Miami Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to Be Next NYC Department of Education Chancellor

The head of Miami's public school system has been tapped as the next chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, Mayor de Blasio's administration announced.

Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, will replace current Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña -- who is retiring -- in the coming weeks, the mayor's office said in a statement.

Carvalho has served as the top educator in Miami-Dade County Public schools -- the nation's fourth largest school system -- since 2008, and is well known nationally among educators and considered a run for Congress in 2017, according to NBC 6 South Florida. He's also known to wade into national issues, including gun control and the debate over sanctuary cities.

According to Politico, Carvalho is a Portugeese immigrant who came to America illegally as a 17-year-old after saving $1,000 for a plane ticket from Lisbon to New York City.

He taught chemistry, physics and calculus at a Miami High School after holding several odd jobs in Florida and went on to become an assistant principal and deputy superintendent before taking the district's top post. He also currently is the principal at iPrep Academy, a magnet school in the system.

According to the Miami Herald, graduation rates rose more than 20 points over the course of his tenure. In the 2015-16 school year, graduation rates rose to 80.4 percent, up from 58.7 percent in 2007, the year before he took the helm of the district.

The Miami-Dade schools website says the district has become one of the nation's highest-performing urban school systems, receiving systemwide accreditation from AdvancEd in 2014.

Carvalho was also the named the 2014 National Superintendent of the Year and was the winner of the 2016 Harold W. McGraw, Jr., Prize in Education and was named the 2016 Superintendent of the Year in 2016 by Magnet Schools of America. 

Carvalho will take helm of the nation's largest school district as Mayor de Blasio works to continue to implement sweeping school system reforms, including full-day child education for every 3-year-old in the city and free school lunches for all 1.1 million public school students in the five boroughs.

He's also likely to take a pay cut in his new role: according to multiple media reports, Carvalho made $345,000 in 2016, while Farina made more than $100,000 less.

Fariña, a longtime New York City educator and  administrator who came out of retirement to head up city schools after Mayor de Blasio took office in 2013, announced she was planning to retire again in December.