Unlike predecessor Michelle Rhee, Chancellor Kaya Henderson of the District of Columbia Public Schools works to balance accountability with collegiality. Kaya Henderson's childhood in one of New York's most affluent areas, Westchester County, could not have been more different from that of the middle school students she taught at Lola Rodriguez No. 162 in the South Bronx. This life lesson--that public schools must raise the expectations for all children, no matter their background--guides Henderson in her role as chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools, where most of the 47,000 students are black and Hispanic and hail from poor families. Henderson, who was Rhee's deputy chancellor, shares her former boss' educational philosophy--that teachers are key to reforming schools and must be held accountable. But Henderson's success and survival in the politically charged school district may hinge on her ability to differentiate herself from her predecessor.