Tom Brady named interim CEO of Philly schools

In an unusually tumultuous session, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission today named a former top official with public schools in Washington, D.C., and Fairfax., Va., to be the interim chief executive of the city's schools.

Thomas M. Brady, who joined the Philadelphia district in March as chief operating officer, will become the district's top leader on July 1 to replace Paul Vallas, who is going to New Orleans by the end of June.

Brady was named on a 3-0 vote after commission member Sandra Dungee Glenn angrily walked out of the meeting. Glenn said she was upset that she was given no advance notice that the commission would be voting on an interim appointment. She said that it did not mean she was opposed to Brady but that he'd been in the district such a short time that she wanted to know more about him.

Brady will be paid $275,000. It was not immediately known whether he would be a candidate for the permanent position.

Brady had been considered a likely choice for interim CEO after Vallas announced this spring that he would be leaving at the end of the current school year.

A retired U.S. Army officer who once was the commanding officer at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, Brady began his education career with the Fairfax County Public Schools in 1999 as assistant superintendent for the Department of Facilities Services.

He later served as that district's chief operating officer in 2002-2004. Fairfax County, which has more than 165,000 students, is the 12th largest school district in the country.

Until joining the Philadelphia school district this spring, Brady was the chief business operations officer for the public school system in Washington.