Charlestown’s Michael O’Neill, a member of the Boston School Committee, has been elected secretary-treasurer of the Council of the Great City Schools, the nation’s primary coalition of large urban public-school systems.
His one-year term begins July 1.
He becomes one of four Council officers and part of the organization’s leadership team for the 2018-19 school year, joining incoming chair-elect Eric Gordon, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, who is the current secretary-treasurer, and Lawrence Feldman, a Miami-Dade County school board member, who advances to the chair post. Current board chair Darienne Driver, superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools, will become immediate past chair for the new academic year.
O’Neill was elected to move up to officer status by the Council’s 140-member board of directors, the coalition’s main policymaking body, which includes the superintendent and one school board member from each one of the group’s 70-member big-city school districts.
Since 2014, he has been a member of the Council’s Executive Committee, which is responsible for the leadership, governance, guidance, and oversight of the national organization.
“We look forward to Michael O’Neill’s leadership in helping to improve urban education in America,” says Council Executive Director Michael Casserly. “Michael is uniquely qualified for this post and brings valuable expertise to his new position with the Council. He will be a major asset to the organization and the millions of young people it serves.”