School & District Management

D.C. Approves Lewis Ferebee as Its New Schools Chancellor

By Corey Mitchell — March 05, 2019 1 min read
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Lewis Ferebee is officially the chancellor of District of Columbia public schools, three months after the city’s mayor tapped him for the job.

The District of Columbia Council on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Ferebee, the former Indianapolis public schools superintendent.

During his five years in Indianapolis, Ferebee, an Education Week Leaders to Learn From honoree in 2016, has focused on forging partnerships with charter schools leaders and establishing choice-friendly policies, including a common-enrollment system for all the city’s students. His background and approach may be tailor made for D.C., where about half of the 48,000 K-12 public school students are enrolled in charters.

Ferebee succeeds Antwan Wilson, who resigned more than a year ago amid a school transfer scandal.

Before taking the top job in Indianapolis, Ferebee worked for several districts in North Carolina.

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Photo: Lewis D. Ferebee --Swikar Patel/Education Week-File

A version of this news article first appeared in the District Dossier blog.