The PK-12 Administrative Licensure program, housed within the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, is excited to welcome Willie Jett to their teaching faculty as a program coordinator and lecturer. Jett is a two-time University of Minnesota alum, having completed both the K-12 Principal Administrative Licensure Program (2001) and Superintendent Licensure (2011) programs.

A former high school teacher in the Anoka Hennepin, Osseo, and Minneapolis districts, Assistant Principal in the Osseo Schools, principal in the Hopkins Area Schools, and assistant superintendent in the St. Paul Schools, Jett most recently served as Superintendent of Saint Cloud Area Schools (2013-present). During his tenure in that role, racial diversity among district staff has risen to 24%, graduation rates increased with the past 7-year rates consistently above the state average, a $104 million facilities referendum passed, and student climate survey results increased (with results also higher than the state average).

Saint Cloud school board member Al Dahlgren, quoted in a recent Star Tribune article, credits Jett for “bringing in more teachers, staff, and administrators of color, which he said is important because it allows students to see leaders who look like them.” Dahlgren also stated that “Jett has improved the district by focusing on students’ individual progress—whether the student is struggling and needs intervention or is succeeding and needs to be further challenged—by changing the way the district delivers education.

Gary Prest, Director of the Administrative Licensure Program, stated “we are thrilled that Superintendent Jett will be joining the Administrative Licensure program. Our students will benefit greatly from his exemplary educational  and administrative experience in and his understanding of urban, suburban, and outstate school districts.