Was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as chancellor of the New York City Department of Education from 2002 to 2011.
Grew up in Woodside Houses at 50-25 Newton Road in Woodside, Queens, New York.
Father Charles S. Klein was a high school dropout who worked for the United States Post Office. Mother Claire Schiller was a housewife. They married in December 1945.
Graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School in 1963 at 16 years of age.
Graduated from Columbia University.
In 2006 he was named by New York magazine as one of the most influential people in public education.