DC mayoral nominee pledges to retain chancellor

WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia Democratic mayoral nominee Muriel Bowser says she would keep Kaya Henderson as chancellor of the District's public schools.

Bowser's campaign confirmed to The Washington Post (http://tinyurl.com/mpghhyg ) that Bowser told education activists at a meet-and-greet on Tuesday evening that she planned to retain Henderson.

Previously, neither Bowser nor her top challenger, David Catania, had committed to retaining Henderson. Bowser has accused Mayor Vincent Gray's administration of not moving quickly enough to improve District schools. Catania, meanwhile, has made education his top priority and says the chancellor's job will be to implement his agenda.

Henderson has been chancellor since Michelle Rhee resigned in 2010. She has maintained and fine-tuned the key reforms introduced by Rhee, including a rigorous teacher-evaluation system based in part on student test scores.

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