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Dr. José L. Dotres is a nationally recognized educational leader with more than three decades of experience advancing student achievement, strengthening schools, developing leaders, and expanding educational opportunity. His career in public education culminated in his service as Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), the third-largest school district in the nation and one of the most diverse school systems in the United States.
As Superintendent, Dr. Dotres led a complex organization serving more than 300,000 students and supported by 40,000 employees. His leadership centered on academic excellence, choice, accountability, innovation, and strong support for principals, teachers, and school communities. During his tenure, M-DCPS sustained districtwide A ratings and achieved a graduation rate of approximately 95 percent, reflecting a continued focus on instructional quality and measurable student outcomes.
Dr. Dotres guided major initiatives to accelerate learning and broaden opportunities for students. These included targeted academic interventions, college- and career-readiness programs, internships, apprenticeships, career and technical education, magnet programs, and partnerships with higher education and employers. He also supported efforts to strengthen the educator pipeline, including partnerships with multiple universities and grant-funded initiatives.
A significant priority of his educational agenda was early childhood education. Dr. Dotres supported expanded access to high-quality early-learning programs, literacy, professional development, and instructional quality in the primary grades. He views early learning and literacy as foundational to long-term academic success and to closing opportunity gaps.
Throughout his career, Dr. Dotres has emphasized leadership development, professional learning, teacher recruitment and sustaining a positive organizational culture. His approach combines strategic vision with an understanding of teaching and learning, human capital and community engagement. He has led through significant challenges, including pandemic learning loss, teacher shortages, enrollment shifts, legislative change, fiscal pressures, and heightened public scrutiny, while maintaining a steady focus on students and schools.
At the center of Dr. Dotres’s leadership is a belief in the transformative power of public education. He brings to future educational organizations a record of leading at scale, improving systems, expanding opportunity, developing talent, building partnerships, and translating ambitious goals into meaningful results for students, families and communities.
