E03: The Superintendent Working: Syracuse

Meet Zheadric Barbra, Assistant Superintendent of School Reform at Syracuse City School District. Barbra is responsible for the improvement of Syracuse's 37 public schools. He credits his mother, who raised him and his four brothers by herself while working manual-labor jobs and depending on food stamps, as the source of much of his determination and his belief in education. He says she raised him and his brothers with this central philosophy: "There's no other option than what you have in front of you. You can't not do well. There's no other option." She also instilled in him the belief that education serves as the cornerstone of a good life. Barbara has applied these lessons to his own education, career, and experience with fatherhood, and he tries to pass along these beliefs to the students whose educational experience he oversees.

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