Driven to educate

Back-to-school: Detroit's controversial new school superintendent Connie Calloway wants to change the face of blighted schools. "More than a hundred thousand kids in Detroit need a voice. Who would be their voice?" | Lynn Vincent

Two years ago, Connie Calloway saw an ad in Education Week: Detroit Public Schools seeks new superintendent. "I thought, 'Wow. Who would take on that challenge?'" said Calloway, who was then serving as superintendent of the mostly black, low-income Normandy School District in St. Louis, Mo.

The Detroit district was—and is—known nationally as an educational disaster area, perhaps the country's worst. Standardized test scores are in the tank. As crime, poverty, and civic disarray push families out of the city, an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 students leave the district each year. The exodus is squeezing the district's budget, draining away millions annually. Now—at 116,000 kids—if the student population drops below 100,000, the district could lose its state classification as a first-class district.