RICHMOND — Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) has named Aimee Rogstad Guidera as his choice for Virginia education secretary, the first appointment he has announced for the administration that will take office Jan. 15.
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Guidera is a consultant and national expert on the use of data in education policy. She is the head of the Guidera Strategy consulting firm and the former founder and leader of the Data Quality Campaign, a national nonprofit that advocates for using data to shape education.
On its website, the Data Quality Campaign describes its mission as pursuing “a world where data is used to drive systemic change, economic mobility, and student success. To make this a reality, families, educators, communities, and policymakers must have the information they need to foster successful journeys through education and the workforce.”
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Youngkin said in a news release that Guidera “will be a critical partner in restoring expectations of excellence; overseeing a record education budget to invest in teachers, facilities and special education; rolling out innovation lab and charter schools; and standing for a curriculum that prepares Virginia’s children for a dynamic future and removes politics from the classroom.”
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He praised Guidera for a career spent “advocating for innovation and choice, data-driven reform, and high standards.”
Youngkin turbocharged his campaign for governor by tapping into conservative anger at local school boards over issues such as teaching racial history, policies regarding transgender students and reviewing books that some might find objectionable. He drew huge applause at campaign rallies by promising to ban the teaching of “critical race theory,” an academic concept about the role of systemic racism in American history that is not included in Virginia’s K-12 curriculum.
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Youngkin also promised to fund charter schools, and said an education secretary would be his first appointment — something he had promised to do several weeks ago but said he delayed because of a flood of applications.
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Guidera is a Maryland native, according to Youngkin’s news release, but moved to Fairfax in 1995 and had a daughter who attended public schools in the county. She has also worked as director of the D.C. office of the National Center for Educational Achievement and began her career working on education policy at the National Governors Association, according to the release.
Youngkin made no mention of critical race theory in his announcement, but said Guidera’s expertise would help “ensure Virginia kids are the best prepared in the country to succeed, and that they are taught how to think, not what to think. She will help us recharge a system that has settled for too long.”