MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
Protégé aspires to follow
mentor in SJCOE role
TRACY -- Dr. Jeff Tilton today announced his candidacy for
San Joaquin County Office of Education Superintendent of Schools, currently
held by Dr. Mick Founts, who announced last week that he will not seek
re-election in 2014.
Tilton, Deputy Superintendent of Schools, New Jerusalem
School District, is a former administrator with SJCOE and co-founded the
nationally renowned “one.” program at SCJOE with Founts in the 1990s.
“Ever since Mick and (former SJCOE Superintendent) Dr. Rick
Wentworth hired me in 1992, I wanted to one day be the SJCOE superintendent,”
said Tilton, who was raised in Manteca and attended Manteca schools. “Those
two, especially Mick, molded me into the professional that I am today. It is
truly a “pay-it-forward” moment for those two and all of the educators who made
a difference in my life.”
Tilton has a long history of creating innovative programs
for students, including authoring and founding three charter schools while
serving at the Stanislaus County Office of Education. He also founded Delhi
High School. His career started at his alma mater, Manteca High School, as an
English teacher and football, wrestling, and baseball coach. He then joined the
SJCOE soon after Wentworth was elected. After a stint in building the Delhi
Educational Park – a 7-adult joint county-school district project, working as
an administrator in Sonoma County’s largest high school, and then joining the Stanislaus
COE, Tilton worked nearly 10 years with schools throughout nation via the
non-profit Northwest Evaluation Association. He returned to San Joaquin County
in 2012 to join Superintendent David Thoming and New Jerusalem School District,
the fastest growing district in San Joaquin County.
“One of my principles is to make a difference for kids –
directly,” said Tilton, “not by sitting in an office and chasing grants and
writing policy. A true educational leader, as I learned from Dr. Founts, is one
who is active, one who is student-centered, and one who cares.”
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