Around the nation, there are signs that more school districts are willing to consider nontraditional candidates - from nonprofits, business, government, the military, and other areas - as their top administrators.
"It seems they are looking at other avenues," said Linda Embrey, spokeswoman for the National School Boards Association.
Officials in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are exploring measures that would facilitate hiring nontraditional superintendents.
In Pennsylvania, a bill sponsored by State Sen. Mike Waugh (R., York) would relax education and experience requirements and allow districts to hire those with graduate degrees in business or finance.
Pennsylvania districts now must seek waivers to hire outside the requirements. That's what Philadelphia did when it hired Paul Vallas, said a city schools spokesman. Vallas was Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's budget director before he was appointed to lead the Windy City's schools.
In New Jersey, where there is no waiver process, acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf came to education leadership through an alternative route. The former New York City deputy chancellor of schools and past president of Edison Schools, the largest private manager of public schools, taught history early in his career. He later practiced law and was a U.S. Supreme Court clerk.
The Christie administration hopes to revise education regulations to create an alternative route to superintendent certification in the state's most challenged districts. Under a proposed five-year pilot program, a potential leader may get started on the job with only a bachelor's degree and a review by the commissioner to determine if he or she has an appropriate work history.
