MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND CHANCELLOR JOEL I. KLEIN NAME TEN REGIONAL SUPERINTENDENTS TO HEAD NEW INSTRUCTIONAL DIVISIONS

Regional Superintendents to Promote Accountability from Top to Bottom

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today named the ten Regional Superintendents who, with Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning Diana Lam, will form the Department of Education’s management team overseeing all matters relating to classroom instruction.  The ten Regional Superintendents are Gloria Buckery, Kathleen Cashin, Judith Chin, Carmen Farina, Michelle Fratti, Shelley Harwayne, Reyes Irizarry, Laura Rodriguez, Lucille Swarns, and Irma Zardoya.  These individuals will serve as leaders in providing schools with the necessary guidance and resources they need to educate New York City’s 1.1 million schoolchildren.  

“New York City has embarked on a historic mission to fundamentally improve its public school system and dramatically enhance the lives and futures of its children,” Mayor Bloomberg said.  “The ten Regional Superintendents named today possess the knowledge, skills, and dedication to help lead the transformation of the education system and establish a system of accountability in our schools.  I am confident that these individuals will provide a very positive impact in the instruction of our City’s children and thank them for their efforts and commitment to this most important endeavor.”

“The focus of our reorganization is to create a clear and direct chain of command that emphasizes instruction and accountability in our schools,” Chancellor Klein said.  “Our Regional Superintendents will be at the center of our efforts to dramatically improve our schools and to give all our students the best possible education.”

The ten Regional Superintendents were selected based on their instructional leadership capabilities and their capacity to address the complex educational issues facing the New York City school system today with bold and creative solutions.  Each of the Regional Superintendents will guide the work of ten local instructional supervisors who will work with ten principals and the reading and math coaches assigned to each school to implement the new comprehensive instructional approach and strive for higher levels of student achievement.  The Regional Superintendents will report to Deputy Chancellor Lam, and will have offices in the Department of Education’s Headquarters and in the appropriate Learning Support Centers where they can closely supervise the work of the local instructional supervisors.  They will begin serving on July 1, 2003.

The ten Regional Superintendents are:

Gloria Buckery is currently the regional instructional superintendent of the Bronx/Brooklyn region of the Chancellor's District.  She is a product of the New York City school system and has devoted her entire career to educating children, serving as a classroom teacher, staff developer, principal and mentor principal.  She will head Division Six.

Kathleen M. Cashin is currently the superintendent of District 23 in Brooklyn, where she has been a forceful leader in creating opportunities for learning.  She began her career in the classroom and devoted 16 years to leading P.S. 193 (the Gil Hodges School).  She will head Division Five.

Judith J. Chin is currently the supervising superintendent for the Center for Recruitment and Professional Development.  An experienced classroom teacher who later served as the principal of three schools in District 2, she spent four years as the Executive Director of the Division of Instructional Support.  She will head Division Three.

Carmen Farina is currently the superintendent of District 15.  She has twenty years of experience as a teacher and a decade of experience as a principal in Manhattan.  She will head Division Eight.

Michelle Fratti is currently the superintendent of District 25 in Queens.  For over 20 years, she worked in middle schools in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens.  She began as a mathematics teacher, and later served as the director of an alternative middle school and as principal of P.S. 194 in District 25.  She will head Division Seven.

Shelley Harwayne is currently the superintendent of District 2 and has over thirty years of experience in the New York City school system.  She served as a teacher, staff developer, Co-Director of the Teachers College Writing Project, and founding principal of P.S. 290 (the Manhattan New School).  She will head Division Nine.

Reyes Irizarry is currently the superintendent of BASIS, the Brooklyn and Staten Island system. He spent twenty years as a teacher and assistant principal in the Bronx before returning to his home borough of Brooklyn as principal of the Canarsie School.  He will head Division Four.

Laura Rodriguez is currently the deputy superintendent for instruction in the Bronx.  She has served as a classroom teacher and has coordinated and directed bilingual and ESL instruction in Brooklyn over the last decade.  She will head Division Two.

Lucille Swarns is currently a superintendent in the professional development area of the Chancellor's District.  She taught for many years in Staten Island and worked in special education and curriculum implementation in Brooklyn.  She will head Division Ten.

Irma Zardoya is currently a superintendent of District Ten in the Bronx.  She has worked in the New York City school system for more than thirty-one years.  She has been a teacher, principal, deputy superintendent, and superintendent of the largest community school district in the City.  She will head Division One.