Brigadier General Anthony "Tony" Tata of the U.S. Army had one of those "ah-ha" moments in April 2006 when, on the eve of an operation he was heading in Afghanistan, an Al Qaeda rocket shattered a nearby school. The attack killed a teacher and seven students and wounded dozens more. The rocket incident eventually nudged Tata toward a new mission: improving public education in America. After retiring from the military in 2009, Tata became the chief operating officer of the District of Columbia Public Schools. A year and a half later, in December 2010, his reputation as a direct communicator and level-headed leader earned him the top job at the nation's 18th-largest district, the Wake County (North Carolina) Public School System.