Erie County Times

Gov. Tom Wolf’s former chief of staff Eric Hagarty has been named the replacement for Dr. Noe Ortega as the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) acting secretary, a recent press release from the governor's office said.

Ortega resigned from the position effective April 29 and Hagarty has since assumed the role. When Hagarty was chief of staff, he was responsible for a number of aspects regarding education, including implementing policies like the “Level Up” program, which is devoted to investing more in underfunded schools across the state. Hagarty also worked with the reforms of the Pennsylvania charter school system and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

“It has been an honor working closely with Governor Wolf since the start of his administration and with Secretary Ortega as well as former Education Secretary Pedro Rivera for the last several years,” Hagarty said in the release. “I’m committed to continuing to support the governor for the remainder of his administration and to ensuring that his priorities for our education system are implemented, from pre-K to higher education as well as the libraries that serve as the bedrock of many communities. I look forward to working even more closely with the hard-working and dedicated staff at the Department of Education. Thank you, Governor Wolf and Secretary Ortega, for your leadership and for your commitment to our commonwealth’s learners and educators.”

Wolf spoke highly of Ortega, calling him a “dedicated advocate” for students and adding that he was grateful for his service to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He noted that Ortega was also integral in moving students back to in-person learning and rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine and testing initiative for teachers and staff. 

“[Ortega’s] successful efforts to diversify our educator workforce and improve opportunities for students to obtain postsecondary education opportunities will undoubtedly continue to impact our learners for years to come,” Wolf said in the release.

Ortega has a wide range of experience. Before he was secretary of the PDE, he was the deputy secretary and commissioner for the Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education. He also spent eight years at the University of Michigan in a variety of roles in academia and administration. He spent approximately 10 years working in financial aid and enrollment management at universities in Texas and spent seven years as the director of a language institute in Japan, training teachers in early childhood language.

“It has been a tremendous honor to lead the Department of Education during an unprecedented moment in the history of the commonwealth and I am extremely proud of the accomplishments made and the resiliency demonstrated by the PDE team throughout my tenure,” Ortega said in the release. “Thank you, Governor Wolf, for the opportunity to lead the department. Together, we worked tirelessly to ensure that every learner in Pennsylvania has access to a high-quality and equitable educational opportunity.”