Welcome to Bellevue's new school superintendent, Amalia Cudeiro

ONE senses the Bellevue School District has been waiting for a leader like Amalia Cudeiro.

In choosing Cudeiro, the School Board underscored the most important ingredients in a successful superintendent: formidable leadership skills and a personal success story that closely aligns with the aspirations of families in a high-performing suburban district.

Cudeiro has the goods.

She teaches leadership at Harvard University's Urban Superintendents Program and is a partner at a consulting firm that emphasized school leadership. Deeper knowledge of how schools work comes from Cudeiro's days as a former deputy superintendent of the Boston Public Schools and principal in two Southern California schools.

Cudeiro's life story is a powerful one that resembles the stories of many of Bellevue's students. She emigrated to the United States from Cuba as a child. Her father was an accountant but because he didn't speak English was relegated to work as a hotel dishwasher.

Her experience resonates in a district where more than 80 languages are spoken. English is a second language for about 10 percent of students.

Bellevue is the gold standard among districts, with its national reputation for excellent high schools and experienced teachers. Eighteen percent of Bellevue's teachers have gone through the rigorous training to become nationally board certified, compared with just 5.3 percent of teachers statewide. Two success stories, Bellevue and Cudeiro, equal a good match.

But all is not rosy in Bellevue. The district faces challenges. A wealthy tax base is offset by steep reductions in state funding. Roughly 17 percent of the district's 16,900 students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch. Cudeiro's challenge will be continuing to maintain Bellevue's educational quality, meeting the needs of all students and doing so with fewer resources.

Cudeiro must repair fissures in the relationship between the district and its teachers, differences exposed during a bitter two-week teachers strike last fall. Her leadership skills and ability to connect on a personal level will come in handy.

Cudeiro is an excellent pick.

Information in this editorial, originally published March 26, 2009, was corrected March 27, 2009. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the percentage of Bellevue School District students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The correct percentage is 17.7 percent of the district's 16,900 students.