[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15768-15769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING DR. EDWIN M. QUEZADA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 10, 2017

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, as a former educator in the public school 
system, I know just how hard the administrators and faculty work to 
help our kids achieve academic excellence. Today I honor one of those 
fine educators, Dr. Edwin M. Quezada, the Superintendent of Yonkers 
Public Schools, who is being recognized by the Nepperhan Community 
Center in Yonkers for all he has done for our students in the 
community.
  As Yonkers Superintendent, Dr. Quezada moves the agenda of public 
education in Yonkers, New York, the fourth largest school district in 
the state serving almost 28,000 students and employing 3,600 staff. The 
Trustees of the Yonkers Board of Education appointed Dr. Quezada 
Superintendent of Schools on March 16, 2016 after serving as Deputy 
Superintendent for two years. Dr. Quezada supervises all functions of 
the school district's 39 schools and central administration--teaching 
and learning, budgetary, human resources, facilities, communications, 
technology and works with city, state and federal officials. Under Dr. 
Quezada's tutelage Yonkers boasts the highest on-time graduation rate, 
82 percent, of New York State's Big 5 city school districts. In 2016, 
My Brother's Keeper Challenge was launched in the City of Yonkers, 
initiated by Dr. Quezada and flourishing through a coalition with Mayor 
Mike Spano and Nepperhan Community Center Executive Director Rev. Dr. 
Jim Bostic.
  An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Dr. Quezada came to the 
Bronx, New York in September 1983 at age 16. Completing most of his 
early education in the Dominican Republic, he graduated from James 
Monroe High School in 1985 and immediately began his college career at 
Herbert H. Lehman College, my alma mater. In January of 1998, Dr. 
Quezada joined the Yonkers Public Schools as a Human Relations 
Facilitator. Recognized

[[Page 15769]]

as a mover and shaker, he was encouraged to obtain a degree in school 
administration. He was appointed assistant principal at Gorton High 
School in 2000, Principal of Emerson Middle in 2003, and Principal of 
Lincoln High School in 2004. During his tenure as principal, Lincoln 
High School received state and local accolades for improving student 
achievement. After ten years as a principal, Dr. Quezada was promoted 
to Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Administration and 
Supervision, before finally rising to Superintendent.
  When not shaping young minds, Dr. Quezada enjoys spending time with 
his family--his wife, Gladys, a Yonkers teacher and their two children, 
Edwin Joseph and Alyssa Marie. They are his pride and joy.
  Dr. Quezada has been an exemplary public servant and is most 
deserving of this recognition. Congratulations to him on the occasion.

                          ____________________