Deborah McGriff Named Board Chair of National Alliance for Public Charter Schools at the12^th Annual National Charter Schools Conference
Conference Celebrates 20 Years of the Charter School Movement

Minneapolis, MN- Deborah McGriff, Founding and current Board Member of the Black Alliance for Educational Options  (BAEO), will take the helms of board leadership today when she is announced as the new Board Chair for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools during the opening session of the 12^th Annual National Charter Schools Conference.

McGriff, a current Board member of the Alliance, is also a partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, where she leads the firm's Academic Systems Initiative, and contributes to investment strategy and management assistance for a variety of its portfolio ventures, including charter management and school turnaround organizations.

"It gives me great pleasure to become the Board Chair of the Alliance. I have worked in the charter school movement for more than 20 years and it never ceases to amaze me of how far we come; however, I also know how far we need to go. As long as there is an achievement gap we will always have work to do," commented McGriff. "I look forward to helping to lead the Alliance into our next 20 years of advocacy."

McGriff has been committed to transforming the lives of underserved urban school students for almost four decades. In 1993, she became the first public school superintendent to join EdisonLearning (formerly Edison Schools), where she held numerous positions, including President of Edison Teachers College, Executive Vice President of Charter Schools, and Executive Vice President of several external relations functions. Previously, McGriff served as the first female General Superintendent of the 200,000-student Detroit Public Schools. Crain's Detroit Business named her Newsmaker of the Year for 1992. Earlier, she was the first female Assistant Superintendent in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the first female Deputy Superintendent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was a teacher and administrator in the New York City Public Schools for more than a decade.

A tireless advocate for parental choice, quality teaching, and high-performing schools for all children, McGriff was formerly President of the Education Industry Association, the leading professional association of education service providers. She is a founder as well as a board member of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO).

In addition, she serves on the advisory boards of the National Council on Teacher Quality and of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, as well as the Technical Working Group for a national evaluation of the Federal Charter Schools Program being led by WestEd. McGriff also serves on the board of directors of DC Prep, Friendship Public Charter School, and Leadership Public Schools.

McGriff holds a bachelor's degree in education with a minor in history from Norfolk State University; a master's degree in education with a specialization in reading pedagogy from Queens College of the City University of New York; and a doctorate in Administration, Policy and Urban Education from Fordham University.

About BAEO

BAEO is a national, non-profit, membership organization. Its mission is to increase access to high-quality educational options for Black children by actively supporting parental choice policies and programs that empower low-income and working-class Black families.

For more information on BAEO visit www.baeo.org. 

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