[4] Kimbrough started his career in education working as an industrial arts teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
[4] He eventually came to hold administrative roles in the district, serving as the school system's legislative lobbyist, director of revenue, and assistant superintendent.
[3] When Kimbrough took office, the system was in the midst of a scandal related to altered student test scores,[3] as Kimbrough held an investigation into the test scores matter and other allegations, and, in well as allegations of nepotism, employees with false credentials, and illegal maintenance contracts.
[6] The school board was sharply divided during his time as superintendent,[4] with numerous trustees being in opposition to Kimbrough.
[4] Kimbrough worked to establish a number of programs to connect California's system of state universities with the Public schools.
[5] In 1989, a principal in the district alleged that Kimbrough had sexually harassed her and denied her a promotion after she refused to partake in a sex game in which administrators took turns hiding $20 bills on their bodies.
[3][5] Kimbrough inherited a troubled system, with a high dropout rate, gang problems, and poor academic scores.
The overall role of the superintendent under this new scheme was not entirely defined at the time Kimbrough was appointed, but was overall tasked with putting in place policies for the central Chicago Board of Education.
Kimbrough stated that he had done this as part of an effort to hire his own team for senior school administration officials.
[10] In 1993, Kimbrough was abruptly fired on January 27, 1993, by a vote of the Chicago Board of Education to discontinue his contract.
[12] Two years after Kimbrough left office, the Chicago school district shifted away from its decentralization scheme and into mayoral control, due to poor results.
[8] Beginning February 6, 1996, Kimbrough began serving as acting superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District.