 |
|
Click here to listen to the podcast
The School Board’s Role in Decision Making: Insights from the President
Elaine Cooper Reed, Cincinnati School Board President, discusses issues facing public schools today with host Mr. Arthur Griffin. Ms. Reid discusses the challenges she has faced with school funding and downsizing, as well as many other issues. This episode is revealing and helpful as she shares with us many insights she’s garnered over years as a member of the governance team.
District Leaders Podcast is always
Leading Today for Success Tomorrow!
Biographical Background
After practicing clinical social work for several years, Eileen Cooper Reed attended the University of Cincinnati College of Law, graduating in 1984. Her Administrative Law Team won 1st place in the National Administrative Law Competition. She was awarded the Shmieg-Weil Award for being the Outstanding Moot Court Competitor in 1984.
After Law School, Eileen became a staff attorney for the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. She served as a Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor before being tapped as a Juvenile Court Referee. During her stint at Juvenile Court, Eileen spent three years handling truancy cases in Juvenile Court. These cases were heard at the school site and it was there that she developed a thorough understanding of attendance issues in the Cincinnati Public School system.
In 1992, then Mayor Dwight Tillery appointed Eileen to the Mayor’s Commission on Children. While serving on the Commission, she opened and became Director of Children’s Defense Fund in Cincinnati. For the next 11 years, Eileen advocated for children in Cincinnati and eventually, became the Director of the Children’s Defense Fund, Ohio advocating for children across the state. She and her staff documented the needs of Cincinnati and Ohio children in child health, child welfare, early childhood care and education, and K-12 education and used those statistics to propose sound policies to legislators from the local to the federal level.
Eileen was appointed to both the Ohio Department of Education’s Achievement Gap Task Force and the Early Childhood Task Force. While serving on those bodies, she learned about educational issues across the state and noted how Cincinnati did in comparison to other areas of the state. Under former CPS Superintendent Steven Adamowski, Eileen became the only community member of the CPS Redesign Team where she developed a thorough understanding of the CPS method of assessing school and student achievement. During that time, she and her staff at the Children’s Defense Fund were responsible for engaging parents and community in both the academic redesign process and, subsequently, the CPS community learning center and facilities programs.
Having previously served on numerous boards, Eileen currently chairs the SC Ministry Foundation Board of Trustees, is a Director of the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati and is a member of the Xavier University President’s Advisory Council.
Related Web Links:
District Leader’s Podcast is produced and copyrighted by The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007. All rights reserved.
For more information email us at podcast@districtleaderspodcast.org or phone us at 1-866-435-5337 (toll free) and leave a voice message for our co-hosts.
