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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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052289
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05228900.035
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1990-09-17
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NATION, Page 39American NotesNEW YORK CITYTragic Transition
After he was appointed the first black superintendent of
schools in Minneapolis in 1980, Richard Green earned a national
reputation as a stern and innovative educator. He thus had high
hopes of muscling New York City's chaotic school system into order
when he became its first black chancellor 14 months ago. But the
transition from guiding 40,000 Minneapolis students to dealing with
940,000 in New York was a rude jolt.
Green was dismayed by the prevalence of drugs, weapons and
racial tensions in the New York schools. He suspended two community
school boards tainted by corruption. He was disillusioned when only
6% of voters cast ballots for board members. Last week a school
administrator and a teacher were arrested for selling cocaine, and
the trial of a principal accused of buying crack ended in a hung
jury.
Two days later, Green died at 52 after an attack of chronic
asthma. "What surprised me most," he had confided to TIME in a
discussion about his work in New York, "is how little people really
care about children."