Governor Rendell Nominates Thomas E. Gluck as Secretary of Education

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G. Rendell today nominated Thomas E. Gluck as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, effective May 10.  The nomination is subject to confirmation by the Pennsylvania Senate.

Gluck, 52, has been Executive Deputy Secretary, the department's second-ranking administrator, for the past five years. During that time, he worked closely with outgoing Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak to implement the Governor's many successful initiatives to improve public education in Pennsylvania.

"For the past 20 years, Tom Gluck has been closely involved in nearly every significant educational policy conversation we've had in Pennsylvania," said Governor Rendell.  "As Executive Deputy Secretary, Tom has led the effort to translate our overall educational agenda into real action where it counts most -- in our schools. He has the leadership ability to bring together people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to work for educational excellence, for what is best for our kids."

Gluck said he is honored by the nomination and pledged to continue working to implement the Governor's education agenda in order to assure that every Pennsylvania child has an opportunity to achieve academically. Recently, he led the team that wrote Pennsylvania's entry in the federal Race To the Top competition, in which the state placed seventh.

"We're making a real difference in the lives of students and we have an opportunity to get more done," Gluck said. "Nothing could be more satisfying and motivating than that. Working with the Governor and his senior team we have implemented the first rational school funding formula in twenty years; developed college- and career-ready graduation standards and the supports for students and schools to achieve them; put 80,000 laptops in the hands of students across Pennsylvania and gave their teachers the tools to change instruction; built deep support for how Pennsylvania schools and students will 'Race to the Top' and much more. But our work is not done."

Prior to joining the department in 2005, Gluck was Assistant to the President for School and External Relations at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, and then director of communications for the State System of Higher Education in Harrisburg.

He worked during much of the 1990s in policy positions in the Pennsylvania Senate, notably as Democratic executive director of the Senate Education Committee where he developed strong working relationships with legislators and staffers of both political parties.

In partnership with policymakers, education leaders, business and community leaders, Gluck worked on charter school legislation, early learning and full-day kindergarten, the move to standards based education and accountability, and professional development.

Gluck grew up in Chester County and graduated from Great Valley High School. He and his wife, Joan Benso, live in suburban Harrisburg. They have two children, a son and a daughter, who graduated from the Cumberland Valley School District.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor