Dr. Nancy Kotowski, Monterey County Superintendent of Schools, was elected with a sweeping 79 percent of the vote of the people and took office on January 8, 2007. Dr. Kotowski embraces her leadership role as a sacred trust to ensure public education fulfills its mission of preparing every child for success at each step of the educational journey to high school graduation. Her leadership is focused on four pillar areas for accomplishing this mission -- student achievement, fiscal accountability, student safety and health, and highly qualified teachers and staff. She led the County Office of Education in developing and implementing strategic plans to fulfill the mission.

In just three years, Dr. Kotowski has successfully steered the County Office of Education and the County’s educational systems through unprecedented state and national financial crisis. With a clear line of sight to the classrooms of Monterey County, she has successfully established high expectations and standards of accountability just as she promised the public she would do. She has implemented transparent operations and open communication systems throughout the County. She has set the bar for high quality, cost effective, and efficient services.

Dr. Kotowski is recognized as an effective, prudent and resourceful community and educational visionary, Dr. Kotowski has been responsible for connecting the business and educational communities while securing millions of dollars a year in state, federal and other funding for educational services throughout the county.

Throughout her 35 years of experience, Dr. Kotowski has excelled in all aspects of the education system based on her dedication to empowering youth for the future. A compassionate educator who believes youth are our greatest resource and hope for the future, Dr. Kotowski was nominated for Teacher of the Year in the national Those Who Excel program in recognition for her leadership in successfully transitioning junior high schools to middle schools. During her tenure as a principal, Dr. Kotowski recognized parent involvement as critical to the school mission. She created a motivating school culture that actively engaged every student in academic success, all while instituting a wide array of extracurricular activities.

Dr. Kotowski has provided strong educational leadership as Associate Superintendent of Schools in Monterey County, resulting in consistent improvement of student achievement the past six years as measured by Academic Performance Index test scores. Focusing her efforts, she defined vital areas to improve student achievement and prepare high school graduates for the future: recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers, improving teacher quality through professional development, supporting leadership of school principals, collaborating with the business community to make learning relevant, ensuring safe schools, preparing young children to succeed in school, involving the community in achieving student literacy, improving student writing skills, helping at-risk students succeed and effectively utilizing technology in schools.

Dr. Kotowski holds her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Dayton, Masters of Arts degree in Educational Administration from Northwestern University and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Education Policy and Organization from the University of Southern California. While at USC, she worked for Policy Analysis for California Education that publishes studies such as The Conditions of Education in California. She co-authored a chapter with nationally recognized school finance expert Allan Odden in Rethinking School Finance for the 1990’s. Dr. Kotowski is a curriculum and instruction expert in implementing California’s world-class academic standards and helped develop California’ English-Language Arts Framework. With her leadership and support, advances have been made in improving comprehensive English Language Development instruction for English learners.

As U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon, Africa, Dr. Kotowski was recognized as a Volunteer of the Year for her development work in education. Beginning with her work in the Peace Corps, she has proven her ability to: successfully work side-by-side with people of diverse cultures, be very creative with extremely limited resources, find all possible resources to meet instructional needs and conduct effective training that is targeted at root needs.

Dr. Kotowski’s commitment to education, literacy and health carries through her community involvement. She serves as a board member of the National Steinbeck Center as the Education Committee Chair, and the Monterey County Media Center for Arts, Education and Technology. She is Chair of the Monterey County Children’s Council, and co-chair of the Foster Youth Services Council. She is a member of the Monterey County Business Council, the Monterey Bay Education Consortium of K12 Schools, Community Colleges, and Universities, the Monterey County School Board’s Association, the Monterey Rotary Club, and serves as Advisor to the Monterey County Junior League.