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D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson resigns

By Daniel Uria
Washington D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson resigned Tuesday after announcing he attempted to circumvent a lottery process to allow his daughter to transfer schools. Photo by Lorie Shaull/Wikimedia Commons
Washington D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson resigned Tuesday after announcing he attempted to circumvent a lottery process to allow his daughter to transfer schools. Photo by Lorie Shaull/Wikimedia Commons

Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Washington D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson announced his resignation Tuesday after attempting to circumvent a lottery process to allow his daughter to transfer schools.

Wilson said he "sought assistance" to correctly transfer his daughter to high-performing Wilson High School in a statement on Friday, but the process he followed "did not align with DCPS policy."

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Wilson put the policy in place himself as one of his first acts upon taking the role of chancellor about a year ago.

The Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles also resigned following Wilson's announcement on Friday, after at least one D.C. Council said she provided Wilson with assistance.

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recruited Wilson, 45, from Oakland, Calif., and hailed him as a "proven manager" capable of closing the achievement gap between children from the city's poorest areas and those in its most affluant.

Bowser initially gave Wilson the opportunity to remain as chancellor after urging him to issue a public apology, but a majority of the 13 D.C. Council members called for his removal.

She ultimately accepted Wilson's resignation, saying he "would be unable to successfully lead the schools, having not been able to regain the community's trust."

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"Stability and continuity in our system is very important, but in order for that to be effective, a leader has to have the trust of the people he manages and the people he leads," Bowser said. "Let me say this: Chancellor Wilson is an extraordinary educator. He has built a career on helping students and transforming schools, and he is a human being that made a mistake."

She said the terms of Wilson's severance are being negotiated and current chief of elementary schools Amanda Alexander will serve as interim chancellor.

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