New Virginia education secretary touts experience, prioritizes early childhood and teacher retention

Jeff Smith, recently appointed Virginia secretary of education, introduced himself to the Senate Education and Health Committee and outlined priorities for the department, emphasizing early childhood education, teacher recruitment and retention, and stronger partnerships with higher education.

Smith described a 32-year career in public education, including 15 years as a superintendent and recent leadership of the Virginia Air and Space Science Center. He said his work in Hampton City Schools produced measurable successes: "Graduation rates increased from 88 percent to nearly 98 percent, and our dropout rates fell from 5 percent to below 1 percent," Smith said.

Smith said early childhood education is foundational and pledged to work with the governor and new superintendent of public instruction, Jenna Conaway, to build a nationally recognized early childhood system. "The work begins in early childhood, which lays the foundation for educational success later in a child's life," he said.

On higher education, Smith told senators he intends to support the governor's stated approach to the secretariat's role: "I really support the position of our governor, and she has established her position and what those expectations are," he said when asked about university oversight. He described his approach as partnership-oriented rather than micromanagement of local boards.

Smith also highlighted dual enrollment expansion and higher-education partnerships, saying his prior work expanded opportunities that allowed students to earn more than 25,000 college credits and in some cases an associate degree while in high school. He closed by pledging to recruit and retain educators and strengthen core instructional systems across the Commonwealth.

The committee asked questions but took no formal action related to Smith’s remarks; the session moved on to other agenda items.