FOR RELEASE                                                                             CONTACT: Tonya Harris
                                                              October 26, 2023                                                                           tharris@cgcs.org                                                                                       

Boston School Board Member

Named Top Urban Educator

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 26 – School board member Michael O’Neill of Boston Public Schools received recognition as the 2023 Urban Educator of the Year at the Council of the Great City Schools’ 67th Annual Fall Conference.

Five school board members from big-city school districts competed for the nation’s highest honor in urban education leadership, recognizing, in alternating years, an outstanding superintendent and school board member from 78 of the largest urban public-school systems in the country. 

Urban school leaders applauded O’Neill during the Council’s 34th Annual Green-Garner Award Banquet, where he received the prestigious leadership award.

Sponsored by the Council and Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, the top prize is presented each year in memory of Richard R. Green, the first African American chancellor of the New York City school system, and businessman Edward Garner, who served on the Denver school board.

A graduate of Boston Latin School, O’Neill has been on the Boston School Committee for 15 years, serving as chair from 2013-2017. Under his leadership, the Boston school district has achieved a balanced budget each year, while also investing in strategic priorities such as early childhood education and increased social-emotional support for students. Since 2020, he has served as the Committee’s vice chair, where he has worked to improve the quality and stability of the district’s leadership and governance.

O’Neill has also contributed to improving urban education nationally, serving as chair of the Council’s Board of Directors in 2020. He was also instrumental in developing a professional development program at Harvard Business School to accelerate the performance of urban school boards nationwide.

“Michael O’Neill has made substantial contributions to urban public education at both the local and national levels,” says Council Executive Director Ray Hart. “His passion for excellence has had a profound effect on how all of us serve our urban students. There could be no one more deserving of this honor.”

As the recipient of the 2023 Green-Garner Award, O’Neill receives a $10,000 college scholarship to present to a student in Boston Public Schools.

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