José Burgos is a 2026-2027 Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellow and multilingual study skills teacher at Rock Island High School in Rock Island, Illinois. He serves on the building leadership team and the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports committee. In the past, José served as a high school and college Spanish teacher, youth leadership development coordinator, academic consultant, community organizer, teacher trainer, and English as a Second Language teacher in Illinois, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. He earned the Talentum Award (2011), Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages scholarship from the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela (2016), and Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund award from the U.S. Embassy in Honduras (2018). José serves on the Illinois Education Association-National Education Association resolutions committee. He earned a BA in English as a second language education from the Pedagogical University of Venezuela and MA in linguistics from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
