Gerald Zahorchak
Zahorchak worked as superintendent of the Greater Johnstown School District in Cambria County from 1997 to 2003, when he was chosen to be Deputy Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education for the state.
On April 22, 2010, Zahorchak was selected to be superintendent of the Allentown School District in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he vowed to establish regular updates to families about their students education, improve safety in schools and implement incentives to attract qualified minorities and top education students into teaching positions.
[2][4] Zahorchak taught at North Star until 1989,[2] when he started working at the Shanksville-Stonycreek School District, also in Somerset County.
He also pursued high school reform and hired reading and math coaches to boost student learning.
[9] Zahorchak served as acting education secretary from August 2004, when Phillips left the position, to September 2004, when Francis Barnes was hired.
During the Barnes administration, Governor Ed Rendell encouraged local Pennsylvania school boards to participate in Act 72, a state property tax-relief program.
[3][7] Zahorchak claimed Act 72 "includes real property tax relief that shifts more of the responsibility for school funding back to the state".
However, he maintained that he could still be an independent voice within the administration, and claimed, "I happen to agree with the outcomes because I'm in the mix of making determinations of our policy decisions.
"[3] In addition to Act 72, Zahorchak supported a Rendell proposal to require superintendents and principals in struggling school districts to improve math and reading test scores in order to keep their jobs, an idea that was not embraced by the Pennsylvania Legislature.
In 2006, Zahorchak said he supported requiring high-school students to pass exit exams before they could graduate, although he acknowledged implementing such a testing program would be a long and difficult effort.
[3] As secretary, Zahorchak implemented state funding for pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten, training for principals, and easier ways to transfer college credits from one school to another.
Other factors considered under the formula were cost of living, district size, enrollment growth and the number of students learning to speak English.
[15] Zahorchak spearheaded the establishment of the Keystone Exams, state-created math, science and social studies tests that high school students would be required to pass a majority of in order to graduate.
[4] In 2010, Zahorchak helped lead the application for federal funding through Race to the Top, a competitive grant program that encourages innovation and reform throughout public education.
[18] However, Pennsylvania was not included among the states to receive money in the first round of Race to the Top, where funds were awarded only to Delaware and Tennessee for their reform measures.
[22] Zahorchak said he plans to install a system that would provide regular updates to families on the academic performance of their children and push them toward tangible improvement goals.
In response to recent student violence problems at the William Allen High School, Zahorchak identified one of his priorities as strengthening the district's code of conduct and citizenship programs.
[23] On October 14, the Allentown School Board Education Committee signed off on Zahorchak's proposed five-year leadership and curriculum plans "Pathways to Success".
[24] The committee signed off on all of Zahorchak's proposals except for his call to remove four principals in exchange for up to $15 million in federal grants that mandate leadership or staff changes as a condition for receiving the money.
