Northhampton News

Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Secretary Dr. Noe Ortega has resigned from his position effective April 29, Gov. Tom Wolf announced in a recent press release from his office. The governor has appointed Eric Hagarty as the acting secretary. 

Hagarty was serving as Wolf’s chief of staff, where he was responsible for implementing educational policies including the “Level Up” program that invests more in underfunded schools. He was also in charge of implementing the COVID-19 vaccine initiative for teachers and the return to safe, in-person learning. Another policy was the first of regulatory reforms to the Pennsylvania charter school system, as well as the generational investments in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

“It has been an honor working closely with Governor Wolf since the start of his administration and with Secretary Ortega as well as former Education Secretary Pedro Rivera for the last several years,” Hagarty said in the release. “I’m committed to continuing to support the governor for the remainder of his administration and to ensuring that his priorities for our education system are implemented, from pre-K to higher education as well as the libraries that serve as the bedrock of many communities. I look forward to working even more closely with the hard-working and dedicated staff at the Department of Education. Thank you, Governor Wolf and Secretary Ortega, for your leadership and for your commitment to our commonwealth’s learners and educators.”

Before Ortega was secretary he was the deputy secretary and commissioner for the Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education. He also spent eight years at the University of Michigan in a variety of roles in academia and administration. He spent approximately 10 years working in financial aid and enrollment management at universities in Texas and spent seven years as the director of a language institute in Japan, training teachers in early childhood language.

“It has been a tremendous honor to lead the Department of Education during an unprecedented moment in the history of the commonwealth and I am extremely proud of the accomplishments made and the resiliency demonstrated by the PDE team throughout my tenure,” Ortega said in the release. “Thank you, Governor Wolf, for the opportunity to lead the department. Together, we worked tirelessly to ensure that every learner in Pennsylvania has access to a high-quality and equitable educational opportunity.”

Wolf called Ortega a “dedicated advocate” for students and expressed gratitude for his service to Pennsylvania, noting that he led the department through “unprecedented times” by bringing children back to in-person learning and providing access to COVID-19 testing and vaccines.

“His successful efforts to diversify our educator workforce and improve opportunities for students to obtain postsecondary education opportunities will undoubtedly continue to impact our learners for years to come,” Wolf said in the release.