Philly superintendent finalists: educators from Baltimore, N.C., and Illinois

The field to replace Philadelphia Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. has been narrowed to three.

The candidates are John Davis, the chief schools officer of Baltimore public schools; Krish Mohip, the deputy chief education officer for the Illinois State Board of Education; and Tony Watlington, the superintendent of a North Carolina school district.

Each candidate will meet the community Monday in a series of public meetings. The new Philadelphia schools chief, who will be responsible for the district of 120,000 students and 215 schools, is expected to be named this spring.

Conducting the search while a number of other districts nationwide are also looking for superintendents was “no easy feat,” said school board president Joyce Wilkerson.

“But we found educational leaders who were drawn to Philadelphia because of our historically and culturally rich location, our culture, our diverse community, and most of all the passion that our families have about public education,” Wilkerson said at a news conference Friday.

Here’s a look at each prospective candidate — three men, all career educators, none with local ties:

Davis has worked for Baltimore public schools — which educate 78,000 students in 155 schools with similar demographics to Philadelphia’s — since 2017.

Prior to becoming Baltimore’s schools chief, Davis worked for many years in Washington’s public school system as a middle-school math teacher, principal, and central-office official. He was chief of schools for the last six years of his D.C. stint, and also worked as interim schools chancellor there.

Davis began his career as an engineer and also spent time as a teacher and school leader in Kenya. He is white. He holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University.

He will meet the public on Monday.

Mohip works as deputy education officer for the Illinois State Board of Education, but has experience as CEO of the Youngstown, Ohio, school system, a district of 5,400 students.

Mohip began his educational career as a kindergarten teacher in Chicago public schools and became the system’s youngest principal at 27. He was eventually appointed “chief transformation officer” for the nation’s third-largest school system.

After an Ohio law was passed to turn around failing school districts, Mohip was tapped to aid the Youngstown school system, and given broad powers to do so. His three-year tenure was rocky, but the district narrowed achievement gaps and increased its graduation rate significantly.

Mohip is the child of immigrants; his parents grew up in poverty in Trinidad and Tobago and came to the U.S. as young adults. He holds a doctorate from Loyola University Chicago.

Mohip will meet Philadelphians on Tuesday.

Watlington leads the Rowan-Salisbury School District, a suburban school system of about 19,000 students and 35 schools. Fewer than half of its students are Black or other children of color; about 65% of its population lives in poverty.

He’s held that post for about a year; prior to his work at Rowan-Salisbury, Watlington worked in the Guilford County, N.C., school system, a much larger school district of about 70,000 students in 126 schools. He was second-in-command in that district.

Watlington, who is Black and was born in New Jersey, was the first member of his family to graduate from college and holds a doctorate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

He will meet Philadelphians on Wednesday.

Davis, Mohip, and Watlington were chosen from a candidate pool of more than 400, 21% of whom had ties to the district.

Most of the larger candidate pool were candidates of color — 64% identified as Black, 14% as Hispanic, and 7% as white. About 14% chose not to identify. About 70% were men.

The candidates will meet with members of the public next week. Each will have a full day, meeting with groups of students, teachers, principals, parents, and other community members, culminating with an evening town hall. Registration is required for the town hall.

The board of education has said it will name its new superintendent this spring.

Hite will leave his post at the end of the school year; he is expected to help smooth the transition for the new schools chief.