State’s education secretary to step down

As soon as thought of as a stable contender to be Philadelphia’s first Latino superintendent, Noe Ortega will step down subsequent week as Pennsylvania’s training secretary, Gov. Tom Wolf introduced Friday.

Ortega has led the division since 2020, when Wolf nominated Ortega to steer the company; the state Senate confirmed him in 2021. He beforehand served because the division’s deputy secretary.

“It has been an amazing honor to steer the division of training throughout an unprecedented second within the historical past of the commonwealth and I’m extraordinarily happy with the accomplishments made and the resiliency demonstrated by the [state education department] crew all through my tenure,” Ortega stated in a Friday assertion.

Earlier than becoming a member of the division in 2017, Ortega spent eight years on the College of Michigan, the place he held a number of roles, together with assistant director on the Nationwide Heart for Institutional Variety and managing director for the Nationwide Discussion board on Greater Training for the Public Good. Earlier than that, he spent practically a decade working in monetary help and enrollment administration at private and non-private universities in Texas.

Ortega has backed larger monetary help for public faculties. He testified in January on the state’s fair-funding trial in Harrisburg that Pennsylvania can not attain its targets for post-secondary enrollment and completion with out investing extra in Ok-12 training. He additionally famous that in response to knowledge collected below the federal Each Scholar Succeeds Act, the proportion of “extremely efficient” lecturers declines in class districts as the odds of Black, Latino, and economically deprived college students enhance.

“His profitable efforts to diversify our educator workforce and enhance alternatives for college students to acquire postsecondary training alternatives will undoubtedly proceed to affect our learners for years to come back,” Wolf stated within the Friday assertion.

When Philadelphia began its seek for a brand new superintendent late final 12 months, members of town’s rising Latino group included Ortega’s identify as a possible candidate. Julio Nuñez, an assistant principal at Sheridan Elementary, stated {that a} Latino chief who embraces their id and understands households’ struggles would validate college students. “When college students within the district see this in a frontrunner, they really feel seen,” he stated.

Ortega changed Pedro Rivera, a Philadelphia native, because the state’s training secretary in 2020.

Eric Hagarty will function performing secretary beginning April 29. Hagarty presently serves because the governor’s deputy chief of employees, and has been liable for implementing Wolf’s priorities and insurance policies referring to training.

Bureau Chief Johann Calhoun covers Ok-12 faculties and early childhood training in Philadelphia. He oversees Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s training protection. Contact Johann at jcalhoun@chalkbeat.org