Kaya Henderson has finally been dubbed the new D.C. School's Chancellor.
Henderson has been sitting as interim chancellor since last fall, when Vincent Gray dismissed Henderson's former boss, Michelle Rhee.
The only surprise about this choice is why it has taken so long.
In January, Mayor Gray pledged that he would go through an extensive search process to nominate the city's new education head. But by March, no other serious candidates had been considered.
"I look forward to continuing to work with Mayor Gray to make the critical decisions needed to ensure that DCPS become a first class school district," Henderson said today in a release. "Our children deserve nothing less."
The boilerplate statement from the new chancellor led one City Paper columnist to quip, "Judging by Kaya Henderson's statement, Gray has nominated a robot as schools chancellor."
But Henderson's policies are far from bland. As interim chancellor, she introduced a plan for "Impact" teacher evaluations, which some critics see as a cudgel to cut teacher jobs.
In February, she also floated the option of shutting down schools in the District. She told WAMU that the city's budget pressures would "blow the roof off" the way city schools are run. In her view, closing high schools to close the budget gap is "absolutely an option."
Henderson has worked with District schools for the past 13 years. She was also Michelle Rhee's first hire and was widely considered to be a protege of the former chancellor.
Gray, in a press conference Wednesday, praised Henderson's relationship with the community.
