State Board Member Named Ombudsman

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty appointed state board member Tonya Vidal Kinlow as the first ombudsman for public education in the District. In an announcement Fenty commented that Kinlow “will be the city's face of customer service for education.”

The ombudsman position is considered critical to Fenty's school reform effort and is responsible for investigating parental complaints. Kinlow currently serves as vice president for government relations at the District of Columbia Hospital Association and is an appointed member and vice president of the D.C. State Board of Education. She also is the vice chairman of the board of DC Voice, an advocacy group for schools. She will resign from the hospital association and the state board upon starting as the ombudsman.