Bowser Names New DME: Paul Kihn

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09/25/2018 09:42

Subject: Bowser Names New DME: Paul Kihn

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From the Post:

Education
Bowser taps new deputy mayor for education from outside D.C. schools

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has chosen an education consultant, Paul Kihn, as her top education adviser. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
By Perry Stein
September 25 at 9:30 AM
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced Tuesday that a private sector education consultant who occupied a top school system post in Philadelphia will serve as the District’s deputy mayor for education — one of the most powerful education jobs in the city.

Paul Kihn is expected to begin in the mayor’s administration Monday. The deputy mayor serves as Bowser’s main education adviser, with responsibility for overseeing polices that stretch across the traditional public and charter school sectors.

Kihn succeeds Jennifer Niles, who resigned in February after revelations that she helped the school system’s chancellor at the time skirt the competitive lottery so his daughter could transfer to a high school with a long waiting list.

Ahnna Smith has served as interim deputy mayor for education since February. Bowser said she offered Smith a position as a senior adviser in her administration and expects Smith to stay on.

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Bowser applauded Kihn’s work in the private and public sectors in turning around troubled schools.

“He brings with him a wide array of experiences,” Bowser said.

Kihn starts his job as D.C.’s traditional and public charter schools reel from controversies and setbacks. A citywide investigation uncovered that one-third of graduates from the traditional system in 2017 received their diplomas in violation of city law, undermining the city’s boast that graduation rates were rising. A few prominent charter schools have shut down because of poor performance or financial troubles, including Democracy Prep. And the District’s traditional public school system has been leaderless since Antwan Wilson resigned over the lottery scandal.

In an interview Monday evening, Bowser appeared confident in Kihn’s ability to bring stability to the schools. She said she selected him because she believes he will help rebuild trust between families and the schools by ensuring information on graduation rates and test scores is reliable.

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Following the graduation scandal, critics argued that because the mayor has so much power over the education system, it became easier to present data in the best light — even if it didn’t always accurately reflect challenges still confronting the system.

The D.C. Council is considering a measure that would establish an independent education research initiative in the D.C. auditor’s office — a measure Bowser said she opposes. Another proposal would make the state superintendent of education, whose office oversees the traditional and charter public school networks, more independent from the mayor. Now, the state superintendent reports directly to the mayor.

“Paul brings a great strength in helping us look at data integrity,” Bowser said. “The first thing that Paul said he would bring is helping rebuild trust between students and parents in the quality of data that we are sharing.”

Kihn worked as a public schoolteacher in New York for three years. He later became a partner in the education division of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Kihn said Monday he could not reveal his clients at the firm, but he worked with school districts, state agencies and education philanthropies throughout the country. He said he tackled diverse challenges, including financial and organizational matters. Kihn said he also addressed graduation rates, attendance issues and charter school affairs.

“I served over a dozen school districts,” Kihn said. “Districts came to us with their most intractable challenges.”

From 2012 to 2015, Kihn was deputy superintendent at the School District of Philadelphia. At the time, the cash-strapped system’s enrollment was plunging. Kihn was a top school official when the city closed 10?percent of the public schools and laid off thousands of employees — a decision met with widespread backlash. But the school system has become more stable since these cuts.

After leaving the Philadelphia system, Kihn returned to consulting.

He lives in the District and his children attend D.C. International School, a foreign language immersion charter school in Northwest Washington.