Stefan Pryor Named State Commissioner of Education

At a meeting Wednesday of the Connecticut State Board of Education, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced the selection of Stefan Pryor as the new Commissioner of the State Department of Education.

“The board and I are in agreement with a new leader for our educational endeavors in this state. I am pleased with the about Stefan that have already appeared,” Malloy said.

“I think educational issues are important. I steadfastly believe that all of our children deserve a quality educational experience in any municipality in which they live in the state of Connecticut. I think Stefan is the right candidate to bring about all of the changes necessary to move this state in the direction of achieving this success.”

Malloy admitted that Pryor, one of five finalists interviewed for the job, was an “outside the box candidate.” However, Malloy praised Pryor, the Yale-educated child of two public school teachers, for his skills as “a turnaround leader in the economic development arena, combined with his leadership on education issues.”

Pryor, who now serves as the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development in Newark, NJ, previously spent five years as the President of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, working on rebuilding and recovery efforts post-9/11. He was co-founder of New Haven’s acclaimed public charter school, Amistad Academy, served as policy advisor to the mayor of New Haven, and oversaw the education department at the Partnership for New York City, a business/civic organization.

Malloy said, “I am very happy that he has the right skill set necessary to work with the legislature in the coming months to make sure that all of our children have what we aspire for them.”

Pryor, in accepting the nomination, said, “It’s an honor to stand here with the governor and with a team that has already achieved so much in this state, forging consensus and achieving progress in that manner. It’s truly a model for the country, and I think that we can apply a similar to approach to public education.”

“Public education here in Connecticut — there are bright spots and best practices to be sure. There are excellent schools and there are exemplary districts. But there are also too many places where students are not fulfilling their potential … this situation merits a mandate for change.”

Confirming Malloy’s intent that he will play the role of reformer, Pryor said, “We must respond with a real and sustained urgency. We’ve arrived at an important moment in Connecticut. It’s a moment when we are unifying around a fundamental sense of mission — that we can and must achieve educational excellence throughout our state. This is our mandate and our mission.”

Alex Johnston, Executive Director of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), praised the choice of Pryor. “I think that if you want to actually transform a system you need to hire someone who has been engaged in public transformation. This is an unconventional pick, but confirms that the governor is very serious about moving forward with change.”

State Rep. Andrew Fleischmann (D-18th District, West Hartford), who is a member of the Education Committee, commended the nomination as “a very exciting choice. [Pryor is] a can-do person who knows how to approach big problems and is not afraid of fixing them.”

George Coleman has served as Acting Commissioner since Mark McQuillan resigned in December. Pryor will assume his new role the first week of October and will be paid an annual salary of $185,000.