Dr. Odette Piñeiro is the former Secretary of Puerto Rico Department of Education

Puerto Rico Department of Education

The Puerto Rico Department of Education is the department of Puerto Rico's government which manages state-operated schools in the United States commonwealth. The department is the equivalent of a state department of education and only one of two composed of a single school district...

 , appointed by Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 Luis Fortuño

Luis Fortuño

Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...

 on December 14, 2009, confirmed by the Senate of Puerto Rico

Senate of Puerto Rico

The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...

 on December 18, 2009 and sworn in by Secretary of State

Secretary of State

Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....

 Kenneth McClintock

Kenneth McClintock

Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...

 on December 30, 2009. She succeeded Dr. Carlos A. Chardón

Carlos A. Chardón

for Dr. Carlos E. Chardón, the first Puerto Rican mycologist and the first Puerto Rican to hold the position of Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, see: Carlos E. Chardón.Dr. Carlos A...

, who served as Fortuño's first Secretary of Education, and served until her resignation on May 28, 2010.

A majority party senator, Larry Seilhamer joined seven minority party legislators in opposing her confirmation. Nevertheless, she was confirmed in a 20-8 vote. Prior to her confirmation, she had been sworn in under a recess appointment five days before so that she could immediately take office and tackle multiple issues that the United States Department of Education

United States Department of Education

The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...

 was requiring be resolved by December 31, 2009.

Piñeiro is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez in Spanish , is a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant state university located in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico...

, and Penn State University in Pennsylvania. In 1988, she married Jesús Edgardo Colón

Jesús Edgardo Colón

Jesús Edgardo Colón is the mayor of Orocovis, Puerto Rico. A Democrat, he has served as a delegate to several Democratic National Conventions and campaigned actively for Hillary Clinton prior to Puerto Rico's 2008 Democratic presidential primary....

, the current mayor of Orocovis, Puerto Rico

Orocovis, Puerto Rico

Orocovis is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range, north of Villalba and Coamo; south of Morovis and Corozal; southeast of Ciales; east of Jayuya; and west of Barranquitas...

, with whom she has two sons, both college students, one at Penn State and the other in Puerto Rico. She served as the town's First Lady

First Lady

First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...

 until her separation several years ago. As an educational researcher and consultant, she has worked in Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 and Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, including a stint as an educational advisor to the U.S. territory's Senate under the presidencies of Kenneth McClintock and Thomas Rivera Schatz

Thomas Rivera Schatz

Thomas "Tommy" Rivera Schätz is a Puerto Rican politician currently serving as the fourteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the United States Republican Party...

.

Piñeiro was forced to resign as Secretary of Education on May 28, 2010.