FOR RELEASE                                                          CONTACT Henry Duvall
June 29, 2005                                                                            (202) 393-2427 

San Francisco Schools Superintendent to Head National Council
Nashville Board Member and St. Paul Superintendent Also Elected to Posts

            WASHINGTON, June 29 – Superintendent Arlene Ackerman of the San Francisco Unified School District takes the reins as chair of the Board of Directors of the Council of the Great City Schools, effective July 1.

Dr. Ackerman will preside over the national urban education policy and research organization that represents 65 big-city school systems for a one-year term.  The Council’s board is composed of the superintendent along with a school board member of each Council district.

She succeeds Judy Farmer, a school board member of the Minneapolis Public Schools, while George Thompson III, a board member of the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, steps up as chair-elect.  Elected as secretary-treasurer is Superintendent Patricia Harvey of Minnesota’s St. Paul Public Schools.

 Dr. Ackerman has been chair of the Council’s Task Force on Bilingual, Immigrant and Refugee Education.

Founded in 1956 in Chicago, the Council is a national coalition representing the needs of urban public schools. “Our primary goal is to educate all urban school students to the highest academic standards,” says Executive Director Michael Casserly.

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