New Mexico Candidate Emerges for School Job

Jesse Gonzales, a longtime school superintendent in New Mexico, has emerged as a leading candidate to become the first locally appointed superintendent of the state-run Compton schools in eight years, according to three people familiar with the search.

Gonzales was one of four finalists interviewed by members of Compton’s elected school board Friday and Saturday. All come from outside the district, and two, including Gonzales, are from out of state.

The appointment is seen as a milestone in the return of the 31,000-student district to local control after an unprecedented state takeover. Since Compton’s schools were seized by the state in 1993 because of financial and academic difficulties, the district has been run by a series of administrators appointed by the state’s superintendent of public instruction.