Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley P’16

Commissioner Jeffrey Riley grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts, and attended Pomona College in California. His experience in education started as a Teach for America employee at Baltimore’s Booker T. Washington Middle School, where he spent three years learning about the issues that urban school systems face. In Baltimore, he earned a master’s degree in Counseling and School Psychology at John Hopkins University. He returned to Massachusetts to work in the Brockton and Boston Public Schools systems, where he met his mentor, Charles McAfee. He learned from McAfee the struggles of being a principal in an urban environment, but he also learned about the importance of strong leadership, which encouraged him to continue his work in education. From there, he was the principal of a school in Tyngsborough, but came back to Boston in 2005 to work at Madison Park High School. He then became the principal of Edwards Middle School, where he gained attention for revitalizing the struggling school community, and was soon appointed by the superintendent as the BPS Innovation Chief. In 2012, after years of reviving struggling schools in BPS, he was appointed as the receiver of Lawrence Public Schools, where he was known as collaborative and accessible to the Lawrence community. After his success there, he was appointed as the MA Commissioner of Education in 2018. His appointment was controversial, but he soon earned respect from parents across Massachusetts, and he continues in this role today. His experience as an educator for urban school districts, and as a parent of two former BPS students has given him a unique perspective on education in Boston and beyond.