(Harrisburg, PA)— Jim Buckheit, the executive director of the State Board of Education (The State Board is the regulatory and policy-making board for basic and higher education in the Commonwealth), has been selected to receive the prestigious Educational Excellence Award for 2006 from the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals (PA Principals Association). Mr. Buckheit will be presented with the award in a special ceremony during the banquet at PA Principals Association’s Fourteenth Annual State Conference, Sunday, October 29, 2006, at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pa.

The award is given to a person who has been a “friend of public education” and who has made significant contributions to the attainment of educational excellence in the Commonwealth’s elementary and secondary schools.

During his tenure with the board, the regulations that govern teacher certification, student attendance, student rights and responsibilities, student services and higher education were rewritten. The board also published new state academic standards, approved policies necessary to implement provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and conducted a validity study of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment.

Throughout his 26 years of service to the Commonwealth, Mr. Buckheit has led numerous statewide education, youth community service and workforce development initiatives while serving in a variety of leadership roles in the Department of Education and Department of Labor and Industry. These include service as director of school services, director of community and student services, coordinator of dropout prevention and service-learning programs, director of the youth, education and service unit and chief of planning and evaluation for job training programs.

Mr. Buckheit’s service on state and national advisory groups include the National Association of State Boards of Education Study Group on Citizenship and Ethical Behavior in a Global Society and as the Department of Education’s representative to the Pennsylvania Coalition for Representative Democracy. He served on the National Governors’ Association National Service Workgroup, the Corporation for National Service grant review panels, the Statewide Collaborative Board for the Family Service System Reform/Family Center Initiatives and the Attorney General’s Task Force on School Safety.

In his community, he has served as a representative to the Central Dauphin School Board’s Parent Advisory Committee, and served as a PTO treasurer, PTA president and vice president. He has coached his daughter’s youth soccer teams and is active in his church.

Mr. Buckheit earned a bachelor of arts degree in American history/political science and a master’s of public administration from Long Island University.

For further information or to schedule an interview or photo, please contact Sheri Thompson, PA Principals Association director of communications at (717) 732-4999 (office), (717) 395-6814 (cell) or e-mail: sherit@paprincipals.org.

PA Principals Association’s Mission: The Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals is dedicated to assuring that every Pennsylvania child receives the very best education possible. In carrying out this mission, the association recognizes that the early elementary years are most crucial to successful lifelong learning, that appropriate middle level programs are essential for successful adolescent maturation and development and that strong high school programs are critical for preparing youth for successful entry and transition into adulthood.

PA Principals Association recognizes an obligation to make continuing contributions toward strengthening the principalship and the profession. The association is committed to providing critical professional growth opportunities through training programs, opportunities for constructive professional mentoring and relationships, publications, conferences and professional meetings and activities aimed at helping aspiring principals in reaching their goals and practicing principals to hone their skills.