Mark Roosevelt
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Mark Roosevelt (b. 1955) is the superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, the second largest school district in Pennsylvania, and a former state legislator in Massachusetts.
He was also the Democratic nominee for Governor of Massachusetts in 1994. The incumbent Republican governor William Weld defeated him in a landslide, 71%-28%. Roosevelt's lieutenant gubernatorial nominee was Bob Massie.
Roosevelt served in the Massachusetts General Court from 1986 to 1994, during which he served four years as House chairman of the Joint Committee on Education. In that capacity, he is credited, along with Tom Birmingham, with passage of a sweeping education reform law.[1] Additionally, he was the lead sponsor of the Gay Rights Bill (which passed) and the Recycling Initiative Bill (which did not). He has not held elective office since 1994.
During the interim, he served as CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, Managing Director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, and as a Professor of Politics and head of the Gordon Public Policy Center at Brandeis University.
Roosevelt was appointed on August 3, 2005, to the position of school superintendent. He accepted this post under the terms of a unique performance-based "Accountability Contract."[2] Since than he has actively proposed a massive reform plan for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, intended to end the district's financial problems and improve academic standards. The plan included the closing of smaller and less successful schools, opening of Accelerated Learning Academies with a vigorus academic curriculum and longer school hours, the moving of several programs, and increase in the number of Childhood Education Programs and K-8 schools[3]
He earned his B.A. degree in history from Harvard University as well as a law degree from Harvard Law School.
Roosevelt is the great-grandson of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and the son of Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. He was related to his 1994 gubernatorial opponent Weld through Weld's wife at that time, Susan Roosevelt Weld.
[edit] Electoral history
- 1994 Race for Governor (MA)
- William Weld (R) (inc.), 71%
- Mark Roosevelt (D), 28%
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Amy McConnell Schaarsmith (2005). Roosevelt Hired as Pittsburgh School Superintendent. Retrieved November 10, 2005.
- Pittsburgh Public Schools
| Preceded by: John Silber |
Massachusetts Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate 1994 (lost) |
Succeeded by: Scott Harshbarger |
