John Stanford (general)

Early life and education

Stanford was born in Darby, Pennsylvania and graduated from Yeadon High School. He subsequently attended Pennsylvania State University, earning a B.A. in political science. In 1975 he received a master's degree in personnel management from Central Michigan University.

Military Service

Stanford entered the U.S. Army after college, eventually rising to the rank of major general. He served during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm and also worked as executive assistant to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.

Fulton County Executive

In 1991 Stanford was hired as executive of Fulton County, Georgia. As executive he earned praise from civic leaders, though progress on his agenda of cutting bureaucracy and waste in county government was often impeded by infighting among members of the county commission.

Seattle Schools Superintendent

Though Stanford had no background in educational administration he was recruited, in 1995, superintendent of the Seattle school district, becoming the district's first African-American administrator. Stanford believed the school system exhibited the lethargic characteristics of a monopoly and said it had "an inward kind of thinking that is more concerned about the comfort of the people who run the system than the public it is supposed to serve." Arriving in Seattle, Stanford reassigned one-third of the district's principals. He announced that poor customer service by staff would be punishable by firing, students who did not meet minimum academic requirements would be prevented from advancing to the next grade level, and that future school construction would be "on cost and on time." He also moved to end desegregation busing.

Stanford was seen as a charismatic, popular leader, and - in his first year on the job - was credited with helping to raise more than $2 million in private donations to support district initiatives. Dropout rates in Seattle schools declined and SAT scores rose during his tenure. The Seattle school board reported that Stanford had met all ten of the goals they had established on his hiring. Some teachers, however, criticized Stanford's emphasis on standardized testing and he was forced to back down from an initiative to allow corporate sponsorships of extracurricular programs in the face of parent opposition. Several of Stanford's proposals, such as introducing school uniforms and restricting the issuance of driver's licenses to students known to affiliate with gangs, never gained traction.

In 1996 Stanford addressed the Democratic National Convention.

Death

In April 1998 Stanford announced he had leukemia. He was treated at Swedish Medical Center by physicians from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and died seven months later.

Legacy

Stanford's death was announced on the front page of the Seattle Times, which the newspaper later made available in commemorative poster form. A memorial service held at the University of Washington's Hec Edmundson Pavilion was attended by 2,500 people. Stanford was buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery the next day in a ceremony attended by Colin Powell and Richard Riley.

The Seattle school district headquarters facility, the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, was renamed after Stanford, and the Seattle school district's Latona School was renamed John Stanford International School.

Following Stanford's death, a Stanford Endowment was established to fund teacher training and leadership programs, receiving an early donation of $2 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Stanford's book, Victory in Our Schools: We Can Give Our Children Excellent Public Education, was published the year after this death. In it, he argues for schools to be run like businesses, based on performance. The foreword of the book was contributed by Al Gore.