John Stanford (general)

{{Infobox military person

|birth_name=John Henry Stanford

|birth_date= September 14, 1938

|birth_place=Darby, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|death_date= November 28, 1998 (aged 60)

|death_place=Seattle, Washington, U.S.

|placeofburial=Arlington National Cemetery

|image=Maj. Gen. John H. Stanford, USA.jpg

|caption=Stanford as a Major General in 1987

|nickname=

|allegiance=United States of America

|branch={{army|United States}}

|serviceyears=1961–1991

|rank=Major General

|commands=

|battles=

|awards=

|alma_mater = Penn State, B.A., 1961

|spouse = Patricia

|children = 2 sons

|relations =

|laterwork=Fulton County Executive,
Superintendent of
Seattle Public Schools

}}

John Henry Stanford (September 14, 1938 – November 28, 1998) was a United States Army major general who later became superintendent of public schools in Seattle.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WUhWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6834%2C1154421 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=(New York Times) |last=Egan |first=Timothy |authorlink=Timothy Egan |title=Seattle's new superintendent issue 'call to action' |date=November 5, 1995 |page=14A}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WateAAAAIBAJ&pg=4190%2C3860493 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |last=Hubbell |first=John |title=Seattle school superintendent dies from leukemia |date=November 29, 1998 |page=1C}}

Early life and education

Born in Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, Stanford graduated from Yeadon High School and Pennsylvania State University, earning a B.A. in political science. In 1975, he received a master's degree in personnel management and administration from Central Michigan University.{{cite web |url = https://special.seattletimes.com/o/special/stanford/life/index.html |title = Remembering John Stanford, His Life and Legacy |website = The Seattle Times |access-date= 12 May 2021}}

Military service

Stanford entered the U.S. Army in 1961 after college and rose to the rank of major general (O-8). He served during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm and also worked as executive assistant to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s8wqAAAAIBAJ&pg=6562%2C111302 |agency=Associated Press

|first=David |last=Foster |title=Seattle schools chief was 'perfect and improving' |work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News |location=(Idaho-Washington)|date=December 2, 1998 |page=6A}} Trained as an infantry officer and fixed-wing aviator,{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQXlqNdaUzAC&pg=PA536 |title=U.S. Army Register: Active and Retired List |date=January 1, 1966 |volume=I |page=536 |publisher=Department of the Army |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=20 October 2021}} Stanford was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and several Air Medals.{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqRPfg2-KCEC&pg=PA883 |title=Army Executive Biographies |chapter=Brigadier General John H. Stanford |page=883 |date=1985 |publisher=Headquarters, Department of the Army |access-date=12 May 2021}}

Fulton County Executive

In 1991, Stanford was hired as executive of Fulton County, Georgia. As county executive in Atlanta, 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.{{cite news |title=Stanford Has Week To Mull Job Offer -- Seattle School Prospect May Be Ready To Move |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19950615/2126527/stanford-has-week-to-mull-job-offer----seattle-school-prospect-may-be-ready-to-move |work=The Seattle Times |date=June 15, 1995 |access-date=November 21, 2013}}

Seattle Schools Superintendent

Without a background in educational administration, he was recruited in 1995 for the post of superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools, becoming the school 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."{{cite thesis |type=Ph.D. |first=Linda |last=Sparks |title=The Political Ecology of a School Board Decision to Hire a Nontraditional Superintendent |publisher=University of North Florida |year=2005}} 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."{{cite web |url = http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3347 |title = John Stanford becomes superintendent of Seattle Public Schools on September 1, 1995 |website = HistoryLink |access-date= 20 November 2013}} 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.{{cite news |title=Leading The Charge |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970702/2547601/leading-the-charge----in-2-years-seattle-schools-superintendent-stanford-fulfills-goals-but-changes-have-come-with-missteps-and-small-battles |work=The Seattle Times |date=2 July 1997 |access-date=21 November 2013 }} 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.{{cite news |title=John Stanford, 60, General and School Chief |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/29/us/john-stanford-60-general-and-school-chief.html |work=New York Times |date=29 November 1998 |access-date=21 November 2013 }}

Death

Stanford announced he had leukemia in April 1998; he was treated at Swedish Medical Center by physicians from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and died seven months later at age sixty.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WqteAAAAIBAJ&pg=2551%2C4179644 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Seattle schools help staff deal with death |date=November 30, 1998 |page=7A}}

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; he was buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery the next day,{{cite news |first=Dick |last=Lilly |title=A Hero's Farewell|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19981203/2786896/a-heros-farewell |work=The Seattle Times |date= December 3, 1998 |access-date= 20 November 2013}} in a ceremony attended by Colin Powell and Richard Riley.{{cite news |title=Army, dignitaries and Seattle friends say goodbye to Stanford |work=The Seattle Times |date=December 4, 1998 }}

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.{{cite web |url = http://komonews.com/archive/gates-foundation-donates-2m-to-john-stanford-endowment |title = Gates Foundation Donates $2M To John Stanford Endowment |website = KOMO News |date = 31 August 2006 |access-date= 21 July 2016}}

Stanford's book, Victory in Our Schools: We Can Give Our Children Excellent Public Education, was published the year after his death. In it, he argues for schools to be run like businesses, based on performance.{{cite web |url = http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-553-37974-7 |title = Victory in Our Schools: We Can Give Our Children Excellent Public Education |website = Publishers Weekly |access-date= 20 November 2013}} The foreword of the book was contributed by Al Gore.

References

External links

[https://www.historylink.org/File/3346 History Link] – John Stanford
[https://www.historylink.org/File/3347 Named superintendent of schools]
[https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CghTdGFuZm9yZBIESm9obg--/ ANC Explorer]

Category:1938 births

Category:1998 deaths

Category:People from Darby, Pennsylvania

Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni

Category:African-American United States Army personnel

Category:American Senior Army Aviators

Category:United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War

Category:Recipients of the Air Medal

Category:Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)

Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)

Category:Central Michigan University alumni

Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit