Only two years into his four year contract, Baltimore Schools CEO Gregory Thornton is on his way out.
Thornton had a tough time in Baltimore, facing criticism from his school board as well as student activists. He will be replaced by Sonja Santelises, a former schools administrator who currently works at a D.C.-based education think tank, starting on July 1; prior to Baltimore, Santelises worked in Boston schools for over a decade.
Santelises told the Sun she was inspired to come back to Baltimore after witnessing the unrest that seized the city last spring. “I don’t see our schools as being totally incapable and totally dysfunctional. Those are not the people I worked with,” she said. “I worked in a city system that was not perfect, that had incredible challenges, but had critical masses of people who wanted to do right by kids.”
