Terry Stecz, president and CEO of Edison Schools, has been selected along with 14 other prominent education leaders, high-ranking military officials and business executives to participate in the 2007 Broad Superintendents Academy, The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems announced January 11.

The Broad Superintendents Academy is a 10-month executive management program to train top executives from military, business, non-profit, government and education backgrounds to lead urban public school districts. It is the only program in the country that recruits and trains non-traditional candidates to become superintendents. To date, 33 of the program's graduates have served as superintendents and another 26 have gone on to hold senior school district executive positions.

“I am honored and grateful for this important recognition,” said Stecz. “This opportunity allows us to work hand in hand with reform-minded individuals who are dedicated to tackling creatively our most pressing social concern—the education of our children.”

For the first time in the program's five-year history, nearly half of the 2007 class are high-ranking, senior military leaders, two of whom are already working as school district executives. Other participants include the superintendent of Topeka Public Schools and other high-level education executives from urban districts in Atlanta, Boston, Cobb County, Ga., Memphis, Tenn., New York City and Philadelphia.

"These impressive leaders already have successfully managed million-, even billion- dollar budgets and overseen hundreds to thousands of personnel," said Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundation, which funds The Broad Center. "With intensive, deep exposure to the best of what's working in school reform, they can apply their proven leadership abilities to dramatically improve opportunities for students in our schools."

Following a rigorous review and selection process, only five percent of this year's applicants were accepted into the program.

Participants in The Broad Superintendents Academy keep their current jobs and attend seven extended-weekend training sessions covering CEO-level skills in education, finance, management, operations and organizational systems. This year's sessions will be held in Los Angeles, Long Beach, New Orleans, Chicago, New York, Houston, and San Francisco. The Broad Center covers tuition, travel and all program expenses. At the conclusion of the program, The Broad Center will help place participants in urban school districts as superintendents and senior executives.

The 2007 class is the sixth to be trained by The Broad Superintendents Academy. Sixty percent of the graduates of the first five classes have been hired around the country as superintendents or school district executives or have been promoted into those positions, and nine out of ten graduates from the first four classes are still working in the same, similar, or higher positions. One quarter of large, urban districts that have conducted external searches for new superintendents in the last two years have filled their positions with graduates of The Broad Superintendents Academy.

The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems is funded by The Broad Foundation, a Los Angeles-based venture philanthropic organization established in 1999 by Eli and Edythe Broad. Eli Broad is a renowned business leader who founded two Fortune 500 companies, SunAmerica Inc. and KB Home. The Foundation's mission is to dramatically improve student achievement in urban public schools through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. For more information, go to www.broadcenter.org or www.broadfoundation.org.