BOSTON — Governor-elect Maura Healey announced Friday morning that she plans to appoint former Lynn Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Tutwiler to be the state’s next Secretary of the Executive Office of Education in Massachusetts.
Healey, who’s working to fill executive seats in her administration less than a month before her gubernatorial inauguration in January, said that Tutwiler, who currently serves as the Senior Program Officer for Education at the Barr Foundation, was selected for his decades of experience as an education leader and for his emphasis on inclusion and effective teaching.
“Dr. Patrick Tutwiler has the experience, the empathy and the vision to make sure that every Massachusetts resident receives a high quality education at each stage of their life — from early education to K-12 to higher education,” Healey said. “From his time working as a high school history teacher to leading a large, diverse, urban school district, he has earned his reputation as a consensus builder who puts diversity, equity and inclusion at the center of everything he does, and delivers results.”
In August, Tutwiler resigned from his position as the Lynn superintendent of schools, which he held for four years. In an interview with The Item on June 29, Tutwiler said that his leadership style as superintendent focused primarily on raising students’ voices through the leadership and creative judgment of a focused and dedicated staff.
“The job of the superintendent is to make clear what the priority is: students, partnerships with families, to be a facilitator and thought partner around what the path forward looks like, to elevate the voices of the community and of the staff, and then to get out of the way and let these things happen, let those voices raise supreme,” he said. “Let the ingenuity, the innovation, the dedication of the staff, reign supreme. That’s how I orient myself as a leader, and that’s the one thing I’ll take credit for.”
Tutwiler, a large, gregarious character who could be found speaking to parents and students at virtually every community event in Lynn during his tenure, received praise from school committee member Tiffany Magnolia at the time of his departure for his expansion of Lynn’s English Language Learners (ELL) program.
“One of the most important steps in that was looking specifically at how we approach ELLs, English Language Learners, and the fact that our ELL population has exploded since then means that the comprehensive plan was extremely well timed,” Magnolia said in June. “Part of this process was to look at all the parts of LPS [Lynn Public Schools] through an equity lens, which is the second part of why I think he left the district in a better place.”
As Lynn superintendent, Tutwiler also led a collaborative, equity-centered effort that resulted in increased graduation rates, decreased push out rates, a more racially diverse faculty and staff, and the establishment of the state’s second largest early college program. In his current position, Tutwiler specializes in developing new high school models that will have a positive impact across the entire school system.
Mayor Jared Nicholson, in a written statement Friday, said that he thought Tutwiler was a perfect fit for the executive role. He described the former superintendent as the ideal candidate to help tackle the Commonwealth’s current challenges and inequities in post-pandemic education.
“I can’t imagine a more prepared, capable, and exciting choice for secretary of Education. Dr. Tutwiler is a brilliant, empathetic, and visionary educational leader, a talented communicator, and a true team player,” Nicholson said. “We have so much work to do in education right now, particularly in addressing the inequities that were exacerbated by the pandemic, and Dr. Tutwiler is the perfect person to lead that work for the Commonwealth.”
In a written statement Friday, Tutwiler said that he was honored by the appointment to the position, and that he looks forward to working toward a state education system that works for everyone involved.
“I’m honored to be named Secretary of Education for the Healey-Driscoll Administration. Our office is going to be all about the people — the students, the families, the educators and the staff who we serve will drive all of our decision making,” Tutwiler said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to build a strong team who will help us ensure that we have a high-quality, equitable and thriving education system.”
