Jonathan Raymond is Superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified
School District, California’s 11th largest school district
(47,000 students) located in the heart of the state capital.
Since his appointment in July 2009, Raymond has accomplished
several objectives of the district’s Strategic Plan 2010-14:
Putting Children First, including: the creation of seven
Superintendent’s Priority Schools to offer extra assistance to
the district’s most academically troubled campuses; the
implementation of Early Kinder, a two-year transitional
kindergarten program aimed at ending the cycle of “start behind,
stay behind,”; the development of Chinese and Hmong language
immersion programs; the expansion of high school Linked Learning
academies to provide college and career bound students with
real-world experiences; a phased-in implementation of Common Core
Standards to add rigor and relevance to curriculum; and the
historic adoption of the “Sacramento High Performing Schools
Compact,” a commitment to improving Sacramento’s educational
climate signed by the district and charter school providers and
supported by the Gates Foundation. In addition, under Raymond’s
leadership the district became the first on the West Coast to be
awarded a fully funded Green Fellow from the US Green Building
Council, a position critical to ensuring the environmental
sustainability of SCUSD’s 81 campuses. Prior to his appointment,
Raymond, a graduate of Tufts University, George Mason Law School
and the Broad Superintendents Academy, served as Chief
Accountability Officer for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Raymond’s extensive experience extends beyond education: He was
president and CEO of the non-profit, Boston-based Commonwealth
Corporation; a deputy director in the Massachusetts Department of
Labor and Workforce Development; and a private practice attorney
specializing in business and labor law.
