Productive tenure; Caradonio has led schools through challenging times.

COLUMN: In our opinion

Worcester School Superintendent James A. Caradonio signaled he was ready to take on new challenges recently when he put himself in the running for the state education commissioner's job, so his announcement Thursday that he would be leaving the post after this school year probably shouldn't have been a surprise. Moreover, eight years qualifies as a lengthy stay for any school superintendent, and leading one of the state's biggest urban school systems is bound to take a toll.

Mr. Caradonio's tenure has been remarkably productive. He came to Worcester as deputy superintendent in 1993, the year of the state's landmark Education Reform Act, a period of tectonic change in public education. He became superintendent at the most challenging phase of reform, including the beginning of "high-stakes" testing that made passing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment tests in English and math one of the requirements for a high school diploma.

Worcester has one of the state's best urban school systems by many measures, including high passing rates on the MCAS tests, comparatively low dropout rates and innovative curriculum and school restructuring programs, even during lean budget years. For that, Mr. Caradonio deserves a generous share of the credit.

He played a key role in the successful merger of the vocational and district school systems, leading to the construction of Worcester Technical High School. He also helped bring to a successful conclusion the decades-long effort to replace North High.

Through the school superintendents association, he has spoken forcefully on behalf of urban systems statewide, lobbying for a more balanced, need-based funding system. He has championed "value-added" assessments of schools that track students' actual improvement during the course of the school year, as opposed to simple test-score comparisons that give a vast advantage to schools in affluent communities.

While districts elsewhere in the state tried to undercut education reform, Mr. Caradonio persuaded teachers and administrators early on that the right response was to roll up their sleeves and find ways to get the job done.

Mr. Caradonio has been deeply skeptical about the value of public charter schools, which get local and state funding through a politically provocative line item on the local school budget. Still, he has responded to the challenge by promoting innovation via magnet schools, public-private partnerships, extended learning time and tutorial programs, small learning communities in high schools and more.

Mr. Caradonio deserves the community's gratitude for his contributions to its public schools.