Alumnus Appointed to Senior State Education Post
Published: 9/15/2009
Alumnus John B. King, Managing Director of
Uncommon Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization that operates
schools in New York and New Jersey, has been appointed the New York State
Department of Education’s senior deputy commissioner for P-12 education.
In his new post, King will lead the state’s
school reform efforts. “I look forward to working with teachers, school
leaders, parents, and all of those throughout the state who are interested in
raising student achievement,” King said. “The Regents have set an aggressive
reform agenda and I am thrilled to work with them and Commissioner-elect
Steiner to accelerate the progress already underway.”
King, who will start his new job on October 5, a few days
after the state’s new education commissioner, David Steiner, takes office, co-founded the Roxbury Preparatory Charter School in
Boston, where he developed an instructional program and school culture that led
to strong academic achievement among a study body that was entirely African
American and Latino. Under his leadership, the school’s students attained the
highest state exam scores of any urban middle school in Massachusetts, and routinely
outperformed students from throughout Boston and its affluent
suburbs. Roxbury Prep was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education
as one of eight top charter schools in the country.
As managing director at Uncommon Schools, King has continued
to drive improvements in educational outcomes for low-income students in urban
settings. In 2009, 98 percent of the students in the third grade through the
eighth grade in Uncommon Schools’ New York network scored at Level 3 or 4 on
the state math assessments, compared with 86 percent of all New York students
and 82 percent of New York City students.
“John King is a nationally recognized education leader with a
proven track record of lifting student achievement, particularly for low-income
minority students in urban settings,” said Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, who
is also a TC alumna. “His goal is always the same: ensuring that the students
in his care are prepared for college-level work and productive careers.”
A former high school history teacher from a family of New York
City public school educators, King has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard
University and a law degree from Yale University. He also has master’s degree
in the Teaching of Social Studies (1996) and an Ed.D. in Inquiry in Educational
Administration Practice (2006) from Teachers College.
To read a previous
story about King, go to http://www.tc.edu/news/article.htm?id=4757.
John King
