The CEO of the Baltimore City Schools, Dr. Andres Alonso, has resigned his position effective next month. From coverage in the Baltimore Sun (limited free views available):

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake credited Alonso with making “significant progress improving student achievement, including rising test scores and graduation rates — all while overall school enrollment has increased, reversing decades of steady decline.”

“I am confident that there are several qualified candidates across the country that would jump at the chance to be part of an historic school reconstruction effort,” Rawlings-Blake said in a statement.

Alonso, 55, was hired from New York City public schools in 2007 and brought an aggressive plan to transform Baltimore’s long-troubled school system.

The first half of his tenure was marked by a series of reforms: closing more than one dozen failing schools and programs and creating several others that have thrived; decentralizing the system by cutting the headquarters staff by more than half; empowering principals with budget decisions; creating choice for city families, and competition among middle and high schools; and inking a landmark pay-for-performance teachers’ union contract that was hailed as a model in the nation.

Read the full Sun coverage online.

Also from the Sun:

Statement from Dr. Alonso
Sun Editorial: Blow and Opportunity