Superintendent Alberto Carvalho Turned Down a Job in the Obama Administration

​Most local officials would jump at the chance to take their talents to Washington. Who wouldn't want national influence? Apparently not Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. He claims he turned down a job offer from Obama's secretary of education Arne Duncan.

"The truth is that he offered me a position and I did not accept it," Carvalho said in Spanish on WQBA-AM. "I agree with him that there's a need at the local level for leadership to continue improving the quality of education in our community. It's very important. I love this community."

The Miami Herald reports that Duncan had offered Carvalho a gig as an assistant secretary of education.

After taking over for controversial former Superintendent Rudy Crew in 2008, Carvalho has lead the district with a steady hand. Teacher layoffs have been avoided and test scores are up.

"I call it the 'Miami miracle,'" Carvalho told New Times back in November. "We've struck a very different course from Broward County's. And we're getting very different results."

And it appears that he's going to keep his miracle working in Miami for the time being.

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