Carol Johnson

superintendent, Boston Public Schools

Dr. Carol R. Johnson has been Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools since August 2007, appointed by a unanimous vote of the Boston School Committee after a national search. As Superintendent of the 56,000-student district in the capital city of Massachusetts, she also serves a cabinet member for Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Dr. Johnson has a wealth of experience in public education as a teacher, principal, and administrator. She previously served as Superintendent of the Memphis City Schools in Memphis, Tennessee, the largest district in the state, with 119,000 students. During her tenure, she successfully removed more than 100 Memphis City Schools from the states No Child Left Behind high priority list, reducing the number of schools on the list by more than half. Dr. Johnson had been Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools, where she was named Minnesota Superintendent of the Year. She also had led the St. Louis Park, Minnesota school district located in suburban Minneapolis. In 2007, the Tennessee Parent Teacher Association named Dr. Johnson the Tennessee Superintendent of the Year. Prior to her appointment in Memphis in 2003, She earned a bachelors degree in Elementary Education from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, and masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Minnesota.