PA Governor Elect Corbett's Education Transition Team

Hey Folks –

To the best of my knowledge this is a list of the members of the Corbett Education Transition Team.  I am updating this posting as I get more info from you (last updated 12/03).

I have added some notes and scraped some bio info from their websites.  If you have anything to add please let me know.

Here’s my commentary: There are 34 people on the list – to the best of my knowledge, thus far only one of them (Dr. Carolyn Dumaresq) can be characterized as an advocate for public K-12 education.

Thirteen of 34 are strong advocates of school choice - vouchers, charter schools, cyber charter schools and home schooling.

Two are from the Susquehanna International Group, which the Inquirer reported had given "an astonishing $5 million" to support Senator Anthony WIlliams' gubernatorial campaign because of his strong pro-voucher position.  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_region/20101201_Corbett_names_huge_cast_to_transition_panels.html


Five are current or former board members of the REACH Foundation or REACH Alliance, described on their website as "Pennsylvania's leading school choice advocacy organization".  http://www.paschoolchoice.org/reach/site/default.asp

Governor Elect Corbett’s Education Transition Team

November 30^th, 2010

Co-Chair – Joel Greenberg, Susquehanna International Group

Top donor to State Senator Anthony Williams Gubernatorial campaign and strong advocate for school choice::

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/state/s_675826.html

Co-Chair – Mark Nordenberg, Chancellor University of Pittsburgh

Jim Agras, CEO of Triangle Tech and State Board of Education;

Jeanne Allen, President of Center for Education Reform

Mission Statement of this National School Choice advocacy group: “The Center for Education Reform drives the creation of better educational opportunities for all children by leading parents, policymakers and the media in boldly advocating for school choice, advancing the charter school movement, and challenging the education establishment.”
http://www.edreform.com/About_CER/?Jeanne_Allen_President

Chris Bravacos, President, Bravo Group

President of REACH Alliance, a leading PA school choice advocacy organization

Board member of Universal Institute Charter School, Philadelphia
http://www.thebravogroup.com/03-p-bravacos.html

Matt Brouillette, President, Commonwealth Foundation

The Commonwealth Foundation has been a leading advocate for school choice in Pennsylvania.  Also a Board member, REACH Foundation

PA State Rep. Paul Clymer

Current Minority Chairman of the PA House education Committee

Marie Conley, Chair of the Human Resources Committee, Board of Governors; PASSHE

She is Chairman of the Board of Governors’ Human Resources Committee and also serves as Secretary of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees.

Bill Donahue,Treasurer of Donahue Family Foundation

Chairman of the Reach Foundation, a leading PA school choice advocacy organization

Carolyn Dumaresq, Partner, Dumaresq Consulting;

Board Member at PA Partnerships for Children
Former Executive Director for PSEA
Former Superintendent, Steelton-Highspire School District

Dan Fitzpatrick, President/CEO, Citizens Bank;

Amy Forester, Saul Ewing;

Don Francis, Independent Colleges & Universities;

Dennis Giorno, Malady & Wooten;

From their website: Prior to joining Malady & Wooten Public Affairs served as the Executive Director of the REACH Alliance; Pennsylvania’s leading school choice advocacy organization for five years. During Dennis’ tenure, REACH secured passage of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program, which has been hailed as a national model for providing parents with choices in their children’s education and funding innovative programs in public schools. In 2004, more than 25,000 children are benefiting from EITC scholarships.

Before his work with REACH, Dennis served as a Field Program Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s, Office for Public Affairs. In addition to serving as liaison to state legislators in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Dennis supervised a staff whose focus was grassroots mobilization and school choice advocacy, as well as voter registration initiatives throughout the five county Archdiocese. During his tenure, 10,000 new voters were registered in Archdiocesan parishes and schools.

Vahan Gureghian, Founder of Chester County Charter School

Donated $250K to Corbett’s campaign

Larry Jones, President of PA Charter School Association;

Michael Karp, President of University City Housing and charter school founder

Ruth O'Block Grant, Member, Board of Trustees, Seton Hill University;

Pat O'Connor, COB, Temple University, Cozen & O'Connor;

PA State Senator Jeffrey Piccola;

Leading advocate for school choice in the PA General Assembly and Chairman of the Senate Education Committee

David Pollard, Susquehanna International Group;

Susquehanna Group donated a few million dollars to donor to State Senator Anthony Williams Gubernatorial campaign

Ana Puig, Co-Chair of Kitchen Table Patriots;

Kitchen Table Patriots is the Tea Party of Bucks County

http://thekitchentablepatriots.us/w/news/ktp-in-the-media
accoring to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, "Puig, a mother of four, was chosen for the committee because of her advocacy for home schooling, Harley said."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/state/s_711850.html

Father Ed Quinlan, Secretary of Education, Harrisburg Diocese;

Cynthia Richey, Director of Mt. Lebanon Library System;

Richard Sand, Managing Partner of Sand & Saidel Law Firm;

contributed $27,000 to Mr. Corbett.

Dave Schulik, Shulick Law Offices;
, President of the Board of Directors: As the President of DVHS, a private licensed, accredited and “approved” alternative high school for “at-risk” youth

Delaware Valley High School – Bustleton

Carl Singley, Counsel, Ciardi, Ciardi and Astin;

Karen Stout, President of Montgomery County Community College;

Bob Taylor, Trustee, Slippery Rock University;

Paul Taylor, Executive Director Archabbey, St. Vincent's College;

Ron Tomalis, Director of Dutko Worldwide;

From their website: “Ron Tomalis brings a wealth of high level operational experience in the private and public sector education space, as well as corporate board perspective of education companies. Prior to joining Dutko, he was a director at The Chartwell Educational Group, an international education consulting firm that served private, non profit and governmental organizations focusing on pre-K, K-12 and post-secondary education.

Ron has held various senior management, policy, and operational positions in state and federal government, including the United States Department of Education, where he managed the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Law as well as the $25 billion Title I/II programs. Ron also served as counselor to the United States Secretary of Education and as Acting Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Prior to joining the United States Department of Education, he was the Executive Deputy Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where he took on the role of Chief Operating Officer for the department.”

Dennis Tulli, Cyber Charters;

former superintendent of the Lebanon School District and now the CEO of Commonwealth Connections Cyber School

PA State Senator Anthony Williams;

Leading advocate for school choice in the General Assembly and member of the Senate Education Committee

Charles Zogby, K12 Inc. (Knowledge Universe).

Board member, REACH Foundation

From K12 Inc’s website: “Charles Zogby, senior vice president of education and policy, served as secretary of education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania prior to joining K¹² in 2003. In this position, Mr. Zogby managed the agency that oversaw kindergarten through college education with a $10 billion budget and more than 800 personnel. During his tenure, Mr. Zogby won passage of a first-in-the-nation virtual charter school law, implemented the state’s plan for the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and led the state’s takeover of the Philadelphia School District. Prior to his position as secretary of education, Mr. Zogby served as director of the Office of Policy for Governor Tom Ridge. There he was responsible for coordinating policy development and initiatives across 18 executive branch agencies. Mr. Zogby also helped to put in place several education reforms, including the state’s charter school law, performance-based education funding, a value-added assessment pilot program, and high-stakes academic accountability systems for Pennsylvania school districts. Mr. Zogby holds a B.A. in economics from St. Lawrence University and a J.D. with distinction from the George Mason University School of Law.”