John Winn

John Winn has a distinguished career in education policy and a lifelong commitment to quality education for all students. An educator for 35 years, he began his career as an elementary and middle school teacher. He joined the Florida Department of Education in 1984 and served in several responsible positions including Deputy Commissioner and Chief of Staff before being appointed to Commissioner of Education in August 2004. In February 2007 he retired from Commissioner of Education. He joined the National Mathematics and Science Initiative in March 2007 as the Chief Program Officer for AP* and pre-AP courses.

In 1999 Winn joined Governor Jeb Bush as his Education Policy Coordinator. While in that position, he was responsible for drafting and directing the Governor's education budget recommendations and legislative initiatives for all education sectors. These included the A+ Plan for Education, One Florida programs, K20 education system, and charter district legislation. He was also instrumental in crafting the John McKay Scholarship authorizing legislation. While in this position, he played a major role in developing the concept and implementation of measuring annual student learning gains, school grading formula, and the K20 data warehouse.

Winn returned to the Department of Education with Commissioner Jim Horne to assist in the restructuring of the Department of Education and the K-20 education system. There he coordinated the massive restructuring of the Florida School Code, centralized all data and accountability operations, and participated in creating a high performing senior staff team.

During his tenure as Commissioner, student achievement in Reading and Mathematics reached an all-time high. The achievement gap closed considerably and students with disabilities and limited English proficiency more than doubled their reading improvement. Also, Florida led the nation in the percentage of high school graduates taking at least one Advanced Placement exam. Over the past three years Florida has rated in the top three states in the increase of minority students taking and passing AP exams.

John Winn has built a solid reputation as an authority in statewide implementation of innovative education improvements and on policy issues facing public education at every level. He is respected throughout the Florida education community and nationally. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated commitment and compassion in improving education quality for all students.

*AP and Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.