State Chiefs Meet the Moment: Accelerating Equitable Learning Recovery

This learning and engagement opportunity — moderated by Lillian M. Lowery, Ed.D., Vice President of Student and Teacher Assessments at Educational Testing Service, and Jeimee Estrada-Miller, CGLR Senior Fellow — continues our ongoing webinar series digging under the hood on the spending and policy decisions our nation’s education leaders are making at this important time of recovery for our schools. Penny Schwinn, Ph.D., Commissioner of Education, Tennessee; Charlene Russell-Tucker, Acting Commissioner of Education, Connecticut; Eric Hall, Ed.D., Senior Chancellor of Education, Florida; Robert Hull, President and CEO, National Association of State Boards of Education; and Mike Magee, Ph.D., CEO, Chiefs for Change, shared new state policies and spending decisions in order to further build understanding on what’s currently working and what should be improved in this important time of recovery. Commissioners collectively shared that they worked under significant flexibility and with a sense of urgency to make the most out of the additional short-term funding. Their spending priorities include learning acceleration by providing summer learning opportunities, extending the school year, investing in teachers, and making high-quality literacy programming and assessment a priority to further close achievement gaps.

In a town hall setting following the panel discussion, Hull and Magee discussed the importance of this moment and creating lasting change that will remain for the years to come. Leadership, innovation and building capacity have to be at the forefront to ensure that funding is not a one-time triage, but can make a continuous impact for the future of education. With this in mind, additional investments need to be made in teachers to aid the shortage that is currently occurring across the country.