SCARSDALE, NY — The Hudson Valley Delegation of the New York Assembly is pleased to announce that Judith Johnson has received its endorsement to fill the vacancy on the Board of Regents from the 9th Judicial District. Johnson is a highly experienced educator who understands the complex issues in education that New York is facing today. The entire legislature will formally vote on this appointment on Tuesday, March 10th.
Johnson, who was chosen out of a pool of outstanding candidates, is a career educator whose passion is to ensure that all children be given the opportunity to learn at the highest level. She is a policy maker, policy implementer and practitioner who has had extensive experience in curriculum, instructional strategies, and student assessment models. She is widely respected for her understanding of the teaching and learning process and how it relates to becoming a productive citizen.
In addition, Johnson has been a superintendent of schools in Peekskill, an interim superintendent in the Mount Vernon Public Schools, and an assistant superintendent in the White Plains Public Schools. At the national level, Ms. Johnson served as an Acting Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education where she oversaw the programs funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. She has served on numerous commissions and has received many, many honors and awards including being named to the list of the top 100 Education Educators in the U.S.
The Hudson Valley Delegation broke new ground this year by organizing a local public interview process for Regents candidates. They also opened up the process by encouraging interested educators to apply and asking parents, teachers, school board members and administrators to suggest candidates and issues the legislators should consider. The process then moved to interviews in Albany open to the full legislature that were conducted by the Assembly Education and Higher Education Committee Chairs, Cathy Nolan and Deborah Glick.
Johnson’s background, from being a free lunch public school student to a national leader in education, gives her a unique perspective that the delegation believes will make her an outstanding representative from this region and a leader on the Board.
“We are very pleased that we were able to open up the process this year and hope that it will become a model for other regions when they have openings for their Regent representative. In Judith Johnson we have found an outstanding educator who will be a tremendous addition to the Board of Regents and a persuasive voice for the students, parents, teachers and school districts of our region,” the delegation said in a joint statement.