Check out theRegents press release announcing the appointment of Deborah Gist!
“It is a tremendous honor to be asked to serve the people of Rhode Island, and I am excited for this opportunity,” Gist said. “I will work hard every day with the great educators and community leaders here to improve our schools. Our work will begin with the absolute understanding that every child can learn and that every child deserves the best teachers, the best community support, and the best educational programs, technology, and other resources that are available. This will be an era of the highest expectations for our children and the strongest commitment by adults to work for better schools.”
Here are some of the quotes from national education reform leaders putting a spotlight on Rhode Island:
“Deborah Gist has shown strong, innovative leadership in Washington, D.C.,” said Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education. “At a time when schools all across America need to get better to compete in the global economy, Deb will be a force for real and meaningful reform. I look forward to working with her and the State of Rhode Island to give our children the best education possible.”
“With the selection of Deborah Gist as Commissioner of Education, Rhode Islanders have a dedicated leader who is committed to eliminating the racial and ethnic achievement gap in public schools,” said Joel I. Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Schools and co-founder of the Education Equality Project. “Now is the time for Rhode Island to seize this opportunity and accelerate its efforts to close the state’s Hispanic-white achievement gap, which is the largest in the nation.”
“Deborah Gist will be a huge asset to Rhode Island’s education reform efforts,” said Kevin P. Chavous, Chairman of Democrats for Education Reform. “She is a true change agent that also understands how to get the best out of her team. This is one instance where the District of Columbia’s loss will be Rhode Island’s gain.”
“Through Teach for America’s close work with Deborah Gist in Washington, D.C., we found her to be a driven reformer and a true model for the country in her ability to meaningfully connect every policy decision to the best interests of students,” said Wendy Kopp, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Teach for America. “She has taken an innovative approach in her work and made decisions that challenge the status quo on issues like certification of new teachers. She leads change inclusively, bringing together individuals with diverse perspectives and interests and aligning the group with focus and purpose in answering the question, ‘what will be best for our students?’”
“I could not be more pleased that Deborah Gist has accepted the position as Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education in Rhode Island,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “Deb’s selfless devotion to children throughout her career, beginning as teacher and moving into administrative positions, has been evident everywhere she has worked. One of Deb’s true strengths is her ability to work collaboratively with all interests as evidenced by her success in the District of Columbia in leading the development of learning standards, creating the first data collection system to follow students’ progress, and her efforts to dramatically improve college access to students in the District of Columbia. Our members in Washington wish her well; our members in Rhode Island look forward to working with her.”
“The news of the appointment of Deborah A. Gist as the new State Commissioner of Education for Rhode Island bodes well for Rhode Island’s children, school systems, and school leaders,” said Tim Quinn, Ph.D., Managing Director of The Broad Center. “Deborah is a national thought leader on educational issues and urban educational reform. We are thrilled that Rhode Island is the first state to attract a Broad Fellow as not only the superintendent of its largest schools system, with Tom Brady in Providence, but also a Broad Fellow as a State Commissioner who can partner in addressing the challenges of transforming the state’s educational systems to a position of international leadership.”
Read more about Deborah Gist, Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, including an in-depth review of her background.
Let’s hope that when she writes her commissioner orders she goes after really big things that will truly drive achievement:
1) more time,
2) real school-level accountability and authority, and
3) real student/family choice.