MPS hires new superintendent
Dr. Gregory Thornton will take the helm of MPS on July 1.
In what could be seen as a major poke in the governor’s eye, the Milwaukee School Board hired Dr. Gregory Thornton as the next superintendent of the state’s largest public school system Friday evening. The hiring followed a closed session where all three candidates for the position were discussed.
Stacy Scott of the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland and Robert Alfaro of the Clark County Public Schools in Las Vegas were the other finalists.
Thorton will take over the reigns of the district on July 1 when Dr. William Andrekopoulos retires.
MPS Board President Dr. Michael Bonds is thrilled with the hiring of Dr. Thornton. “I firmly believe that Dr. Thornton’s prior experiences in large urban districts make him the right match for Milwaukee.”
Thornton is currently the superintendent of Chester Upland School District in Chester, PA, a position he was appointed to almost three years ago by the Pennsylvania governor. Since joining the Chester Upland School District, his focus has been on raising student achievement, revising and upgrading the strategic plan and monitoring progress. Thornton instituted a campaign to market the school district, utilizing different methods to engage the community.
Thornton’s extensive background includes experience as: the chief academic officer in Philadelphia; deputy superintendent in Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland; assistant superintendent in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Public Schools, North Carolina; and the director of secondary schools for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools, North Carolina.
Thornton is not without controversy. In a recent Milwakee Journal Sentinel article, it was revealed that Thornton filed for personal bankruptcy in 1997 while living in Maryland. He also falsely described his wife as a hospital administrator while in the running for a superintendent job in the Bloomfield School District. When the bankruptcy and falsification were discovered, that board withdrew his application.
His ethics were also questioned when he took a 2004 trip to Africa with the National Association of Black School Educators, which was partially paid for by Plato Learning Inc. At the time of the trip, Thornton was an administrator in the Philadelphia School District and had signed off on a no-bid, $926,000 contract with Plato for educational services in the district.
One could make the argument that the governor and mayor were poking the MPS board in the eye (perhaps amputating its male genitalia would be a more apt metaphor) by attempting to remove its power.
As the proposal languishes in Madison, it would be irresponsible for the MPS board not to move forward and appoint a new superintendent. Isn’t change the one thing everyone agrees MPS needs?
The governance controversy could not made the search easy. Who wants a job where the management is in dispute? Whatever happens, let’s hope the interests of the students and the families who depend on MPS are not overlooked.
are things so bad out there that the board had to settle on someone with a flawed track record? (if indeed, the reports are accurate)
Hey Ted, after watching this particular circus for the last few months, the furthest thing from the minds of anyone involved is the interests of the students or parents. And how about those pics of Bonds in the Journal today? Looks to me, he thinks it’s all about him!
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