Jane was born and raised in Winston-Salem, N.C. She has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Math, Education and Psychology from UNC - Chapel Hill, a M.Ed. in Educational Research from USC - Columbia, and a J.D. in Law from Wake Forest University.
Over the past 30 years, Jane has worked in a number of capacities in public education in South Carolina as a teacher, a college professor and administrator, a State Department of Education administrator and staff attorney, and legal counsel to school districts. She served on CERRA’s Board of Directors for a number of years, including two as Board chair.
Turner served as CERRA's Executive Director from August 2011 – March 2021. She stepped down from the Executive Director position, effective March 1, 2021, and is serving in a transition/support role until her full retirement in August 2021.