The recent resignations of three prominent black female superintendents鈥擜rlene Ackerman of San Francisco, Barbara Byrd-Bennett of Cleveland, and Thandiwe Peebles of Minneapolis鈥攈ave prompted renewed discussion of the roles race and gender play in the superintendency.
Current and former such leaders said in interviews that grappling with negative assumptions and having constantly to prove they were capable made the already difficult job of being superintendent that much tougher.
鈥淚鈥檝e always had to make sure that at every moment, I鈥檓 at the top of my game,鈥� said Ms. Byrd-Bennett, who departed earlier this month after serving seven years as the chief executive officer of the Cleveland school district. 鈥淎t every meeting, I feel as if I鈥檓 going into the courtroom prosecuting or defending someone, and I鈥檇 better have an airtight case.鈥�
A Man鈥檚 World
The nation鈥檚 14,000-odd district superintendents are overwhelmingly white and male. The most recent data from the American Association of School Administrators show that in 2000, 15 percent of superintendents were women and 5 percent were members of racial or ethnic minorities of either sex. A forthcoming book on women superintendents reports that they now make up 18 percent of the pool.
See related table,
The little research that exists about African-American female superintendents pegged their portion of superintendencies at 2 percent or less in the middle and late 1990s, the most recent data available.
Top black female administrators work disproportionately in urban areas. Last month, 13 of the nation鈥檚 66 largest school districts were being run by African-American women. But with the departures of Ms. Byrd-Bennett and Ms. Peebles, and the scheduled June departure of Ms. Ackerman, those urban districts under the leadership of black women will drop from nearly 20 percent to 15 percent.
Educators and scholars disagree about whether being African-American and female influences the way a superintendent is perceived. But anecdotal evidence provided by most of the eight current and former black women superintendents interviewed suggests that it does.
For example, the white man who once approached then-Superintendent Gerry House after a Memphis, Tenn., school budget meeting was smiling, and his tone of voice was joking. But what she heard in his question wasn鈥檛 funny.
鈥淵ou sure you can handle this budget of $500 million?鈥� he asked, as Ms. House recalls it.
An African-American who holds a doctorate in educational administration and has garnered national honors for her leadership of two school districts, Ms. House recounted the incident from the mid-1990s in an interview this month. 鈥淵ou just wonder if they鈥檇 go up and make that kind of comment to a white male superintendent,鈥� she said.
鈥淧eople seem concerned that as a female, or as an African-American, you aren鈥檛 able to deal with the tough issues of the superintendency,鈥� said Ms. House, who is now the executive director of the Institute for Student Achievement, based in Lake Success, N.Y. 鈥淭hat perhaps you can do the curriculum and instruction, but when it comes to budget, maintenance, or facility issues, there are subtle comments that get made that would suggest people don鈥檛 necessarily have the confidence you can handle it.鈥�
Managerial Skills
Thomas E. Glass, a professor of leadership at the University of Memphis, said he believes lack of training in managerial skills is what most often dooms superintendents鈥� tenures, regardless of their sex or race.
Frederick M. Hess, the director of policy studies at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, who has written about district leadership, said he doesn鈥檛 doubt that those factors can in some cases matter in a superintendent鈥檚 work. But he rejects the notion that they do so 鈥渋n any predictable or straightforward way,鈥� or that they are 鈥渁 systematic handicap.鈥�
A black superintendent鈥檚 race might well provide an advantage a white leader would lack in trying to build connections with a city鈥檚 racial and ethnic minorities, Mr. Hess said.
Some black women have found that to be true. Others have found their race can be a double-edged sword.
Rosa A. Smith, the president of the Cambridge, Mass.-based Schott Foundation, said she felt the black community had pinned its hopes on her when she became the superintendent in Columbus, Ohio, in 1997.
鈥淲hen a black or brown superintendent comes on board, the expectations are extraordinary,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 the expectation that finally, we got someone who understands us, understands our kids. It creates the risk that disappointment can be all the more dramatic.鈥�
Judy A. Alston, the director of the Center for Education at Widener University in Chester, Pa., said such leaders 鈥渉ave the responsibility to 鈥榬epresent鈥� well at all times.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e always trying to represent your race to white people,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd represent well for your own people, and think about the legacy you leave, especially if you鈥檙e the first. You just don鈥檛 have the margin for screw-ups.鈥�
Political Skills?
In a 1999 study of black women superintendents, Ms. Alston found they ranked race and gender lowest on a list of obstacles in their job, even while listing societal attitudes about blacks and the lack of an 鈥渙ld boys鈥� network鈥� to aid their advancement among the top five difficulties.
Paul D. Houston, the executive director of the Arlington, Va.-based American Association of School Administrators, acknowledged that some communities can be 鈥渓ying in wait鈥� to undermine a new superintendent.
But most often, he said, it鈥檚 not race or gender that works against a superintendent, but inexperience, especially mastering 鈥渙utside the house鈥� challenges such as making political connections.
鈥淚f people happen to be not so effective, and happen to be of a different race, one thing gets confused with another,鈥� Mr. Houston said. 鈥淭here is a tendency of women and minorities to say, 鈥業鈥檝e had to struggle to get here, and a lot of people are pulling for my failure,鈥� and it might change the way you approach the job. You might assume a struggle that may not be there.鈥�
Pat Harvey, who led the St. Paul, Minn., schools from 1999 to 2005, said she wouldn鈥檛 say race and gender don鈥檛 matter in any superintendency, but she found them largely irrelevant in hers.
She won strong community and business support, she said, by making personal relationships a top priority. In her first four months, she made nearly 40 speeches a month, and chatted with every taxicab driver, parent, and store clerk she could.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the small 鈥榩鈥� in public education,鈥� said Ms. Harvey, who is now a professor of urban education at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and a senior fellow with the America鈥檚 Choice school reform program. 鈥淔amilies are giving you their children to educate. You have to let them get to know you.鈥�
Some black female superintendents experience their gender as more of a barrier than their race.
Marion E. Bolden, who has been the superintendent in Newark, N.J., for seven years, said she was offered $10,000 less in her initial contract than was advertised for the job. She believes the difference sprang from gender bias, and from doubts about whether a longtime local educator鈥攁s opposed to an outsider for the state-run district鈥攚as the right choice for the job.
In a predominantly black and Latino community, she said, she does not see racial bias affecting her job. But she is often treated disrespectfully by male community leaders, she said.
鈥淢en call me, and their secretaries want to put me on hold while they get the man on the phone,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e an assistant somewhere, and I鈥檓 the superintendent. I finally told my secretary, we will stop that.鈥�
For others, it鈥檚 not entirely possible to disentangle the racial and gender dynamics that might be at work. Some women have made conscious decisions not to take the question on. But sometimes, they say, asserting leadership gets them branded in ways they believe men or white people would not be.
鈥淲e鈥檝e demonstrated success, but then somehow we鈥檙e viewed as autocratic instead of decisive,鈥� said Ms. Ackerman, who has been San Francisco鈥檚 superintendent for five years and previously was the District of Columbia schools chief.
Robert S. Peterkin, the director of the urban superintendents鈥� training program at Harvard University, which seeks to increase the presence of women and minorities in leadership positions, said he believes that 鈥減eople have a hard time with strong African-American women.鈥�
鈥淚t starts in the stereotypes we have about women in leadership, and it gets complicated by the race issue,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen it can become an excuse for folks to think they can substitute their wisdom for the leader鈥檚 wisdom.鈥�
He also thinks black women superintendents are subjected to 鈥渂ullying鈥� by their school boards and communities. He cited as an example one such leader who was asked by a reporter whether she agreed with critics who thought of her as a 鈥渂itch.鈥�
鈥淭here is just no male equivalent for that,鈥� said Mr. Peterkin, a former superintendent of schools in Milwaukee.
Ms. Smith, the former Columbus superintendent, said she believes that much of the flak a superintendent takes stems from forcing people in districts to change their practices. But she does believe that the community鈥檚 reaction can be tinged with race and gender stereotyping.
鈥淭he fact that I was being as direct as I was, and that I was female and black, made it just that much more distasteful,鈥� she said.
Deborah Jewell-Sherman, who is in her fourth year as the superintendent of the Richmond, Va., schools, said being black and female affects her job, sometimes in contradictory ways.
Early in her tenure, she said, a black school board member told her that some community members were worried she鈥檇 be viewed as 鈥渢oo pro-black鈥� and not concerned enough with the district鈥檚 white students. On another occasion, she recalled, a white board member said it was obvious she favored white people because she had hugged some white teachers in the audience after a meeting.
Caught in a Bind
Ms. Byrd-Bennett, the former Cleveland schools chief, said some blacks in her community saw her as 鈥渦ppity鈥� because of her straight hair, love of large jewelry, and Northeastern way of speaking. She was criticized as being 鈥渟oft鈥� on black children when she sought to revise a disciplinary code that suspended students for such infractions as repeatedly failing to bring a pencil to class.
鈥淚 have to try to stay on message and purpose very consciously to try to avoid some of this,鈥� Ms. Byrd-Bennett said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e always pushing that agenda, proving that agenda, fighting things you shouldn鈥檛 have to fight.鈥�
Other black women superintendents told stories of drawing negative reactions based on their clothing, a burden they don鈥檛 believe men carry. Some white community members in Minneapolis reportedly grumbled that Ms. Peebles, who wore her hair in dreadlocks and favored flowing dresses in African-patterned fabric, had too 鈥渞ough鈥� or 鈥淎frocentric鈥� a look. (鈥淚n Minneapolis, School Chief鈥檚 Tenure Debated,鈥� Feb. 8, 2006.)
Carol S. Parham, who led the Anne Arundel County, Md., schools for eight years, said the racial and gender dynamics in the superintendency are so clear to her that she gets frustrated when some people argue that they have no effect.
鈥淚t鈥檚 somewhat transparent to the casual observer,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey say it鈥檚 about competency. The fact is, for an African-American woman serving as a superintendent, it鈥檚 an issue that鈥檚 with her 24 hours a day.
鈥淪he must double-think every situation and every word she says. Are you going to be viewed as, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e only doing this because it involves black folks?鈥� or, 鈥楢re you exhibiting the right amount of strength on this issue, because if not, it鈥檚 because you鈥檙e a woman.鈥� 鈥�
Ms. House, the former Memphis superintendent, said that bias based on race and sex might not be as blatant as it was decades ago, but that doesn鈥檛 mean such attitudes don鈥檛 still exert a powerful influence on how a job unfolds.
鈥淲hat I experienced was subtle, but the subtleties are not imagined,鈥� she said. 鈥淩ace and gender are always the elephants in the room. To dismiss them as real issues is to put our heads in the sand.鈥�
