WOCEC Executive Coach Dr. Brenda Cassellius New Milwaukee Superintendent
After an extensive search, WOCEC coach Dr. Brenda Cassellius is the new superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools. What great news!
Dr. Cassellius has spent three decades as an educator devoted to ensuring all children receive an equitable and excellent education. Most recently, as Boston Public Schools superintendent, she led the district successfully through a global pandemic, secured $110M in new annual funding, passed new high school graduation standards and historic admissions policies increasing access and opportunity to Boston’s three exam schools, and worked with the mayor on a $2B Green New Schools Deal to better Boston’s school buildings.
Prior to that, Dr. Cassellius served as Minnesota’s Commissioner of Education for eight years, where she worked across bipartisan lines to enact comprehensive education reforms that resulted in a remarkable list of accomplishments, including historic new funding for schools, all-day kindergarten, state-funded preschool, anti-bully legislation and establishing a state school safety office, a new pathway for the adult diploma, and the highest graduation rates on record.
Dr. Cassellius started her career as a special education paraprofessional and was a social studies teacher and school leader. She is best known for her unrelenting advocacy and community building across sectors to build political will and strategic plans to ensure that students are safe, connected and prepared to thrive. She believes that change can happen quickly when it involves the full community and is driven by shared decision making and accountability.
The WOCEC family extends a big congratulations to Dr. Cassellius!
WOCEC Board Member Dr. Jamal Watson Named to List Lauding K-12 Researchers
In early January, Education Week and Rick Hess, director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, unveiled the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, whick ranks the 200 US university-based scholars who did the most last year to shape educational practice and policy. The WOCEC’s Dr. Jamal Watson was on that list.
In addition to his work with the WOCEC, Dr. Watson is a professor of Strategic Communication and Public Relations at DC’s Trinity Washington University. In addition he serves as Associate Dean of the School of Professional and Graduate Studies and Director of Strategic Communication and Public Relations and Journalism and Media Studies.
Congrats, Dr. Watson!
WOCEC Hosts Leadership Chat Series
The WOCEC is hosting an off-the-record series of leadership chats, open only to WOCEC members. These virtual “fireside chats” are designed to bring together women leaders who are navigating and shaping education during a time of significant political and societal change, impacting schools, districts, and communities alike.
Our first will be February 27 with Dr. Barbara Jenkins. Dr. Jenkins has been dedicated to serving the needs of students for over 30 years. In 2012 she was named superintendent for Orange County Public Schools, the eighth largest district in the nation, and she retired from OCPS in December 2022.
Under her leadership, the district won the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education. The district also received the Governor’s Sterling Award and attained District Accreditation from AdvancED for its best practices in the education field. The Sustained Excellence Award was attained for exemplary performance using research-based best practices in business. The district passed a second half-penny sales tax referendum for capital projects totaling $2.4 billion and two property tax referenda for operations projected at $1.2 billion to support a $5.5 billion annual budget. Most importantly, the district reached an unprecedented graduation rate of 97% for traditional high schools during her tenure.