Meria Carstarphen is sole finalist for APS superintendent job

• Atlanta Public Schools
• Meria Carstarphen

Atlanta Public Schools wants Meria Carstarphen, the current superintendent of the Austin Independent School District, to turn around the embattled school system. Carstarphen, one of four candidates who was in the running for the job, has led the 87,000-student Texas school system since 2009.

“Dr. Meria Joel Carstarphen was our unanimous choice not just because of her impressive track record of success, but also because of the means by which she achieved these results,” APS Board Chairman Courtney English said in a statement. “She has repeatedly united communities around a collective vision to achieve unprecedented and lasting academic excellence for students.”

Previously the Selma, Ala., native was superintendent of the St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota and worked in the District of Columbia, Kingsport, Tenn., and Columbus, Ohio. She is a former middle school teacher and taught elementary school in Spain and Venezuela, according to her AISD bio.

She has a doctorate in administration, planning, and social policy with a concentration in urban superintendency from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition, she holds master of education degrees from Auburn University and Harvard University.

“I believe we have found a proven, visionary leader in Dr. Carstarphen, who has consistently produced verifiable, concrete results,” Mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement. “I will do everything in my power to support her in our collective efforts to make the Atlanta Public Schools system the best in the nation. Our children, and our city, deserve nothing less.”

Carstarphen would succeed Erroll Davis, who’s led APS since 2011 after a cheating scandal rattled the public’s faith in the system. He leaves APS at the end of June.