Longtime state special education official named acting chief
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday named Russell Johnston, a longtime special education official, as acting chief of the state’s K-12 public school system.
Johnston will formally assume the role on March 16, after outgoing Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley officially steps down.
Riley announced earlier this month he was resigning from the post — which he held for more than six years — to spend more time with his aging parents. Riley’s tenure was a turbulent one, marked by the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s near takeover of the Boston Public Schools. Johnston now inherits that oversight of BPS as the district works to improve its facilities, transportation, and services to English learners and students in special education.
In endorsing the board’s pick, Riley during a Tuesday morning state board meeting called Johnston a “warrior” for education and a “man of great integrity.”
“I feel very honored and humbled to step into this position because I always think about the approximately one million students who we serve here in Massachusetts,” Johnston told The Boston Globe. “DESE has important work to do, and to keep going, to keep commissioner Riley’s legacy strong, as we move forward and do what we can to enhance their learning every single day.”
Johnston brings with him to the role a lengthy career in public education, including as a special education teacher, special education director, and district superintendent of the West Springfield Public Schools from 2010 to 2014. Most recently, Johnston was deputy commissioner for the state agency; prior to that, he was senior associate commissioner overseeing the state’s school accountability and special education systems. He also served as interim receiver for the Southbridge Public Schools, where he was temporarily charged with turning around the struggling district.
During Johnston’s tenure at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Massachusetts developed a new parent-friendly Individualized Education Program, a document outlining a special education student’s needs, the first update in 20 years. Johnston also helped pass policies that led to a reduction in the use of physical restraints on students, according to the department.
Last fall, however, the federal government launched an inquiry into whether the state was protecting the rights of special education students. That investigation remains ongoing.
Johnston holds a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University in Chicago, a master’s of education from Boston College, and a doctorate of philosophy and education, also from BC, according to the state Education Department. After postcollege teaching stints in Arizona and Alabama, Johnston was a special educator for Newton Public Schools, where he taught for five years before becoming the head of elementary special education for Wellesley Public Schools.
As acting commissioner, Johnston will earn an annual salary of $246,636; Riley’s 2023 total pay was $271,152.
The state board, which recommends the commissioner for appointment by the secretary of education, will discuss its search for Riley’s permanent replacement at its March 26 meeting, according to board documents. Maryland and Kentucky are also on the hunt for new chiefs.
Riley, former state receiver for the Lawrence Public Schools, was named commissioner under former governor Charlie Baker, a Republican.
Six of the board’s 10 members remain Baker appointees. It’s unclear whether the board will seek to name a new chief before Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat, is able to appoint a majority this summer when terms begin to expire.
Johnston said it was “too early” to say whether he wanted the permanent job.
“I think what’s important to do is to get in here tomorrow and just keep going.”