Youngkin announces his pick for Virginia education leadership

RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — On Thursday, Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin announced his pick for the next Superintendent of Public Instruction and Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Youngkin picked Jillian Balow to serve as Superintendent and Elizabeth Schultz as Assistant Superintendent.

“Jillian and Elizabeth are going to be crucial in helping Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera restore excellence in education,” said Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin. “Under my direction, they will get to work on ensuring our schools remain safely open, ban critical race theory and political agendas from our classrooms, and rebuild our crumbling schools.”

Balow previously taught for 10 years and has since served in a variety of private and public sector positions. She consulted in the private sector and served as an administrator at both the Wyoming Department of Family Services, and was a policy advisor to Wyoming Governor Matt Mead.

Before joining the Youngkin administration, she spend seven years as Wyoming’s elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Her work included enacting historical and career readiness topics into education.

She was also the President of the Board of Directors for the Council of Chief State School Officers and served as the Treasurer of the Education Commission of the States.

Schultz, meanwhile, joins the Youngkin administration after serving in the U.S. Department of Education, as well as working as a contract and negotiations manager.

Her work on asset management, information technology, global and K-12 education has touched several organizations such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms and Fairfax County.

She was previously the Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology. She served as a Senior Fellow for Parents Defending Education and was elected twice to the Fairfax County School Board, the nation’s 10th largest school system.