Charter School Educators Among U.S. Department of Education 2011-12 Teaching Ambassador Fellows

Two of the 16 educators chosen as U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellows for 2011-12 are from charter schools.

Both of the teachers are among the five picked to be Washington Fellows, who will work full-time at the Department’s headquarters, according to a Department statement.

Genevieve DeBose, a grades 5 and 6 teacher from the Bronx Charter School for the Arts in New York City, will work on middle-school reform in the Office of the Secretary.

Claire Jellinek, a grades 11 and 12 social studies teacher from South Valley Academy High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will work in the Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Eleven of the fellows will remain in their classrooms, participating in the fellowship program part-time.

The fellows were chosen from among 750 applications. The fellowship program was created to “give outstanding teachers an opportunity to learn about national policy issues in education, and to contribute their expertise to those discussions,” according to the Department.