Dr. Joe A. Hairston
Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools

A visionary and progressive leader, Dr. Joe A. Hairston has served since 2000 as Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, the nation's 26th largest school system. Dr. Hairston’s administration is now among the longest in the modern day history of the school system.

Dr. Hairston’s results-based leadership has yielded a growing list of achievements including greater student participation and success in Advanced Placement and national renown for the quality of high schools and arts education, use of technology, greater accountability, and resource conservation.

A career rooted in the classroom

A career educator, Dr. Hairston's ascent in education administration began and is rooted in the classroom. Over the years, he has developed and refined strategies that have proven successful in raising student achievement. 

Dr. Hairston began his career in 1969 as a teacher in Prince George's County. Within two years of entering the classroom, he was appointed department chairperson and five years after that he became administrative assistant to a principal. He was appointed vice principal in 1977 and was named a principal in 1981.

"The Baltimore County Public Schools . . . has embarked on a quality journey, a journey that will take us to our goal of becoming one of the premier school systems in the nation." -- Dr. Joe A. Hairston

While serving as the principal of Crossland High School, from 1982 to 1986, Dr. Hairston developed an organizational, instructional, and marketing model for high school reform that he next employed at Suitland High School. At Suitland, a low-performing school with almost 2,300 students, Dr. Hairston implemented a nationally recognized visionary magnet program, which increased achievement for all students in the school – not just those in the magnet program. His achievements in turning Suitland around were recognized by President Ronald Reagan, Vice President George Bush, and Secretary of Education William J. Bennett and led the school to receive a National Award of Excellence. Many of the elements of Dr. Hairston's formula for student success – developed throughout the 1980s – are echoed in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Dr. Hairston's success in high school reform raised his profile within the education community and in the media. In 1987, Dr. Hairston was selected as one of 30 U.S. principals to participate in the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Urban Principal Project, which was designed to establish a profile of the skills necessary for effective school management, and one of 10 U.S. principals to participate in an Urban Principal Conference at Harvard University. In 1988, he was cited in Time magazine and featured in Maryland Magazine and Baltimore Sun Magazine.  

Dr. Hairston talking with Seneca Elementary students

In 1989, Dr. Hairston was named assistant superintendent of Prince George's County Public Schools. Then in 1995, he became the first appointed (rather than elected) superintendent of Clayton County Public Schools in Jonesboro, Georgia. During his tenure in Clayton County, he earned praise for infusing technology into the administration and schools, increasing business partnerships, and developing community advocacy and fiscal support for the school system.

Laying the groundwork for continued progress in Baltimore County schools

After an intensive search, the Baltimore County Board of Education selected Dr. Hairston to serve as superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. In his first year, Dr. Hairston charted a direction for the school system through the Blueprint for Progress, which presents key strategies and concrete performance indicators. The Blueprint also provides structure for the BCPS Master Plan.

"We need to develop engaging work for students and to find new and creative ways to motivate them to participate fully in the learning process." -- Dr. Joe A. Hairston

In accordance with the BCPS Master Plan, Dr. Hairston has implemented several initiatives to: increase academic rigor for all BCPS students; recruit, train, and retain highly-qualified staff; increase college enrollment among graduating seniors; expand community involvement; eliminate the minority achievement gap; revamp budget development; use computer-based programs to track and improve student, school, and system progress; and increase teacher and student access to computers and the Internet. To increase academic rigor, Dr. Hairston's administration has eliminated low-level courses, revised and realigned the middle school program, and restructured the Gifted and Talented education program to benefit more students.

Under Dr. Hairston's leadership, Baltimore County Public Schools has been recognized by Education Week for having the sixth highest overall graduation rate among the nation’s largest school districts and by the Schott Foundation for having the third highest graduation rate for African American males among large school districts. Newsweek magazine and The Washington Post have named 12 BCPS high schools – half of the county’s traditional and magnet high schools – among the top six percent in the nation. Twelve BCPS schools have now been named National No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools.

"Having standards is only the beginning; only careful and consistent analysis of data will enable us to move forward and every day do a better job than we did the day before." -- Dr. Joe A. Hairston

In recognition of his role as a national leader in education, the Horace Mann League of the USA elected Dr. Hairston as vice president of its Board of Directors in 2011. The League is comprised of 1,000 renowned educators who share the belief that public schools are the cornerstone of democracy.

Dr. Hairston’s latest achievement is the formation of a groundbreaking partnership of major defense contractors and area universities and software developers to explore new ways to use virtual environments and other technology in classrooms. The group’s first project, a virtual learning environment in a Baltimore County high school has received praise from National Public Radio, eSchool News, CNBC, and the International Society for Technology in Education.

Included among Dr. Hairston’s other BCPS accomplishments are:

• Establishing a continuum of college readiness services available to all students, through a partnership with the College Board.
• Offering Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), which places on a college-bound track underachieving students and students from low-income families, in all high schools.
• Strengthening international partnerships, which facilitate sharing ideas and experiences with educators in England, China, Italy, and other nations.
• Creating a Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board, which he collaborates with monthly.
• Establishing the College Gateway Partnership, an initiative that enables every eighth-grade student from nine designated middle schools to spend a day on a college campus participating in classes taught by BCPS and Community College of Baltimore County faculty.
• Increasing the average number of Advanced Placement courses offered in each high school to 17.
• Initiating an external curriculum management audit of the school system.
• Forging a partnership with University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), under a National Science Foundation grant (the first in BCPS history), that addresses the issue of recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers.
• Enhancing the principalship by creating an annual retreat and ongoing Principal Center workshops to facilitate the sharing of best practices and informal peer support.
• Offering online professional development courses, in cooperation with the University of Virginia, at no cost to all professional staff.

Dr. Hairston receiving the 2005 Award for Outstanding Leadership from Kurt Steinhaus, president of the board of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

Dr. Hairston also has worked closely with school board members and elected officials to secure funding for and implement the largest school renovation and major maintenance program in Baltimore County's history – to bring physical improvements to nearly every one of the county's public schools.

Attracting local, national, and international recognition

For his achievements, Dr. Hairston has been honored with dozens of recognitions, including the 2006 Graduate Alumni Achievement Award from the Virginia Tech Graduate School and Alumni Association. Previous winners of this prestigious national award include the president of Western Michigan University and a Nobel Prize winner in physics.

Additional recognitions have included:

• International Society for Technology in Education Outstanding Leadership Award
• eSchool News Top 10 Tech-Savvy Superintendents Award  
• Education Technology Think Tank Technology to Empower Community (ET3 TEC) Champion Leadership Award
• Maryland Instructional Computer Coordinators Association (MICCA) Outstanding Technology Leader in Education Award
• The Fullwood Foundation Superintendent of the Year Award
• U.S. Department of Education Magnet School of America Award
• Washington Post Outstanding Distinguished Educational Leadership Award
• Maryland State Department of Education Vanguard Award
• Prince George's County Police Department Life Improvement Award
• National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education's Distinguished Alumni Award
• National Exemplary Secondary School Award
• National Association of School Directors Special Merit Award
• Maryland Distinguished Leadership and Innovative Educational Program Award from the Maryland Association of Boards of Education
• Essex-Middle River-White Marsh Chamber of Commerce Special Recognition Award

Dr. Hairston speaks with students.

Dr. Hairston participated in the landmark Breaking the Mold study with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and he has been recognized by the White House, beginning with President Reagan, and the U.S. Department of Education for his educational leadership.

A popular speaker on education issues, Dr. Hairston has presented at numerous conferences and participated in many prestigious summits. In 2009 and 2008, the list included the Scholastic Superintendents' Leadership Summit in New York, the US Department of Education Technology Summit at the University of Maryland, College Park, and The Benjamin Banneker Institute for Science and Technology’s Network of Networks Roundtable in Washington, D.C.

In 2007, his speaking engagements included the Maryland Military Installation Council Meeting Education Panel, National Training Network/Algebraic Thinking Corporate Panel of the Education Research and Development Institute, Maryland Environmental Education Symposium, Maryland State Department of Education’s Teachers of Promise Institute, and the AVID/College Board National Conference “Districtwide Approach to Creating College-Ready Students” Panel.

"The children of today are the only future the human race has; we must teach them well." -- Dr. Joe A. Hairston

He has also spoken before the 2004 National High School Leadership Summit, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the National School Boards Association, the Maryland State Summit on Education, the National Science Foundation, the College Board, the U.S. Department of Education, the Urban Principals Symposium, American Business Women's Conference, the Illinois State Board of Education, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the Syfr Corporation Summer Seminar: Education as a Civil Right. In 2005, he hosted a groundbreaking local summit on high school reform. His expertise has also been featured in local and national media, including Time and Life magazines and The Oprah Winfrey Show, and he has been profiled in District Administration, Christian Science Monitor, and Scholastic Administr@tor magazines.

Beyond the school system – contributing to the community

Dr. Hairston discusses the school system with the media.

In addition to his demanding role as Superintendent, Dr. Hairston has numerous professional and civic affiliations. He serves on the College Board’s Superintendent Advisory Panel, Governor’s Task Force to Study Raising the Compulsory School Attendance Age to 18, Johns Hopkins University School of Education Advisory Board, Blackboard’s K-12 Advisory Board, Maryland Partnership for Teaching and Learning K-16 Leadership Council, Board of Directors of the Children's Cancer Foundation, External Advisory Committee of the Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education, Steering Committee of the Maryland State Department of Education's Web-based Learning Project, Council of Great City Schools, BellSouth Superintendent Leadership Network, Center for Leadership and School Reform, Middle States Regional Council of The College Board, AVID National Conference Advisory Board, Board of the National Council on Educating Black Children, American Association of School Administrators, Baltimore County Workforce Development Council, Council of Urban Boards of Education, and Baltimore County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

In October 2010, he served as program planning committee co-chair of the College Board’s Forum 2010 in Washington, D.C.

A native of Virginia, Dr. Hairston earned a doctorate in education administration from Virginia Tech (1993), a master's degree in administration and physical education from American University (1976), and bachelor's degree in biology and physical science from Maryland State University (now the University of Maryland Eastern Shore) (1969).

Dr. Hairston enjoys music, travel, sports, telecommunications, and reading, with a special interest in World War II history. His wife, Lillian, is a teacher at a Baltimore County high school, and together they have two adult sons. 

Last Updated 4/15/11