Daley now must fill Arne Duncan's 'big shoes'
Mayor Daley said Tuesday he would consider candidates both inside and outside Chicago to fill the "big shoes" vacated by Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan amid word that Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason-Watkins is a virtual "shoo-in."
The promotion of Eason-Watkins, a former Chicago principal, would mark the first time since Daley's 1995 school takeover that an educator, rather than a management type, would sit at the top of Chicago's massive school pyramid.
Arne Duncan
On Tuesday, Daley refused to tip his hand about the appointment, second only in importance to the job of Chicago Police superintendent. He would only say that the search is wide open and "There are a lot of good people out there, whether inside or outside the system."
Top mayoral aides have identified Eason-Watkins as the odds-on favorite, primarily because she's been Duncan's partner in most decisions affecting the classroom.
CPS bureaucrats who oversee high schools, the system's Achilles heel, technically report to Duncan. But Eason-Watkins has been the architect of Chicago's far more successful elementary schools, where the percent of kids passing state tests in reading -- her big push --have jumped from 38.8 percent to 66.7 percent since Duncan and Eason-Watkins joined forces in 2001.
Eason-Watkins won kudos for bringing reading specialists to both elementary and high schools. But she also drew complaints from some anti-testing quarters for introducing a "Power of Two'' strategy in which teachers were urged to focus on pulling at least two students per class over the passing mark.
She represents the kind of stability that has brought Daley success. The mayor very much likes and trusts her, sources say. She answers the political call from some quarters to appoint an African American to the post. And, she has the formal education credentials that Duncan lacked.