Matt Montaño is superintendent of Bernalillo Public Schools in New Mexico, the same district where he began his career as a substitute teacher and served as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal.

Prior to returning to Bernalillo Public Schools, Montaño was deputy commissioner of special populations at the Texas Education Agency, where he oversaw efforts to strengthen and support special education throughout the state. That work encompassed programs at every level of the public education system and involved close collaboration with students, families, and teachers, as well as campus- and district-level administrators.

Montaño also served as deputy secretary of teaching and learning at the New Mexico Public Education Department. Before that, he was the state education department’s director of educator quality. In that role, Montaño managed the bureaus of professional licensure, professional ethics, and professional development; Indian education; bilingual/multicultural education; virtual schools; instructional materials; and math and science.

Montaño holds a master’s in special education from the College of Santa Fe and a bachelor’s in history and religion from the University of New Mexico. He is a member of the second cohort of the Future Chiefs leadership development program.