Education's Unexpected Shero

Education is a tough job. The U. S. Department of Education is a big name, some would say a controversial one. Imagine being in a job where the President himself wants to shut it down, but you're still the one doing the job. That's what happened with Linda McMahon. She was a wrestling star and businesswoman who wound up as the Secretary of Education. It was the Trump administration's unusual move and it was said she would eventually "put herself out of a job. " In the middle of all this, Penny Schwinn was appointed as the Deputy. She's serious about education. Schwinn's journey has been impressive. She was a teacher, a school principal, and then a high-level administrator in states like Texas. By 2019, she was Tennessee's Commissioner of Education at just 43 years old. She's no stranger to tough decisions, she's all about kids and their best interests. She's known for promoting a science-based reading instruction method, which showed huge improvements in Tennessee's third graders, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. She's about using evidence to make decisions, not just politics. Schwinn worked on making reading a big goal. She helped Tennessee's third graders improve by eight percentage points on their state reading assessment. That's a big deal for a state with almost a million K-12 students. But that's not all. She also established the first national teacher apprenticeship program, aiming to modernize teacher training with current research. She's gotten heat from both sides of the political spectrum, but she's not about politics. She's about doing what's best for the kids. Her efforts to avoid the culture wars sometimes led to problems. She didn't fight the law, but she did work to reduce the number of kids being held back. She also set up a teacher apprenticeship program, which is a big deal. She's not everyone's favorite, but that's because she's focused on evidence and not politics. You might think all this would make her a hardliner, but it doesn't. She's more about finding ways to help kids succeed. She set up a teacher apprenticeship program and worked on reading instruction. She's got a lot of experience and a lot of passion for education. She's not afraid to change her mind when the evidence points to it.