Draft:James Lane (educator)

James Lane, Ed.D. (b. 1978) is an American educator whose career has included service in the United States Department of Education, appointed by the administration of President Joe Biden. Lane previously served as a Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction appointed by Governor Ralph Northam. Lane is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) International.

= Career =

Lane's career in education started in North Carolina, as a music educator. In Virginia, he led three different school divisions as superintendent: Middlesex County, Goochland County, and Chesterfield County. In 2017, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents named Lane the Virginia Superintendent of the Year, for contributions around technology innovation and data-driven decision making in Goochland County.

On June 1, 2018, Lane was named Virginia's twenty-fifth superintendent of public instruction in Virginia by then Governor Ralph Northam. As the state's public education chief, he was responsible for the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and served as secretary of the Virginia Board of Education. The Virginia Board of Education sets policy that affects Virginia's 131 school divisions, including the Standards of Learning. Under his tenure, the VDOE grew to 500 employees as the agency merged with early childhood education specialists and inspectors which formally were under the Virginia Department of Social Services. While state superintendent, Lane served on the boards of multiple organizations, including the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Lane led Virginia's public schools through the COVID-19 pandemic alongside Virginia's Secretary of Education Atif Qarni. During this period, the Virginia Department of Education adopted a marketing campaign in alignment with the state's tourism motto, Virginia is for Learners.

Lane left his role as Virginia's state superintendent in January 2021 to join the Biden administration at the United States Department of Education (USED) as acting assistant secretary and senior advisor in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

During his tenure with the USED, the federal agency focused upon a number of equity initiatives.

Outside of education, Lane has also performed as a professional musician. , and was honored as a member of the Castaways, by the Carolina Beach Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2014.

In his work with PDK International, Lane's work is focused around his advocacy for addressing the national teacher shortage by enabling school districts to develop so-called grow-your-own teacher pipelines with their Educators Rising program.

Personal Life
Lane is married with two children and resides in Chesterfield County, Virginia, outside Richmond.