Superintendent of Public Instruction
Jhone M. Ebert
Anyone who has worked with her can attest that Jhone M. Ebert brings a heart for equity, a collaborative spirit, and transformative leadership to everything she does. She puts these qualities to work each day in her role as State Superintendent of Public Instruction for Nevada.
Since taking the reins as the chief state school officer for Nevada in 2019, Ms. Ebert has worked tirelessly on behalf of Nevada’s nearly 500,000 students and its 750 schools. She was appointed in April 2019 by Governor Sisolak, who regards her as a change leader and “the best person to set Nevada students up for success.”
An equity champion, Ms. Ebert has rooted her career in the belief that the work is unfinished until every single child has a clear pathway to thrive in school and life. As State Superintendent of Public Instruction, her proudest accomplishment is Nevada’s innovative and responsive COVID-19 recovery efforts, which enabled Nevada’s districts to successfully adapt to deliver distance education and prepare for safe school re-openings. Under her direction, Nevada became the first state nationally to ensure every student participating in distance learning had internet connection and a learning-ready device. During this time of upheaval, Ms. Ebert prioritized providing support and flexibility to districts and schools, while ensuring that all students received the services they need, including nutrition services, special education interventions, English learner supports, professional development for teachers, as well as social-emotional and mental health supports and resources for all community members.
During her time leading Nevada’s Department of Education, other notable accomplishments include the overhaul of Nevada’s 54-year-old education funding formula, which has been replaced with a student-centered approach that allocates resources more equitably while ensuring flexibility for districts and schools. This work, as well as the pandemic crisis response, would not be possible without the knowledge gained and trusting relationships built during her 2019 Statewide Listening Tour, during which she visited with students, staff, families, and community members in all 17 school districts and the State Public Charter School Authority.
Ms. Ebert has a proven record of successfully working in large, diverse, and politically challenging school systems. From 2015 to 2019, as the Senior Deputy Commissioner for P-20 Education Policy for New York State, Ms. Ebert was the ranking policy advisor to the state commissioner and Board of Regents. She led policymaking and programs affecting teaching and learning from early childhood through postsecondary education. During her tenure in New York, overall academic performance improved statewide, achievement gaps narrowed, and graduation rates increased.
Prior to her time in New York, Ms. Ebert held various leadership positions in the Clark County School District (CCSD) over 25 years, most recently in the roles of Chief Innovation and Productivity Officer and Chief Technology Officer. In her work at CCSD, the fifth largest school district in the nation, Ms. Ebert provided oversight of nationally recognized magnet school programs, as well as leadership, guidance, and support for magnet school principals. As a result of her work, student participation in technology-based instruction increased from 68 students in 1998 to well over 68,000 in 2015 and she inspired the adoption of the 1:1 computing program that currently serves Nevada’s middle schools.
Ms. Ebert is a life-long learner and has always been passionate about the power of public education to change lives. If not for the opportunities that school afforded her, her own journey would have been much different. From her start as a mathematics teacher in CCSD, Ms. Ebert has prioritized the power of integrating technology in the classroom and the belief that each and every student deserves the opportunity to thrive. As classrooms continue to grow more diverse, Ms. Ebert believes it is critically important that students have access to adults who not only look like them, but whose personal histories exemplify the power of schools to change lives.
Ms. Ebert’s honors include the International Society for Technology in Education’s 2020 Annual Impact Award, the National School Boards Association’s Technology Leadership Network 20 to Watch, the CCSD Excellence in Education Hall of Fame Award, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching, and the Fulbright-Hayes Program scholarship. She received her Master of Education in Instructional and Curricular Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and her Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from California State University, Fresno.