Jason Bing believes an education shouldn’t be about just getting a diploma.
“I’m a firm believer that getting a high school diploma shouldn’t be the bar. We have to go beyond that,” said Bing, who was recently hired to be superintendent of the South Orange and Maplewood School District. “Whatever I’m doing in the classroom, I want it to be important beyond the classroom.”
Bing believes it’s important to get the students ready for the working world in whatever form that might take for an individual. He believes in internships,
apprenticeships, developing pipelines and working with organizations like the New Jersey Technology & Manufacturing Association so students are up to date with what is needed in the workforce. He has already met with the manager of a local bank to talk about internships for students.
He said top priorities facing the district include transportation and issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“I’m meeting with as many people and groups as I can to develop a network of resources,” he said. “My main goal is to build community and relationships, once you’ve done that the work gets easier.”
A Summit resident, the 54-year-old Bing is married to a fellow educator and the father of an 11-year-old daughter.
He is a Union Twp. native, graduate of Union High School, Class of 1987. He was an outfielder on the baseball team for Union High and played during his freshman year at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst.
“I loved it,” Bing said of the University of Massachusetts. “My brother was at Amherst (College) and my cousin was at UMass. He was a soccer player. His picture was everywhere.”
Bing said he was a pre-law student in college and applied to law schools but took a year off and began substitute teaching in Elizabeth.
“I wanted to be a defense attorney and help the under represented but I found out I could do that through education,” he said.
He continued with his own education, eventually earning two master’s degrees from Kean University, one in instruction and curriculum and another in educational leadership, and got his first full time job teaching in North Plainfield.
“That’s where I did all of my teaching,” he said. “Fourth and fifth grade.”
Bing taught for eight years there and was one of only three male teachers on staff.
“We had a men’s room on our floor and one day the female staff just took it over. I walked in and there was potpourri,” he said.
After he had gotten his supervisor certification as part of the masters program at Kean, he took his first administrative job in Phillipsburg as a kindergarten to eighth grade supervisor.
“It was a chance to have an impact on more students,” he said.
Phillipsburg was an Abbott District, a poor community where the education had been found to be inadequate and required state funding to be put on par with wealthier districts.
“We worked closely with the state,” Bing said. “Our main goal was achievement, bringing students who were under served to a higher achievement level. We made some great progress in ELA (English Language Arts) and math scores.”
Among the techniques employed was a multi sensory approach which had the students writing in sand or in the air so the lesson would make a deeper connection.
Bing was in Phillipsburg for four years before he took a job in the Great Meadows Regional School District as director of curriculum and special education.
“I was working for Tracey Severns,” Bing said. “She was the superintendent.”
Severens went on to become the chief academic officer for the New Jersey Department of Education.
Bing said he learned a lot from Severens and was hired as superintendent of the district when she left the job.
“I learned how to build a team and the importance of community building,” he said. “There were really wonderful people in that district.”
Among the things Bing learned, he said, were the importance of amplifying voices, of face to face meetings, of collaborative leadership and shared decision making.
“For me, it’s important to get as many entities involved as possible,” he said.
After six years in Great Meadows, four as superintendent, Bing moved to Barnegat Township School District, which had just split from the Southern Regional School District and become its own entity.
“They were the newest district in the state,” Bing said. “It was a great opportunity, everything was new.”
After three years in Barnegat, Bing moved up to the Bloomfield School District for the superintendent’s job which he held for three years.
“I ran out the contract and had the opportunity to go to Jersey City, which is where my parents grew up and grandparents lived,” Bing said. The job in that 29,000 student district was as chief academic officer and he worked for Marcia V. Lyles, who went on to become a deputy chancellor in the New York City school system.
“I’d had some good success with equity in Bloomfield,” Bing said. “Lyles was an equity guru. It was the best move I ever made for my growth. I learned more about equity in those eight and a half years than I did in all the classes and reading I had done on my own.”
Lyles said Bing took the lead on many instructional initiatives. “He was instrumental in developing an innovative instructional technology focus, and worked with higher education and members of the business community to help our students to become college and career ready,” she said.
“He is a thoughtful, intelligent and collaborative team player and consensus builder, and worked well with educators, parents, community leaders and Board members. He also has a wonderful sense of humor,” Lyles said. Bing’s definition of equity is everybodying having the same opportunity.
“Everybody has different needs, you have to personalize the learning,” he said.
Closing the achievement gap was the goal and while Bing was there state assessment scores rose and suspension rates dropped.
“The number of black and brown students taking AP (advanced placement) courses increased and the number passing also increased,” he said. Bing also increased the number of career and technical educational opportunities.
“Workforce development and readiness are things every district needs to work on,” he said. “And the idea that one size fits all.”
Among the highlights, for Bing, was the creation of early college programming, which allowed some students to get an associates degree as they received their high school diploma. This was mainly aimed at B and C students who sometimes fall through the gaps as A students have lots of opportunities and D students are offered lots of help, he said.
He left Jersey City in 2021 to become a county superintendent in Dutchess County, N.Y.
“What caught my attention there was a big focus on career and technical education,” he said.
The open job in South Orange and Maplewood had a particular appeal to Bing, having grown up in Union with a grandmother and aunt in Maplewood.
“Aside from the familial history, the work they are doing here really lit my fire,” he said.
Board of Education President Qawi Telesford said that Bing’s experience and qualifications in curriculum development and educational administration align well with the District’s mission.
“What impressed the Board most was Mr. Bing’s profound understanding of various educational topics, including curriculum and instruction, special education, the budgetary process, and community engagement,” said Telesford, who also cited Bing’s dedication to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Bing said the South Orange Maplewood district has the resources; the parents, community, faculty and administration are all involved.
“You’ve really got some vested people who want to see this thing through,” Bing said. “And we have a good board (of education) right now who want what is best for our kids.”
In addition to creating opportunities for students through internships and apprenticeships, the district should also try to help them socially and with mental health issues as well as academics.
“We are seeing more and more (mental health problems) since the pandemic,” he said. “We need to make sure students feel safe. Then we can build relationships with them.”
There is the opportunity for greatness in the district, he said.
“To me this could be one of the top districts in the nation,” he said. “If we get this right, we could be a model for other districts in the country.”
Making SOMA a model for the country added by Joe Ungaro on
View all posts by Joe Ungaro →