This report presents data from a survey of all 102 Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) member districts and the nation's 50 largest cities that examined the length of service of current superintendents and tenure of their predecessors between 1985 and June 2000. The average tenure for superintendents who had recently left their positions was nearly twice as long as is generally reported by the media. Among 77 CUBE member school districts, the most recent superintendent to complete his/her superintendency served an average of 5 years. For the nation's 50 largest cities, the average tenure dropped to 4.6 years. Survey results indicated that for the immediate past superintendents, the average tenure was 5.2 years in the 50 cities. Among the 77 CUBE districts, the immediate past superintendents served 6.4 years. Results also found that eight CUBE districts reported having more than five superintendents from 1985-00, while 28 CUBE districts reported that every superintendent whose tenure ended in that the 15-year period served at least 5 years, and 20 reported having at least one current or past superintendent who served for 10 or more years. (SM)
