Mayor Rawlings-Blake Announces New Appointments to the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners

Appointments reflect Mayor’s continued commitment to expanding educational excellence and improving City schools for all students

BALTIMORE, Md. (November 6, 2015)—Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced the appointments of Andrew B. Frank and Muriel Berkeley to the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners.

The Board of School Commissioners is appointed by the Mayor of Baltimore and the Governor to oversee all aspects of the district’s policies, management and performance. In their capacity as Commissioners on the Baltimore City school board, Frank and Berkeley will support the school system’s efforts to ensure City Schools has quality curricula and instruction that provide rigor, engage students, raise the bar and deliver targeted interventions to increase learning.

“My focus remains on putting classrooms first so that students will receive an educational experience that is rooted in excellence,” said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. “The appointments of Mr. Frank and Ms. Berkeley will bring to the board a wealth of experience and understanding of what it takes to make sure that our City classrooms strive for the highest academic standards, putting Baltimore ahead of the game.”

The Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners has 10 members: nine volunteer members and one student member. Members of the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners are appointed to three-year terms. The board provides policy direction and wide-ranging oversight — from monitoring student achievement to approving appointments of key staff to scrutinizing the budget. 

Muriel Berkeley was the founding president of the Baltimore Curriculum Project which operates four Baltimore City charter schools that serve families in their zoned neighborhoods. She retired from the Baltimore Curriculum Project in 2012, and continues to serve on its board of directors. Berkeley taught for most of her career in elementary schools in North Hanover Township, New Jersey, and Baltimore City; in middle schools in Baltimore City; and in undergraduate and graduate schools at Goucher College, Towson University, and George Washington University.  She has also served as the Greater Baltimore Committee’s first director of education, and briefly as interim dean of continuing education at Baltimore City Community College. Berkeley earned a BA in social relations from Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and a PhD in social relations from The Johns Hopkins University.

“The children and adolescents of Baltimore City whom I have had the opportunity to teach have taught me far more than I taught them, and at least as much as anyone else has ever taught me about life,” said Ms. Berkeley. “I look forward to serving on the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners as an opportunity to give back to the children and adolescents of our great city.”

Andrew Frank joins the board while serving as the first special adviser to the president on economic development at The Johns Hopkins University. The position was created to work with internal and external partners to develop and implement strategies to strengthen Baltimore City and the neighborhoods around the student campuses. His priorities are the Homewood Community Partners Initiative, which encompasses ten neighborhoods around the Homewood campus, and the East Baltimore Development Initiative, a $1.8 billion neighborhood transformation involving new housing, lab space, community school, retail, central park, and hotel. Frank set up the governance structure, negotiated key agreements with the school district and operator, and served as owner's representative for the construction of the Henderson-Hopkins school, the first new East Baltimore school in 25 years.

“I’ve watched my son – and our family – enjoy the full benefits of attending great city schools,” said Mr. Frank. "I know that Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Governor Larry Hogan have the highest expectations of our schools.  I am honored to join the many people across this city who are committed to giving our children the best education possible.”

Before joining Johns Hopkins, Frank worked with the City of Baltimore for 15 years, with three years as First Deputy Mayor for neighborhood and economic development. As First Deputy Mayor, Frank's responsibilities included oversight of a wide range of city departments and offices ranging from the Departments of Housing and Community Development and Public Works and to the Departments of Planning and Transportation.  Before moving to City Hall, he was executive vice president of the Baltimore Development Corporation for six years, involved in attracting and retaining businesses, redevelopment, commercial revitalization, and urban design and planning, among other issues.

Frank has a bachelor's degree in urban economics from Rutgers University and a master's degree in city planning from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mayor Rawlings-Blake is scheduled to swear the new Commissioners in to their positions on Thursday, November 12.