Bio

Tracey Bailey '88, '95 M.S. is the state director for Virginia Professional Educators (VPE), a nonprofit, professional association that serves Virginia's 100,000 teachers by working to improve public education through accountability and higher student achievement and provides educators with professional support in the classroom.

Mr. Bailey began as a physics and space sciences major at Florida Tech, and in his junior year was offered a teacher scholarship from the State of Florida. He earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at Florida Tech in science education with an emphasis on instructional technology. As a teacher at Satellite High School, Mr. Bailey won national recognition for his highly innovative science education programs. He developed Satellite High's first advanced placement (AP) program and introduced science research including molecular biology and DNA fingerprinting into the classroom. Within three years, the school's science research program was among the best in Florida, winning many national and international awards. Mr. Bailey was also a developer and author of Florida's state curriculum for instructional technology.

In part because of these successes, Mr. Bailey was named the 1993 National Teacher of the Year, among some 2.7 million teachers nationwide. He then served as the first director of the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center, later became the state coordinator for education reform programs in the Florida Department of Education, and then served as national director for the Association of American Educators (AAE). He is a member of the Florida Educators' Hall of Fame.

Throughout his career, Mr. Bailey has worked with education leaders nationwide to promote substantive education reform and increased professionalism among teachers. Mr. Bailey has spoken to Congress on several occasions, and he is often invited to the White House to represent teachers on education reform issues.