Anita Skop was compelled to pursue a career in education from a young age. As a 3-year-old child, she played with her dolls by lining them up and pretending to teach them using a small blackboard. Ms. Skop is grateful that her parents were invested in her education, which she views as an equalizer and building block of success. Her love for teaching led her to spend more than 35 years in the field, including two decades as a member of the faculty for education at Touro University in New York. Most recently, she was a senior adviser to the deputy chancellor of the New York City Department of Education. Ms. Skop excelled in this position from 2022 until her retirement in 2023.
Leading a prolific career in public education, Ms. Skop held numerous roles in Community School District 21 between 1985 and 2001, including serving as a first-grade teacher, second-grade teacher, globe center teacher, and staff developer. As a burgeoning educational administrator, she accepted a role as the director of literacy and social studies with Community School District 19, after which she became a regional instructional specialist for Region 5 of the New York City Department of Education. Ms. Skop ascended to the role of local instructional superintendent for Region 5 before becoming the lead senior achievement facilitator for the New York City Department of Education in 2007. From 2009 to 2022, she was a community superintendent with District 15. Following her retirement, Ms. Skop continues to serve as an adjunct professor and educational adviser at Touro University, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate online classes and has done so since 2002.
With a high school background in the arts, Ms. Skop matriculated at Brooklyn College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, with a minor in education, in 1985. She followed this achievement with graduate studies at Adelphi University, obtaining a Master of Science in special education in 1993. Concluding her higher education, Ms. Skop received an advanced certificate in administration from Brooklyn College in 1999. Alongside her primary professional roles, she leveraged her presentation and explanatory skills as an instructor with the Midwood Development Program from 1987 to 1994 and as a presenter with city-wide Project Read workshops.
Lauded for her accomplishments, Ms. Skop was named to the Power Women List in 2022 and received the Educators for Student Success Educational Leadership Award the same year. With numerous accolades and honors to her credit, she was bestowed the Shirley Chisholm Women of Excellence Award in 2018 and a Distinguished Educator Award in 2002. In 1994, Ms. Skop was recognized for her achievements as the New York State Teacher of the Year and was named an Outstanding Educator by the United Federation of Teachers. Among multiple additional recognitions, she received the Marquis Who’s Who Humanitarian Award and was designated as a Marquis Who’s Who Top Educator. Further, Ms. Skop received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, commemorating her decades of excellence both in the classroom and as an academic administrator.
Always active in her professional community, Ms. Skop has been a member of the Request For Proposal (professionally known as an RFP) Evaluation Committee since 1998. She was involved with the Professional Development Design Institute from 2001 to 2004 and the New York City School Standards Initiative from 1999 to 2003. Serving on the Chancellor’s Committee on Special Education in 1995, Ms. Skop was a member of the selection committee for the New York State Teacher of the Year Award from 1995 to 1996. She has employed her kind and caring nature throughout her career to share her knowledge with students as effectively as possible. She is careful to always remain open to new ideas and perspectives. This mindset extends to her community at large as she currently serves as the corresponding secretary for two local organizations, the Rockland County Senior Club and the Forever Young Group.
Ms. Skop knows firsthand the impact a great educator can have on students, and she urges aspiring educators to enter the field only if they have a genuine love for children. She also advises that maintaining high expectations for every student is vital to success as a teacher. Among her long list of accomplishments, Ms. Skop implemented a diversity plan during her tenure as a superintendent, which created more equity in the application process and helped foster communal development. She is proud to have accompanied one of her chancellors to Washington, D.C., where the chancellor addressed the U.S. Congress. Attributing her success to her husband, who has always believed in her and supported her career ambitions, Ms. Skop also credits multiple mentors, including former New York City Chancellor Carmen Fariña.
