Three finalists picked for education chief

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports:

The state board of education released the names of three finalists for the commissioner of education position, at the urging of Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Barbara Erwin, superintendent of St. Charles community Unit District 303 in Illinois, began her career as a teacher in 1971. She previously was superintendent in various settings in Indiana, Texas and Arizona and was principal of an elementary school.

Mitchell Chester, the senior associate state superintendent for the Ohio Department of Education's Office of Policy and Accountability, is the department's chief contact for implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. He previously was executive director for accountability and assessment for the Philadelphia school district and chief of the Connecticut Department of Education Bureau of Curriculum and Instructional Programs.

Richard La Pointe, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education, previously was superintendent of public instruction in Virginia, where he developed a nationally recognized education-reform package. He also served as director of the Fund for the Improvement and Reform of Schools and Teaching, a federal discretionary fund to promote elementary and secondary reforms.

And this from the Courier-Journal.