Joel I. Klein became New York City schools chancellor in July 2002 after serving in the highest levels of government and business. As Chancellor, he oversees over 1,600 schools with 1.1 million students, 136,000 employees, and a $21-billion operating budget.

Mr. Klein's comprehensive education reform program, Children First, is transforming the nation's largest public school system into a system of great schools. The first steps of the reform effort included ending social promotion in third, fifth, seventh, and eighth grades; creating a wide array of academic supports for struggling students; establishing new supports for parents, including putting a parent coordinator in nearly every school; and expanding small schools and charter schools to provide more high-quality educational options for students. The second phase of Children First involved restructuring the system, changing how schools are operated and supported, and giving principals greater control over how they run their schools while holding them accountable for results.

Before Mr. Klein became Chancellor, he held numerous positions in the private and public sectors including chairman and chief executive officer of Bertelsmann, Inc., one of the world's largest media companies; deputy counsel to President Bill Clinton; and assistant attorney general in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice's 700-lawyer antitrust division. Serving one of the longest tenures in that division, Klein led landmark cases against Microsoft, WorldCom/Sprint, Visa/Mastercard, and General Electric, prevailing in a large majority of cases.

Mr. Klein is a graduate of New York City's public schools. He received his B.A. from Columbia University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude from both universities.