DETROIT — The Education Achievement Authority of Michigan announced today that John Covington is resigning as chancellor to the EAA board of directors effective immediately, citing his need to care for an ailing family member and start a consultancy helping schools create student-centered learning programs.
The board will convene at its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, and formally accept Covington’s resignation. The board also expects to potentially appoint an interim chancellor.
Covington has served as chancellor since 2011. He is credited with creating a student-centered learning and teaching model on the cutting edge of educational reform. Under his leadership, the EAA was the only school district in the nation awarded the Bill and Melinda Gates Next Generation Innovation Grant for three consecutive years. Within the first year of Covington’s leadership, six of the EAA’s K-8 schools scored in the top 20 of 127 schools evaluated for their rate of growth by Excellent Schools Detroit; three scored in the top 6 and one scored in the top 3.
After two and a half years at the helm of EAA, Covington believes that it is time for him to put his family first. He was raised by a single mother in the rural South who pushed him to excel academically and inspired him to choose education as his life’s work. Her health is now declining, and he feels he must provide her with the care and support that she needs and deserves.
“It has been a tremendous honor and a most humbling experience to serve as the Chancellor of the EAA and be part of this tremendous work,” Covington said. “The EAA was created to transform traditional education for students who – for far too long – were left with an egregious education gap. The EAA is working. Students are taking responsibility for their education and they are preparing to become ‘Next Generation Ready.’”
The EAA Board plans to launch a search for a permanent chancellor immediately.
