David G. Esquith has been the director of the Office of Safe and Healthy Students, an agency formerly known as the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, since January 30, 2012. The office is located in the Department of Education and reports to the assistant secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Born circa 1951 and hailing from the state of New York, Esquith did doctoral work in Education at the University of Kansas, completing all requirements except a dissertation in 1986. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer and has worked as a special education teacher and administrator. He has also been a lobbyist for the Association for Retarded Citizens (now known as The Arc) and a congressional aide.

Esquith served in the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services for 23 years, including in the Office of Special Education Programs, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). He served as a special advisor to the NIDRR director, as well as NIDRR’s deputy director. After the Department re-organized RSA in 2005, Esquith served as director of the State Monitoring and Program Improvement Division. He also completed an extended detail at the Office of Management and Budget as a program examiner.

Esquith is married to Kathryn Gingles, with whom he has two daughters, Sally and Daisy; he also has two sons and one daughter from a previous marriage.

-Matt Bewig

Official Biography

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