(Bloomberg) -- New York Mayor Bill de Blasio named Richard Carranza, Houston's superintendent of schools, to run the largest U.S. school system, days after learning that his first choice for the job had decided to remain in Miami.
Carranza, 51, a second-generation Mexican-American, has run the Houston school system since August 2016. He previously had been San Francisco's superintendent for four years and led school systems in Tucson and Las Vegas before that.
Carranza joined de Blasio to announce the appointment at a City Hall news conference Monday. Last week, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho reneged on an agreement to take the job.
Describing Carranza as the embodiment of the American Dream, de Blasio recounted the educator's upbringing as the child of immigrants who valued education. He praised Carranza's success in increasing test scores among black and Latino students.
“In everything he's done, he's been devoted to children and he's been a change agent in his work,” de Blasio said. “He has a proven record as someone who can get results while moving an equity agenda.”
The Houston Independent School District, the largest in Texas, has a $2 billion education system serving about 214,000 students in 284 schools. New York's serves 1.1 million in more than 1,700 schools, with a budget of about $25 billion a year. As of last week, Houston schools were facing a budget deficit of $115 million.
“I know that across this incredible state, the city of can-doers, New York City, there are thousands and thousands of parents who have the same aspirations" as his own parents, Carranza said. “I still make it a point every week to visit classrooms. That's where I find my inspiration.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, Flynn McRoberts, William Selway
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