CRAIG HARPER

Following the unexpected passing of Executive Director Allene Magill in February 2018, the PAGE Board of Directors appointed Craig Harper to the role.  Prior to his appointment, Harper had been serving as the director of communications with additional administrative responsibilities supporting Magill and other PAGE service areas. Magill and Harper had worked closely together in the district where she was superintendent before her selection as PAGE executive director.

Harper’s school district background spanned organizational administration, human resources, policy, legal liaison, professional learning, safety, communications, and media relations. PAGE’s membership, services, and staff had expanded significantly during Magill’s tenure, which began in 2003. She trusted that Harper’s experience paralleled PAGE’s future leadership needs and would serve as a smooth transition following her anticipated retirement.

Since Harper assumed leadership, PAGE and the public education sector have endured extraordinary trials. Chief among them was the COVID-19 global pandemic, which placed immense strain on educators. As a result, requests for legal services increased significantly, with members needing guidance on health and workplace safety, the transition to virtual instruction, staffing difficulties, and other pressing matters tied to membership support.

During his tenure as executive director, Harper has placed particular emphasis on enhanced individual member benefit, in addition to foundational legal representation and liability coverage.

Every PAGE member should know that their association provides meaningful benefits that bring value to their professional experience well-beyond legal services.

“Every PAGE member should know that their association provides meaningful benefits that bring value to their professional experience well-beyond legal services,” says Harper. “PAGE members benefit from our advocacy with the legislature and other educator-related state agencies, professional learning, coaching, grants, scholarships, and recognition.

“My goal is that membership is an active relationship, taking advantage of all that PAGE offers, rather than being viewed as a passive insurance plan activated only when something related to employment or certification needs to be addressed.”

Two significant member benefits Harper has initiated during his tenure are one-to-one professional coaching and an educator grant program that awards up to $100,000 annually in cumulative funds to members.

PAGE Coaching assists members facing professional challenges that occur outside of legal assistance for which knowledgeable, professional guidance can make a difference. A cohort of highly experienced coaches is available for confidential consultation. PAGE coaches have served as teachers, curriculum directors, special education directors, instructional support teachers, human resources directors, counselors, social workers, federal programs directors, and superintendents.

The PAGE Educator Grant program distributes up to $100,000 each school year in the form of individual $500 awards to members. The grants fund additional resources for classrooms, professional learning, and special projects for which school or other funding sources are unavailable. In the five years since the program’s inception, PAGE has given away nearly a half-million dollars.

Other enhanced member supports include an additional full-time advocacy position, virtual and in-person professional learning sessions, increased monetary awards at all recognition levels of the STAR (Student and Teacher Achievement Recognition) program, and support of teacher pipeline initiatives through FGE (Future Georgia Educators) and the Georgia Department of Education’s Teach in the Peach efforts.

“It’s my honor to serve PAGE and our members, especially during this milestone anniversary,” says Harper. “Besides our longstanding commitment to our core services, PAGE will continue to initiate new benefits and services that meet the needs and challenges of Georgia’s professional educators.”