This summer, I'm heading north to Trenton to become the Deputy Commissioner of Education for the state of New Jersey.?Though I'm sad to leave my home state of Maryland and the DC ed reform community, I'm excited about the new challenge.
It seems to me that there's never been a better time to work on these issues at the state level. As a rule, the most important education policies are made in state capitals, and that's doubly true right now. The burgeoning national education reform movement has been given extra energy by the Race to the Top, and to an extent never seen before state governments are tackling, or at least discussing, the most pressing issues.
New Jersey has a new governor who believes deeply in choice and accountability, and he's committed to reforming his state's K-12 system. The state commissioner is of the same mind, hoping to tackle school finance, teacher quality, and much more. I'm especially excited to get to lend a hand to the effort to improve Newark's schools. The city has a set of superb charter organizations, a remarkably strong nonprofit support infrastructure, and a hard-charging mayor.
I've been very lucky in my career to be able to bounce in and out of government at different levels with spells in the non-profit and think-tank world. The last year plus has been a blessing; I've had the chance to rebuild my stores of intellectual capital and work on a number of terribly interesting issues. I'm very excited about the opportunity to put this thinking and writing to work?both because I believe deeply in certain reform strategies and because it's important for a pundit to step up and put his money where is mouth is.
Along those lines, I am indebted to the Fordham team for having me. They supported me while I was working on longer-range projects, including a book, and gave me the keys to this exceptional blog. It's been fantastic to be able to reach thousands of people every day, whether I wanted to talk about charters, the stimulus, teachers, ESEA,?music, or more.
My goal with this blog was to be thorough, thoughtful, and fair. Though I occasionally criticized the Department, states, and districts, I always tried to be complimentary when warranted and point out exciting developments or acts of courage.
I also aspired to have my writing be a snark-free zone. There's enough meanness out there, and I tried not to contribute to it. I never expected everyone to agree with me all of the time.?But my hope was that when folks saw my byline they knew they were about to read something well researched and even-tempered. I hope likeminded reformers saw me as a worthy advocate, and I hope those I criticized would say that I always took their positions seriously and gave them the benefit of the doubt.
Thanks for reading. Please stay in touch. I hope to see you soon.
?Andy Smarick