Keynote Speaker

Dr. John B. King, Jr. oversees more than 7,000 public and independent elementary and secondary schools (serving 3.1 million students), and hundreds of other educational institutions across New York State including higher education, libraries, and museums. Dr. King is a strong voice for education reform, and he was a driving force in New York's successful Race to the Top application. A former high school teacher and middle school principal, Dr. King has earned a national reputation for his vision and commitment to education reform. Dr. King earned a B.A from Harvard University, an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and an Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University.

After losing both of his parents to illness by age 12, Dr. King earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard, a law degree from Yale and a doctorate in education from Columbia. In between, he co-founded Roxbury Prep, a top charter middle school in Massachusetts; led Uncommon Schools, a network of charters based in New York; and married and had two daughters. Under his leadership, Roxbury Prep's students attained the highest state exam scores of any urban middle school in Massachusetts, closed the racial achievement gap, and outperformed students not only from Boston's district schools but also from the state's affluent suburbs. They raised expectations for poor students, and sought to form close relationships with children while reshaping teaching into a more quantifiable science.

Dr. King is New York's first African-American and first Puerto Rican education commissioner. King has served on the Equity and Excellence Commission of the United States Department of Education, and was honored by Aspen Institute in 2008, named as a Fellow of the Entrepreneurial Leaders for Public Education.