19 Facts About MaryEllen Elia

MaryEllen Elia was born on 1948 and is an American educator.

MaryEllen Elia served for ten years as superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Florida, but was fired by the school board, after a number of incidents that eroded the board's trust in her.

MaryEllen Elia provoked controversy over the removal of school aid from struggling schools, the delayed removal of an outspoken Buffalo School Board member, and a directive requiring private schools to come into compliance with state standards.

MaryEllen Elia resigned as education commissioner on August 31,2019.

MaryEllen Elia was born and raised in Western New York.

MaryEllen Elia attended high school in Lewiston and attended Daemen College in Buffalo, from where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts.

MaryEllen Elia received her Master of Education and Master of Professional Studies in reading from the University at Buffalo.

In 2005, MaryEllen Elia was appointed superintendent of Tampa's Hillsborough County Public Schools, the eighth largest in the United States.

MaryEllen Elia negotiated a merit pay system with the teachers union that allowed some new teachers to earn more than veteran teachers, a concept that teachers' unions generally oppose.

MaryEllen Elia supported school choice and the Gates-funded Common Core State Standards Initiative, even though Florida would eventually pull out of the program.

In December 2014, MaryEllen Elia was named state Superintendent of the Year for 2015.

MaryEllen Elia was criticized by employees who said her management style was heavy-handed, for her tough disciplinary policy which disproportionately affected African-American students, and for presiding over a lack of services for students with special needs.

MaryEllen Elia's tenure coincided with the looming uncertainty of full implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative in the state's classrooms, the use of standardized testing and the question of how to evaluate teachers.

In pulling the schools off the list, MaryEllen Elia asserted that she was just following the law passed by the governor in 2015, which identified 144 troubled schools to receive extra funding, though an administration official offered a different interpretation of the law that would have allowed the schools to remain on the list.

On September 13,2016, MaryEllen Elia announced that 21 troubled schools would receive $52 million in state aid.

Subsequently, four groups filed separate petitions to MaryEllen Elia to remove Paladino from office: the school board; the teachers' union ; the Buffalo Parent-Teacher Organization and Buffalo NAACP chapter; and the District Parent Coordinating Council.

In February 2017, MaryEllen Elia declined to immediately suspend Paladino from the board, as the State Education Department continued to review the petitions seeking Paladino's permanent removal.

MaryEllen Elia submitted her resignation letter to the New York Board of Regents on July 15,2019, citing a move to an unnamed national company that provides services to students.

MaryEllen Elia is married to Albert MaryEllen Elia, whom she met in high school.