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Milwaukee Magazine Profiles Darienne Driver as a Local Leader, Milwaukee 'Personality'

Sara Stathas/Milwaukee Magazine
MPS Superintendent Darienne Driver

What do you think of, when you think of Milwaukee Public Schools?

For many people, what comes to mind first are statistics – specifically, the district's infamouslylow reading and math scores, and graduation rates -- none of which offer the most glowing view of the state’s largest public school district.

But for others, MPS is about more than just its report card.

Despite low numbers, many Milwaukeeans say they see change coming in MPS -- and the figure who best represents that change is district superintendent Darienne Driver.

READ: MPS Superintendent Introduces Aggressive Reform Agenda

Dr. Driver recently entered her fourth term at the helm of MPS. She’s the youngest person to ever head the district, and the only woman to do so on a permanent basis.

Milwaukee Magazinecontributor Georgia Pabst spent some time with Driver for the magazine's September issue. She wanted to take a closer look at the personality of a leader many often only hear in sound bites and news clips.

"There is this new generation of school superintendents coming up, and I think she fits into that mold," Pabst says of Driver. "[These folks] are younger, they're tech-savvy, they understand social media, and they come from a more diverse background. And they're closer -- both in age and in environment -- to the students that they're in charge of. I think that's exactly where Dr. Driver fits in."