The U.S. Department of Education hosted a State Education Leadership Conference today for key Georgia education officials. This was the first in a series of meetings the Department plans to host that gives state and local leaders the opportunity to engage with senior Department officials on a wide range of education-related topics.

Participants discussed issues important to Georgians, including the Secretary's Education Freedom Scholarship proposal, Higher Education Act reauthorization, efforts to improve school safety, ESSA Implementation, and Perkins Transition Plans, among other shared topics of interest.

"Throughout her tenure in office, Secretary Betsy DeVos has been an ardent supporter of federalism and for empowering state and local leaders to have more local control over the education of their students," stated U.S. Deputy Secretary Dr. Mitchell Zais, who presided over the meeting. "The State Education Leadership Conference series is one of the ways in which the Department is realizing the Secretary's vision, allowing state and local decisions-makers important access to staff and resources at the federal level. I look forward to deepening our relationship with Georgia and many other states over the course of the next two years."

Participants from the U.S. Department of Education

• Deputy Secretary Dr. Mitchell Zais
• Acting Under Secretary Diane Jones
• Assistant Secretary Frank Brogan, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
• Assistant Secretary Johnny Collett, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
• Assistant Deputy Secretary Jose Viana, Office of English Language Acquisition
• Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniela Garcia, Office of Communications and Outreach
• Deputy Assistant Secretary Dr. Casey Sacks, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education

Participants from Georgia

• Dr. Richard Woods, Georgia State School superintendent
• Joy Hawkins, director of the Office of Student Achievement, Office of the Governor of Georgia
• Dr. Stephen Wrigley, chancellor, University System of Georgia
• Kevin Boyd, vice chair, Georgia Board of Education
• Lee Anne Cowart, member, Georgia Board of Education
• Matthew Krull, member, Georgia Board of Education