Biography Kerri L. Briggs, PhD State Superintendent of Education Kerri L. Briggs is the State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia. In this capacity, Dr. Briggs is responsible for enhancing state-level educational policies and opportunities by providing resources, support and exercising accountability for all public education in the District of Columbia.   Prior to this assignment she served briefly as a Special Assistant for the Deputy Mayor of Education. Before joining the District government, Dr. Briggs worked at the United States Department of Education for more than seven years. Most recently, during her tenure at the US Department of Education she served as Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. As assistant secretary, Dr. Briggs played a pivotal role in policy and management issues affecting elementary and secondary education. She directed, coordinated and recommended policy for programs designed to assist state and local education agencies. This included improving the achievement of elementary and secondary school students; helping ensure equal access to services leading to such improvement for all children, particularly children who are economically disadvantaged; and fostering educational improvement at the state and local levels.    While at the US Department of Education, Dr. Briggs also served as acting assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy development; senior policy adviser in the Office of the Deputy Secretary; and senior policy adviser in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. During this time she worked on K-12 policy and regulations pertaining to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the review and approval of state accountability plans for NCLB. She also helped write the original regulations and non-regulatory guidance for implementation of NCLB's accountability, assessment, flexibility and teacher quality provisions. She has authored several articles on the subjects of reading, charter schools, and school-based management. In addition Dr. Briggs was the co-editor of the 2003 book, Reading in the Classroom: Systems for Observation of Teaching and Learning. Dr, Briggs earned her PhD in education policy and organizational studies as well as a Master’s of Education from the University of Southern California. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Stephen F. Austin State University. She is active in the District of Columbia as a board member for the Aged Women’s Home of Georgetown and former chair of the Junior League of Washington’s Literacy Partnerships Committee. She lives in Ward 6.