Argie K. Johnson is an American educator and biochemist who served as

superintendent of Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) appointed by the mayor of Chicago. Currently serving as CEO is Pedro Martinez. This job is equivalent to a superintendent, and, before 1995, the occupant of this office was know ...

and deputy chancellor of New York Public Schools.

Early life and education

Johnson hails from

Kannapolis Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. She was the eldest of six children born to

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

. She worked her way through college.

Career

Johnson was originally a

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

New York Public Schools

Johnson, in 1967, began working for New York Public Schools as a science teacher, in order to financially support her daughter as a

single mother A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

. She later rose to become a

school principal A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school ...

of David Riggles Junior High School 258 in 1978, which was regarded as a low-achieving school with a crime problem. She held this position for seven years, and school officials stated that test scores rose by as much as 20% during her tenure (although they still fell below the national averages). By the time she left, the school had a waiting list. She was credited with repairing the schools image. She then served as a subdistrict superintendent. She rose to serve as the deputy chancellor of the New York Public Schools system, making her the second-in command of the largest school district in the United States. Upon entering the job, she faced controversy as deputy chancellor when she was quickly tasked by chancellor Joseph A. Fernandez with "toning down" the "Children of the Rainbow" curriculum, which sought to teach children to be accepting towards

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

and other "alternative lifestyles". The "Children of the Rainbow" curriculum had become nationally controversial. In part, due to her involvement with this controversy, her tenure as deputy chancellor was set to end before 1994, after only two years on the job, with the school board opting not to renew her contract. Despite this, Johnson's leadership performance in New York was overall well-regarded. She was also being considered as Fernandez's possible replacement.

Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools

In June 1993, she was hired to serve as the

, placing her in charge of the third-largest school district in the United States. The

Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education serves as the board of education (school board) for the Chicago Public Schools. The board traces its origins to the Board of School Inspectors, created in 1837. The board is currently appointed solely by the mayor ...

voted to hire her by a unanimous vote. She was the district's sixth permanent superintendent in a less than two-decade period. She was the second

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

woman to hold the position, after

Ruth B. Love Ruth Burnett Love (April 22, 1932 – June 6, 2022), also known as Ruth B. Love-Holloway was an American educator, education administrator, author and former schools superintendent. Love was formerly a professor of education at her college alma m ...

. She signed a three-year contract with the district. Her tenure formally began on August 9, 1993. In 1995, after the district was reformed with

mayoral control of schools Mayoral control of schools is governance over American schools based on the business model, in which the mayor of a city replaces an elected board of education (school board) with an appointed board. The mayor may also directly appoint the head of ...

, she was ousted. She had originally been hired by the Chicago Board of Education, in part, due to her enthusiasm for the "decentralization" scheme of Chicago schools which this reorganization undid. She was replaced in July 1995 by Paul Vallas, who was named to the new position of "CEO" of Chicago Public Schools.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Argie Superintendents of Chicago Public Schools Educators from New York City Educators from North Carolina American biochemists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American educators 21st-century American educators People from Kannapolis, North Carolina American women educators American school principals Living people