Philanthropist Eli Broad has engaged Michigan Governor John Engler and Detroit Public Schools CEO Kenneth Burnley in an effort to recruit and train dynamic leaders from business, the military, and other backgrounds to run urban school districts. Three dozen executives and educators are enrolled in the Broad Center for Superintendents' first class of aspiring school system executives. There they will receive training in leadership, student learning and teaching strategies, education decision-making, local politics, public relations, marketing and school competition, according to an article in The Detroit News. While some in the education establishment voice doubt about recruiting school leaders from business ranks, the Broad Center's managing director says that underperforming school districts need to move beyond "the protectors of the past" and hire superintendents "with the stamina and capacity to lead." For details see "Leaders tout state's method for nation's public schools," by John Bebow, The Detroit News, March 7, 2002.
