Regents chief takes new position
Betty Rosa to become interim leader of state Education Department
Chancellor Betty A. Rosa resigned Tuesday from the Board of Regents to become interim state education commissioner when the current interim commissioner, Shannon Tahoe, leaves office on Thursday.
Rosa said it was a “painful” decision but believes it was the right one to “ensure the stability that we need for our students during this unprecedented time.”
Rosa is taking on the leadership of the state’s Education Department as schools around New York prepare from the unprecedented resumption of classes during the coronavirus pandemic and the challenges of keeping students safe from the disease while educating them.
“Districts and schools are about to begin an instructional year like no other in our history,” Rosa said. “It is imperative that the department continues its important work without interruption, and I am dedicated to providing that constancy as interim commissioner.”
Tahoe leaves the Education Department just eight months after stepping into the interim
role. She is the third education commissioner to leave the position in the past year.
Tahoe took over as interim commissioner in November after the previous interim, Beth Berlin, accepted a role at SUNY Empire State College.
Berlin had stepped into the interim position a month earlier following the resignation last summer of former Education Commissioner Maryellen Elia.
The Board of Regents has struggled to permanently fill the position. They hoped to find a permanent candidate by summer but the board announced Tuesday that the search would be extended.
Rosa has been a regent since 2008. She was elected chancellor by fellow board members in March 2016. They reelected her last year.
Rosa began her career as a bilingual paraprofessional, teacher and reading coordinator in the New York City schools. She served as an assistant principal and principal in special education. She introduced an integrated linguistic model to develop a multilingual and multicultural school for general and special education students.
In 1998, Rosa was appointed to the position of superintendent of Community School District 8 in the Bronx and later became senior superintendent of the Bronx. She founded a top-ranked middle school during that time.
Rosa holds a master’s degree and a doctorate from Harvard University and has taught graduatelevel college courses. She also holds two other master’s degrees, one in administration and supervision and the other in bilingual education. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the City College of New York.
Board of Regents Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown will become chancellor. He called Rosa “uniquely positioned” for her new role.
“Throughout her remarkable and innovative career as an educator, she has been a champion for equity and valiant defender of students and educators,” he said. “This made her a natural leader for the Board of Regents, and it is what makes my fellow board members and me sure that she is the exact right person to lead the Education Department at this time.”