Shapiro selects superintendent from Hispanic school district as Pennsylvania Secretary of Education

Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro’s nominee for Secretary of Education role is a former superintendent who spent seven years overseeing the Reading School district, the state’s largest majority Hispanic district, according to recent reports.

Shapiro is reportedly planning to nominate Khalid Mumin, who also served as superintendent from the Lower Merion School District in suburban Philadelphia for more than a year.

The Latino dominated Reading School District has an 80% Hispanic student population and one of the state’s largest disparities in terms of wealth, but is also known as one of Pennsylvania’s wealthiest districts.

Despite some of the challenges Mumin faced there, he managed to create an impressive record. He was even awarded the title of superintendent of the year from the superintendents' statewide trade association despite the district being financially distressed.

Reports indicate the district was beleaguered with record-keeping problems, and as a result had trouble keeping a superintendent for more than short periods of time.

At times, the district was so wrought with problems it faced the possibility it was going to be taken over by Pennsylvania state authorities.

But Mumin changed all that and dug his heels in for several years. According to the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, Mumin “demonstrated visionary leadership right from the start to get the district back on a positive track and focused on academic growth and support.”

One school board member, Brian Buerke, said Mumin brought integrity to the district’s financial troubles and made employees feel more secure in their jobs by renegotiating new contracts for staff members.

“He just did a great job of identifying what the issues were, bringing them to the board, creating strategies and seeing it through, getting his people, his staff to make it work,” Buerke said. “He just tackled each problem at a time and we conquered a lot of problems when I was on the board.”

Among the many problems that Mumin addressed was the district’s special education program. That program, according to Buerke had problems and was the subject of litigation in several instances because parents felt their children were not getting the attention they deserved. He said the staff “didn’t know who needed what.”

But Mumin changed all that, according to Buerke.

Mumin, who is a Philadelphia native armed with a Ph.D. in education from the University of Pennsylvania and began his career in education teaching second-grade English in Scotland, Pennsylvania in 1997.

The veteran educator has received accolades from many and even received an endorsement from Pennsylvania’s largest school employees' union.

Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association said Mumin was an “outstanding choice” for secretary of education, and an “extraordinary leader and a committed educator.”

“Governor-elect Shapiro has made an outstanding choice for Pennsylvania’s secretary of education,” Askey said in a written statement. “Khalid Mumin has spent his entire career teaching and serving students. He is an extraordinary leader and a committed educator, and there is no doubt that his talents, experience and enthusiasm will make him an excellent secretary.

“Governor-elect Shapiro has made an outstanding choice for Pennsylvania’s secretary of education,” Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey said in a written statement. “Khalid Mumin has spent his entire career teaching and serving students. He is an extraordinary leader and a committed educator, and there is no doubt that his talents, experience and enthusiasm will make him an excellent secretary.”

Askey explained that Mumin was the right choice, specifically because he had experience working in diverse districts, including wealthy ones like Lower Merion and ones with high minority populations such as Reading.

“This experience ensures that he understands the challenges that different kinds of school districts and their students face and that he’ll be able to hit the ground running,” he said. “We look forward to working with Dr. Mumin to ensure that every student in every one of Pennsylvania’s public schools gets the best possible education.”

Once Shapiro formally nominates Mumin, he will have to be confirmed by Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Senate. 

His background working with districts that have high populations of Latino students will most likely be helpful since the state is currently looking into how to improve school districts that are wealth disproportionate.

“It is an honor to serve Governor-elect Shapiro and the people of Pennsylvania as secretary of education and help him carry out his vision so every child in Pennsylvania — regardless of race, class or ZIP code — receives a quality education and the opportunity to shape their own future,” Mumin said in a statement. “For over 25 years, I have served as a teacher, dean of students, principal and school superintendent, and I know firsthand what it takes to move our education system forward.”