Former St. Paul Public Schools superintendent Valeria Silva will spend the next year helping a New York nonprofit improve its training programs for aspiring school leaders.
The NYC Leadership Academy this week announced it has hired both Silva and retired Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., superintendent Ann Clark as superintendents-in-residence for the 2017-18 school year.
“Ann and Valeria have been longtime leaders in the critical and difficult work of ensuring schools are offering an equitable and excellent education to students, regardless of race or culture, economic background or learning needs,” Leadership Academy President and CEO Irma Zardoya said in a prepared statement.
A longtime St. Paul district employee, Silva was superintendent from December 2009 through June 2016, when the school board bought out her contract.
The separation agreement allowed her to technically remain employed by the district as a “special consultant” through the end of this month. After that, she will get an extended leave of absence through Oct. 1, 2019, so that she may receive full pension benefits.
Silva would have lost some benefits of her $787,500 agreement had she started a different full-time job before the end of this month.
The Leadership Academy in its announcement praised Silva’s work to address racial inequities in the St. Paul district. She closed alternative learning centers that separated special-education students from their peers, and sought to curb high rates of suspension for African-American students.
Those efforts likely played a role in her dismissal from the district, however.
Silva was criticized for mainstreaming special-education students without regard for students’ individual needs, and the teachers union accused her of making the schools less safe for teachers.
Silva has acknowledged she made too many changes at once but said she did so in the best interests of students.
St. Paul saw a short-term decline in the raw number of suspensions under Silva, but racial disparities in discipline did not improve.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Silva said she was not immediately available for an interview about her new job.
In the Leadership Academy’s announcement, Silva said:
“I have devoted my career to making sure every child gets the educational opportunities he or she needs to fulfill their potential. Working with the Leadership Academy will allow me to share what I have learned about what works and how to navigate the challenges involved in dismantling inequities in schools.”