Connecticut State Department of Education
State Board of Education
Members
Erin D. Benham, Vice Chairperson - Wallingford
Erin D. Benham was reappointed to the Board by Governor Ned Lamont in January 2023. Ms. Benham was elected as Vice Chairperson of the Board in June 2023. She serves as Chair of the Board’s Accountability and Support Committee, and as a member of the Academic Standards and Assessment Committee. In June 2020, Ms. Benham was appointed to the State Education Resource Center Board (SERC). She taught in Meriden Public Schools for 36 years and is the retired president of the Meriden Federation of Te achers and executive committee vice president of AFT Connecticut. She also serves on the board of directors for Project Excel and The Sisters' Project. She earned a bachelor's degree from Saint Joseph College and a master's degree and educational leadership degree from Southern Connecticut State University. Ms. Benham was the recipient of the President's Award by AFT Connecticut in 2019 and 2013. Her term expires in February 2027.
Bonnie E. Burr - Brookfield
Bonnie E. Burr was reappointed by Governor Ned Lamont in March 2024. She serves as Chair of the Board’s Legislation and Policy Development Committee, and as a member on the Finance, Audit, and Budget Committee. Ms. Burr is the assistant director and department head with the Cooperative Extension System at the University of Connecticut College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. She provides leadership and assistance to 105 faculty and staff managing a wide variety of outreach and educational programs involving public engagement in local, state, regional, national, and international programs. Ms. Burr earned a B.S. in animal science and agriculture from the University of Connecticut, and an M.S. in administration and public and nonprofit administration from Western Connecticut State University. Ms. Burr serves on a number of community organizations, including as ex officio member, 4 H Education Center at Auerfarm; the Steering Committee of Working Lands Alliance, American Farmland Trust; the New England Holstein Dairy Cattle Association Board of Directors; and Connecticut trustee for the Eastern States Exposition. Her term expires in February 2028.
Paula S. Gilberto - Farmington
Ms. Paula S. Gilberto was appointed by Governor Ned Lamont in January 2025. She serves as a member on the Board’s Academic Standards and Assessment Committee and Legislation and Policy Development Committee. Her term expires in February 2028. Ms. Gilberto’s 45-year career in the nonprofit sector includes leadership positions in management, fundraising, strategic planning, program design, community relations, and organizational development. She began her career with the American Red Cross-Connecticut Region, holding various management positions. She secured federal funding and philanthropic support for youth workforce programs and collaborated with state agencies on health services curriculum. Ms. Gilberto joined United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut in 1998, serving in senior leadership positions, including President and CEO from 2016 until her retirement in 2022. She established innovative public-private partnerships supporting early childhood education and literacy, community schools, financial education, family economic security, and workforce development. Ms. Gilberto also engaged national partners in working with school districts including Boys Town’s Well-Managed Classroom; the National Campaign for Grade-Level Reading; and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Paula serves on multiple nonprofit boards locally, regionally, statewide, and nationally. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and psychology from the University of Bridgeport, and a master’s degree in organizational behavior from the University of Hartford. She is also a Family Strengthening for Success Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Donald F. Harris - Bloomfield
Donald F. Harris, Jr. was reappointed to the Board by Governor Ned Lamont in February 2021. He serves as Chair of the Board’s Finance, Audit, and Budget Committee, and as a member on the Legislation and Policy Development Committee. Mr. Harris has been an active member of the Bloomfield community for the past 55 years. A graduate of Bloomfield High School, he became a teacher, coach, athletic director, vice principal and principal in the Bloomfield Public Schools. Mr. Harris serves as the chairperson of the Bloomfield Board of Education, and served as the deputy mayor of the Bloomfield Town Council from 2007-2011. He currently serves on the Connecticut Commission on Equity and Opportunity, the Capital Region Education Council Board of Directors, the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education Board of Directors, the Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board, and the Rotary Club. Mr. Harris received a B.S. from Springfield College, and an M.S. and sixth-year degree in education administration from the University of Hartford. His term expires in February 2025.
Gladys B. Labas - Higganum
Dr. Gladys B. Labas was appointed by Governor Ned Lamont in January 2025. She serves as a member on the Board’s Academic Standards and Assessment Committee and the Legislation and Policy Development Committee. Dr. Labas is an associate professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). She previously served as the Director of Equity and Language at the Connecticut State Department of Education, supporting districts in meeting the academic and social-emotional needs of English learners (EL). Over her five-decade career as an educator, Dr. Labas has made a lifelong commitment to bilingual education, where she is known as “La Madrina.” Dr. Labas co-authored Connecticut’s 1978 Bilingual Law, and led its 2015 revision to improve EL students’ access to curriculum. Her educator career has served the urban public school districts of Meriden and New Britain in diverse teacher and administrator roles. Dr. Labas has also built professional development plans for bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs. She was an adjunct professor specializing in English as a Second Language at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Labas has been the recipient of numerous leadership awards, including Connecticut Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents’ awards for service to the Latino community, SCSU outstanding leadership and service awards, Connecticut Association of Schools’ Principal of the Year, and the Milken National Leadership Award. In November 2024, Dr. Labas was honored with a Lifetime Recognition Award by the Multistate Association for Bilingual Education, Northeast (MABE). Dr. Labas earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Puerto Rico, a master’s degree in special education and 092 administrative certification from Central Connecticut State University, and a Ph.D. in bilingual education and linguistics from the University of Connecticut. Her term expires in February 2028.
Dr. John Maduko, Ex Officio - Hartford
Kristen A. Record - Bridgeport
Kristen A. Record was appointed to the Board by Governor Ned Lamont in March 2024. Ms. Record is the 2011 Connecticut Teacher of the Year and has taught in the Stratford Public Schools since 2000. She uses her passion for science to teach Advanced Placement Physics at Bunnell High School, where she models the Latin phrase “cura personalis,” care for the entire person. She serves as a member on the Board’s Accountability and Support Committee and the Legislation and Policy Development Committee. Ms. Record has been the recipient of numerous teaching honors and recognition in Connecticut and nationally. In 2023, she was inducted to the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF), a society that annually honors five of the nation’s most outstanding PreK-12 educators. Ms. Record was also the recipient of the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, which is the nation’s highest honor for pre-college math and science teachers, the National Education Association’s 2015 California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence, and the Connecticut Education Association’s John McCormack Award for Teaching Excellence and Association Activism. In 2012, she was appointed to the Connecticut Legislative Task Force for Secondary School Reform, and then she served on the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Next Generation Science Standards District Advisory Committee from 2014-20. Since 2013, she has been an executive board member of the Connecticut Teacher of the Year Council. She has been an educational consultant for the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, the Connecticut Science Center, the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network, Project Opening Doors, and was the high school area director for the Connecticut Science Teachers Association. Ms. Record is a certified mentor for the Teacher Education and Mentoring (TEAM) Program, a two-year induction program for new teachers that includes mentorship and professional development support. Ms. Record earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Fairfield University and an Ed.M. in Teaching and Learning from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her term expires in February 2028.
Kellie-Marie Vallieres, Ex Officio - East Haddam
Dr. Kelli-Marie Vallieres was appointed to the Board by statute that was signed into law by Governor Lamont and effective July 1, 2021, and serves as an ex officio, nonvoting member. Dr. Vallieres is the chief workforce officer of the newly established Office of Workforce Strategy and the vice chair of the Governor’s Workforce Council. She is an owner of two manufacturing companies, Sound Manufacturing Inc. and Monster Power Equipment, where she served as president and CEO for 14 years before stepping down to take on her new role with the State of Connecticut. Dr. Vallieres has served and presently serves on the board of several organizations. She is president emeritus for the Eastern Advanced Manufacturing Alliance and continues to serve on the board of directors for Eastern Workforce Investment Board. She serves on the Connecticut Department of Labor Apprenticeship Council, the Department of Economic and Community Development Manufacturing Innovation Fund Advisory Committee, and she is an emeritus board member of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. Dr. Vallieres served as a member of the Statewide Advanced Manufacturing Advisory Committee for the state college and university system and worked with Three Rivers Community College to develop their precision sheet metal program and the Early College Opportunity Programs. Dr. Vallieres earned her degree in educational leadership and adult learning from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Vallieres is able to combine her roles in industry and education to develop learning curricula and establish educational pathway programs from secondary through postsecondary educational systems.
Seth D. Zimmerman - New Haven
Dr. Seth D. Zimmerman was appointed to the Board by Governor Ned Lamont in December 2023. Dr. Zimmerman serves as a supporting member on the Accountability and Support Committee. He is a professor of economics at the Yale School of Management. He studies labor economics and public finance with a focused interest in the economics of education, and his research centers on the design, implementation, and evaluation of education policy. Dr. Zimmerman previously taught economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is an academic advisor at two nonprofit organizations, RIPL and ConsiliumBots, where data, science, and technology are used to help policymakers make better-informed decisions; he conducts ongoing research projects with these organizations. Dr. Zimmerman earned a B.A. in mathematics and social science from Dartmouth College and holds a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. He has authored and co-authored a number of published academic papers. Dr. Zimmerman is a recipient of two National Science Foundation Grants. His term expires in February 2027.
Charlene Russell-Tucker, Secretary - Guilford
Charlene M. Russell-Tucker was appointed by Governor Ned Lamont as Commissioner for the Connecticut State Department of Education in August 2021. Until her appointment, she served as Acting Commissioner from March through August. Prior to serving as Acting Commissioner, she served as the Department’s Deputy Commissioner, a role in which she oversaw educational supports and wellness priorities. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer and Division Chief for the Department's Office of Student Supports and Organizational Effectiveness. She also served as Associate Commissioner of Education and Bureau Chief within the Department, previously overseeing a portfolio of programs and services that included student health, nutrition and safety, family engagement, magnet and charter schools, afterschool programs and services, school climate, adult education, and special education. She is a performance-driven and visionary education leader with over 20 years’ experience in successfully leveraging the inter-connectedness of the social, emotional, physical, and mental health of students and their families as foundations for positive school and life outcomes. She passionately supports family and community engagement in education and has successfully led school attendance and school discipline initiatives with intensive focus on equity and diversity. Ms. Russell-Tucker has participated on various state and national committees, such as the Connecticut General Assembly Committee on Children Strategic Action Group on Chronic Absence, and she has served as an expert panel member on committees of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She has also served in the role of president of the Connecticut Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and as a member of the national Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Ms. Russell-Tucker has extensive teaching experience, formerly serving as an adjunct faculty member at Albertus Magnus College School of New Dimensions.