Gov. Gregoire appoints members to state Student Achievement Council

For Immediate Release: August 7, 2012

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced the five members she has appointed to serve on the newly created Student Achievement Council. The council, called for in House Bill 2483, assumes many of the duties of the Higher Education Coordinating Board, and will focus on raising educational attainment in Washington state.

�The work of this council will be extraordinary,� Gregoire said. �We must be bold and do everything we can to increase educational attainment to both improve lives and improve the quality of workforce available to Washington businesses. I�m proud of the individuals who have offered to serve in this role, and am confident they will meet the goals of the council.�

Under the legislation, the council is charged with the following duties:
� Proposing goals for increasing educational attainment, securing resources to support those goals and monitoring progress;
� Developing a two-year strategic action plan and 10-year roadmap; and
� Facilitating the development and expansion of innovative practices, developing policy recommendations based upon data and collaborating with other organizations to set minimum college admission standards.

Additionally, the council has been tasked with helping students prepare for and access postsecondary education and training, improving transitions, administering financial aid programs and approving private degree institutions.

The council will be composed of nine members. Four members are selected by four educational entities. The governor�s five appointees are:

� Brian Baird, former U.S. representative for Washington's 3rd Congressional District;
� Jos� Gait�n, managing member of The Gait�n Group, PLLC, and past president of the Hispanic National Bar Association;
� Jay Reich, attorney at Pacifica Law Group and former deputy chief of staff to former Commerce Secretary Gary Locke;
� Dr. Constance Rice, managing director for Knowledge Management for Casey Family Programs; and
� Student trustee Lindsey Jahn, a student at Washington State University earning a bachelor of arts degree in business administration.

Other members of the council are:
� Jane Sherman, vice president for academic policy and evaluation at Washington State University, selected by the presidents of the public baccalaureate institutions;
� Charlie Earl, director of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, selected by the SBCTC;
� Ray Lawton, director and chairman of Lawton Printing in Spokane, selected by the Independent Colleges of Washington; and
� Scott Brittain, former principal in the Puyallup School District now working in the assessment office at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, selected by OSPI in consultation with the Department of Early Learning and the State Board of Education.



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