Kaya Henderson just lost one syllable on her mouthful of a title: The interim chancellor of D.C. Public Schools is now the acting chancellor, as Mayor Vincent Gray officially nominated her for the permanent schools chief post on Wednesday.
Lauding Henderson’s “judgment” and “character,” Gray confirmed that he reviewed “a number” of other resumes for the position, but declined to start a national search or serious consider any other applicants.
“Are there other candidates I could have considered and worked well with? Surely there are,” Gray said. “But I have already worked with Kaya and have certainty about her approach. Under the circumstances, it feels unfair to other candidates to run a search and pretend I do not have a candidate already in mind.”
The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday that Gray told members of the Metropolitan Club that he would announce Henderson’s appointment Wednesday.
Katherine Bradley, the co-chairwoman of the panel that advised Gray on Henderson’s selection, reiterated that her role was to discuss only the mayor’s candidates — and there was only one. “Five hours of conversation didn’t produce unanimity on all points, but we did surface strong support for Kaya Henderson by the large majority of panel members, who cited Henderson as an able leader, a diplomat, and a true champion for children,” she said.
Gray said his nomination will go to D.C. Council, who will question Henderson and presumptively approve the nomination.
