Driver leaving MPS for Michigan United Way post
Superintendent pushed for expanded arts, summer school
“I’m sorry to see her go . ... She has great vision and energy.” Tony Evers Superintendent of Public Instruction
Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Darienne Driver, who became a statewide champion for Wisconsin’s largest district, often forging relationships across the political divide, is leaving her post for a job in Michigan.
Driver has been named president and CEO of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, the organization announced Tuesday. Her last day will be July 6.
Driver called the decision “bittersweet” and said leaving Milwaukee would be difficult.
“This has been my home for almost six years. You grow to love the children, the families, the community,” said Driver, who will be returning to Detroit, where she started her career as a teacher.
“There’s so much we’ve started here,” she said. “I feel like we have a really great team and a lot of momentum. And I feel like what we started will continue.”
The announcement prompted an outpouring of accolades for Driver, with many clearly disappointed by her plans to leave.
Mayor Tom Barrett called her departure “a great loss for Milwaukee.”
“She was just a fabulous person to work with.
She loves the kids and the city and did everything she could to improve education in the Milwaukee Public Schools, and had some successes,” Barrett said.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers called Driver “a friend” and “one of the most outstanding school leaders I’ve ever met.”
Evers said Driver was beginning to see some movement on student achievement, though not as much as she’d hoped. And he pointed to a number of her initiatives, including expanded summer school; bringing back art, music and physical education; and expanding the district’s career and technical education offerings.
“I’m sorry to see her go . ... She has great vision and energy, and I think she’s accomplished a lot,” Evers said.
The Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, whose members are bracing for a fight with Driver over cuts in her 2018-’19 budget proposal, issued a statement alluding to that battle and urging board members to hire a successor more supportive of the union’s demands.
“We hope that Dr. Driver seriously considers a new direction and leaves a lasting legacy as the superintendent that honors students and educators,” it said.
“We wish her well in her endeavors and hope that the MPS School Board will help select a new superintendent who will unapologetically stand with our students, community, and educators and fight for the public schools our students deserve.”
Republican Sen. Alberta Darling called Driver “a tremendous leader” and her departure “devastating.” She criticized the Milwaukee School Board and teachers union saying they resisted Driver’s reforms.
“I was afraid this was coming,” Darling said. “Unfortunately ... it’s a pattern . ... When we have innovative reformers, they don’t last long because the board is obstructionist.”
It’s not clear when board members learned about her departure. Speculation that Driver might be leaving was circulating in the community in recent weeks. But Vice President Larry Miller said as recently as Saturday that he had not heard that, and that he would be disappointed if that were the case.
“I’m a huge fan,” Miller said, despite a growing tension between Driver and board members over some issues.
School Board President Mark Sain did not return a telephone call from the Journal Sentinel. However, he issued a statement acknowledging her work in MPS and wishing her well.
“Dr. Driver is a professional who cares deeply about the children of Milwaukee,” he said. “She has dedicated her professional life to making sure young people are prepared for success after they graduate from high school.”
Driver is in her fourth year as the MPS superintendent and succeeded Gregory Thornton, who left the district for a position in Baltimore. She is the first woman to lead the district full time. She also is engaged to be married but declined to say Tuesday whether that played a role in her decision to leave Milwaukee.
Driver’s decision comes at a difficult time for MPS, which serves some of the poorest children in Wisconsin and has among the highest black-white graduation and achievement gaps in the country.
The district is facing a $30 million budget gap for the 2018-’19 school year, and Driver is proposing 5% cuts at each school and 15% in administration in hopes of closing it. The district is also in the process of implementing an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to address racial disparities in suspensions and expulsions.
Driver came to MPS in 2012 as its chief innovation officer. She took over as interim superintendent in July 2014 and was named permanently to the post in September that year at age 36.
As superintendent, she launched what she called the Eight Big Ideas, a districtwide strategy aimed at improving academic achievement, expanding outreach and partnerships and improving internal operations — all with an emphasis on equity.
Although MPS has seen some progress in early literacy and has improved slightly overall on its latest state report card, academic achievement has remained stagnant.
During her tenure, MPS’ four-year graduation rate has ticked up slightly. Scholarships for graduating seniors have ballooned to more than $63 million in 2017. More students, Driver said, have access to more rigorous Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses.
The district beefed up coaching for teachers and principals, brought back drivers education and opened evening “Twilight Centers” in district gymnasiums. And it instituted an office of Black and Latino Male Achievement in hopes of addressing the gaping achievement gaps involving young men of color.
In June 2016, Driver fought back against a state-mandated effort by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele to take control of some of MPS’ poorest performing schools. That marked what was perhaps the apex of her relationship with board members and the teachers union.
But those relationships have not been without tension. Driver faced pushback against some of her reforms, including her proposal to allow schools to adopt uniforms, and the agreement that allowed Carmen High School of Science and Technology charter school to rent space in Pulaski High School.
Earlier this year, she was criticized for supporting the renewal of the poorly performing Kathryn T. Daniels Preparatory Academy and approving $100,000 in raises for 23 administrators without notifying board members.