Three finalists to interview for ed commissioner
A deputy commissioner for New York schools, the Lawrence school superintendent and a deputy commissioner in Texas are the three finalists selected to be interviewed for the state education commissioner’s post, a preliminary screening committee announced.
The finalists are Angelica InfanteGreen, deputy commissioner of the Office of Instructional Support P-12 in New York State Education Department; Jeffrey C. Riley, superintendent/receiver of the Lawrence Public Schools; and Penny Schwinn, chief deputy commissioner of academics at the Texas Education Agency.
The Education Board will interview the finalists at a public meeting on Jan. 26 at the Omni Parker House in Boston to fill the position after the late Dr. Mitchell Chester died unexpectedly in June while being treated for cancer.
The three candidates, chosen among 18 applicants, came up the teaching ranks through the Teach for America program.
A first-generation American via the Dominican Republic, Infante-Green is known for leading efforts to integrate schools in New York by class and race and expanded New York City’s bilingual and dual-language programs.
“There was a little frustration in the classroom because there were policies being made without really knowing what was happening in the classroom,” said Infante-Green in a recent video for the Chiefs for Change’s Future Chiefs program. “I decided I was going to bring that drive to create change at a different level.”
Since 2012, Riley has led the nationally renowned turnaround efforts of Lawrence’s 35 schools, which climbed from the bottom 10 percent and cut its dropout rate in half. He previously worked for Boston Public Schools as academic superintendent/chief innovation officer.
Schwinn, meanwhile, is known as a vocal advocate for school choice and charter schools. Since 2016, she has served as chief deputy commissioner of academics for the Texas Education Agency. Before that, she was associate secretary of education in the Delaware Department of Education during a time marked by a flood of school reforms and teacher and parent discontent.