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Florida Names Interim Education Commissioner After Resignation
August 3, 2013
The State Board of Education quickly installed Public Schools Chancellor Pam Stewart as interim education commissioner Friday, returning her to the post she held before Tony Bennett was tapped for the permanent job late last year.
Bennett resigned Thursday in the wake of reports that, while the elected superintendent of public instruction in Indiana, he tweaked that state’s school grading system to benefit a school founded by one of Bennett’s political contributors.
The board unanimously backed Stewart during a conference call, even as some members lamented the loss of Bennett.
“I can assure you that I did everything possible to convince Tony Bennett to stay on with us,” board Chairman Gary Chartrand told the group.
Another member, Kathleen Shanahan, said the board should begin looking at its accountability system and its commitment to a multi-state consortium developing a new test for students, following Bennett’s decision to step aside.
“It’s a mess, and I think a mess provides an opportunity,” Shanahan said.
Legislative leaders had called for the state to pull out of the exam shortly before Bennett’s resignation. Meanwhile, Democrats and the Florida Education Association called for the state to go back to choosing its education commissioner in statewide elections.
“For more than a decade the office has been relegated to a political appointment, and as we have just seen, is subject to the latest political whims,” FEA President Andy Ford said in a statement backing the proposal. “The appointed commissioner is not accountable to parents, not accountable to students, not accountable to educators and not accountable to taxpayers.”
Comments
One Response to “Florida Names Interim Education Commissioner After Resignation”
<Maybe a move in the right direction is Ms Shanahan's thought of electing our commissioner. A bill was introduced last year but got very little backing. I think some R's need to get off Jeb's bus and on to one that puts kids first. Now is the time to start thinking of election 2014 and who we want to lead our school system.