Alberto Carvalho drops mayoral hopes for UM dream

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Even though he was always kind of one foot in, one foot out, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is giving up on his idea of running for Miami-Dade mayor in 2016 or 2020. Or turning in another direction, that is.

That’s because he now wants to be named president of the University of Miami. Donna Shalala, who has held the position for 17 years, announced her retirement last month, and it didn’t take long for Carvalho to confide in some of his friends that this was his true dream. Well, that is, if the Democrats don’t win the White House two years from now and name him Education Secretary (he turned down the No. 2 job already). He’s hoping for Hillary.

Still, the UM post is not a bad runner up dream: A $1.2 million salary at Suntan U on an Eden-like campus in Paradise, Fla., and all the coeds you can shake a stick at.

News of Carvalho’s new ambition came to Ladra from two separate and independent sources this week and confirmed on Friday by someone close to him.

And it’s a better fit, doncha think? Sure, Ladra would have loved to see someone as popular as the studly Sup run against Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Cry Wolf” Gimenez in 2016 — don’t worry, we have other options (more on that later) — but deep down inside, I feared for the poor portugés.

Carvalho, 49, has never run for an elected office in his life. He has been a lucky man, pretty much insulated from real politics in his appointed position as the head of the fourth largest school district in the country. He does not like controversy. He does not like confrontation. Can you imagine him in front of the commission?

He would have been eaten alive. Or maybe started twitching in another girl fight between Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa and Commissioner Barbara Jordan (more on that later), though lots of people did.

Yeah, Carvalho’s multiple accolades and the profile he has raised for himself — being named 2014 National Superintendent of the Year doesn’t hurt — could more easily lead to a university title.

His one liability is he’s got nothing more than a bachelor’s degree (okay, I’ve been told he has a Master’s from Nova; hope it’s not one of those honorary ones). It’s not an issue anywhere else except the top position at an institution that pushes and promotes higher education. But maybe he can turn that academic liability into an asset. By going back to school, he can experience what millions of Americans are experiencing with their second chance attempts at graduate degrees in later life.

This is a definite national trend. Carvalho can become the poster boy for second degree seekers and people going for their PhDs in their 50s.

And then there’s his fundraising ability. Carvalho was pivotal in raising the funds needed for a $2 million campaign to pass the $1.2 billion better schools bond that passed in 2012. And then there’s the people making the decision by sometime next spring or summer: The UM Board of Trustees, which include people like Leonard Abess and Adrienne Arsht, who have rubbed elbows and probably clinked glasses with The Sup.

I’m certain there has to be a national search and that lotsa other educators apply for this bacon.

But Ladra likes the local boy for this.

  Alberto Carvalho