Jill Levy
Spotlight magazine (2008, November)
Principals are not management – they simply implement what management wants them to do, and they need to have their rights protected. They need to have a strong contract that clearly states what their working conditions are, what management expects from them and what they expect
from management. They need retirement rights - they need a retirement. You can go on and on, but really there is no difference between principals and other workers.
Known for fighting tirelessly for the rights and welfare of her members, Jill Levy is International President of the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA). Prior to this appointment in July 2006, she served as AFSA’s Executive Vice President, and she has been a member of the union’s General Executive Board since 1994.
Her strong leadership and immense experience as an advocate for administrators, special education and public education began with her career as Supervisor of Special Education in the New York City schools. She is a founding member of the Supervisory Support Program, and she was the voice behind the passage of several state laws supporting special education and the increase in support services. Levy brought important issues surrounding special education to national attention when she served on former President Bill Clinton’s labor sub-committee of the Employment of People with Disabilities.
Levy empowers countless supervisors and administrators each year through her foundations, the Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) and the Leadership Institute for Education (LIFE). These are just two of the many highly-acclaimed professional development programs she has founded which impart invaluable skills and knowledge to the leaders in our education system.
She also served as coordinator of the Supervisory Support Program (SSP) and as a liaison to the Chancellor’s Oversight, Professional Development, and Special Education committees. Levy has been a board member of the Neuroscience Institute of the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens and served as president of the Association for Neurologically Impaired Brain Injured Children. Levy also served as a board member for the Council for Unity and for New Visions for Public Schools, and she is a director of the Page & Otto Marx Foundation.
Levy has received honors from the Doctorate Association of New York Educators, Administrative Women in Education, the Jewish Community Chest, twice from her own professional associations, and from numerous legislators.
It is in true solidarity that AIL/NILICO welcomes Jill Levy as a new member of our Labor Advisory Board.