Change agent.

Be assertive, not aggressive. That's a lesson journalists learn early, and it's a trait William Andrekopoulos exudes as superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools. So maybe it's not ironic that of all the things he could've been if not an educator, Edward R. Murrow comes to mind. "I thought of a career in broadcasting," he admits almost apologetically. "I kind of enjoy the media."

But Andrekopoulos need not apologize: he entered education 33 years ago in the Milwaukee system and for three years he's headed the district. Some of his biggest problems aren't in schools; Milwaukee's residents suffer from poverty and lack of health care.

"Our finances were eating us up," he says. Although it's been a hard balance of fiscal responsibility and program implementation, Andrekopoulos has done it by slowly moving Milwaukee from being "politically driven" to do things as they've always been done, to "mission driven"--finding new ways to face problems even when decisions are tough. "When you're about to close a school, people think about the present and the past," he says. "But [we need to] focus on the benefit to the system, the overall financial stability of the system."

Bi-focus on the future: On the fiscal side, Andrekopoulos has helped the district re-evaluate where it's money goes by overhauling the food vendor system (saving $1 million), re-examining bus routes to get kids off buses quicker or not on them at all, and joining schools to save resources.

On the program side: Andrekopoulos has helped create all-day kindergarten for 4-year-olds with two working parents, and brought more nursing facilities into the school system, and created 20 small high schools with 400 students or less to help foster vigorous learning in a more intimate environment for the kids who need it.

Back to the one-room schoolhouse: The district has been nationally recognized by TIME magazine for its move to close middle schools in favor of more K-8s. Says Andrekopoulos, the new schools create "a more personalized learning environment, and offer a chance for older children to relate to the younger."

Membership has its privileges ... or not: Coming off years of daily "kid connections" in the classroom made Andrekopoulos's entry into superintendentdom sad. "In the first three weeks on the job I was into all of these adult meetings, and I thought 'I have to go out and visit the schools.'"

Class time: So once a week he hits the schools to meet with older students, read to the younger ones, or hit the classrooms to see if his Balanced Learning Initiative is being followed.

Uber involved: Atop his administrative duties, Andrekopoulos teaches courses in Administrative Leadership at Cardinal Stritch University, where a. night a week many of his teachers and faculty become his students. "I like to share," he says.

What's in a name? Always the educator, Andrekopoulos uses every opportunity he can to engage Milwaukee's students: even his name. "I've got 13 letters in my name," he says: "I write my name on the board and challenge them to come up with as many words as they can." Milwaukee's brightest have come up with 50-60 at a time. DA

WILLIAM ANDREKOPOULOS

Superintendent, Milwaukee Public Schools

Age: 57

Salary: $160,000

Tenure: 3 years as superintendent; 30 years of prior experience

What he's reading: One Thing you Need to Know About BLANK by Markus Buckingham. He just read The World is Flat, and The Ice Cream Maker, but that one never even made it to his night stand: someone handed it to him before a recent business trip and by the end of the weekend, he was done.

Jennifer Chase Esposito is a freelance writer based in Boston, Mass.