pr. George's Superintendent Is Leaving

In December 2006, the appointed board gave way to an entirely new board elected by county voters.

Deasy attacked the county's problems aggressively, proposing a series of initiatives aimed at turning the system around. He transferred extra personnel to low-performing schools, expanded high schools' Advanced Placement offerings and this year began a pilot program offering extra pay to teachers who perform well on evaluations and teach in critical subjects.

Other initiatives never got off the ground. An idea to create smaller schools teaching a variety of specialized subjects has yet to come to fruition. Another plan to make elementary schools run from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade was put on hold because of tight budgets.

Overall, his effort seemed to make a difference. The county's results on this year's Maryland School Assessment, a state test of elementary and middle school students' reading and math skills, improved at every grade level. The number of schools on a state watch list for poor academic performance has declined from 76 in 2006 to 58, and many more schools are poised to leave the list. The pace of test score gains in Prince George's has been faster than the state average.

In the meantime, Deasy has gained a presence on the national stage, speaking at think tanks in Washington and before the Democratic National Committee in August. In an Oct. 9 speech, Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, mentioned Prince George's by name as a system with a promising pay-for-performance program.

Deasy's relations with the elected school board remained publicly cordial. Deasy strongly opposed the board's decision to purchase a $36 million headquarters building, but the controversy from that seems to have died down in recent weeks. In its last formal evaluation, in July 2007, the board gave Deasy "excellent" ratings, increased his annual salary to $273,000 and gave him a $16,666 bonus.

And when Deasy's PhD in education from the University of Louisville came under investigation by university officials this month -- the question is whether he was properly allowed to transfer credits to the school -- the board rallied behind the superintendent, and only a handful of members of the public came out to criticize him.

"The Board of Education stands united behind our superintendent in his leadership of Prince George's County Public Schools," Jacobs said in a Sept. 11 statement in reaction to the investigation.

Last night, Deasy said the school system's health was strong going into the future.

"I think that the organization is in incredibly good shape," Deasy said in an interview last night. "Every single metric is at the highest level it has been in years. I think the structures are in place to continue this."