Kentucky Board of Education reassesses

Travis delivers the quotes I've been waiting for

The Kentucky Board of Education voted 9-0 last night to accept the resignation of Barbara Erwin.

After a 2 1/2 hour closed session, they decided to start an immediate search for an interim education commissioner. Kevin Noland, the head of legal services for KDE, has his other full-time job he wants to get back to.

Board chair Keith Travis told the Herald-Leader that he hopes to have a person in place within two weeks.

Travis also said the board was not under pressure to find a permanent replacement and stressed that board members want a Kentucky educator to apply.

If the overall quality of the field produced by the recent national search was as shallow as it seems, one can understand the board's reluctance. And of course, once burned; twice shy. Board members now say they won't use Ray & Associates, which cost Kentucky $50,000, and aren't sure whether they will use a search firm at all.

Travis had been quoted saying he wouldn't call Erwin's hiring a mistake, but yesterday changed his tune when he said that he did not think Erwin was the best person for the job. He told the Courier-Journal that the board tried to give Erwin the benefit of the doubt.

Travis said that he started to question whether Erwin was right for the job after talking with her about the investigation. "We relied heavily on a search firm to provide us information, and probably relied on them too much."

Travis said neither he nor the board encouraged Erwin to resign but that he did have a conversation with her early Friday morning, questioning her about all of the distractions. "The board was having serious concerns about her ability to provide leadership with all of these other issues going on in her life," he said. "At some point, all of these items become cumulative and certainly the one on Wednesday (the missing personnel file) was the icing on the cake."

AT LAST !

Travis told the Courier-Journal, "We want Kentucky educators to apply. We think that message was loud and clear from the constituents across the commonwealth (last time) and certainly as we press toward proficiency, we would hope a Kentucky educator would be the best leader to know the system and lead us to that level in 2014."

(Hummmm. OK, but through this whole process I've never heard anyone mention that the problems related to Erwin were the result of her not being from Kentucky. Erwin's problems were because of Erwin. If we're serious about getting all Kentucky students to proficiency by 2014 - or at least getting close - the leadership we really need starts with David Williams and Jody Richards.)

H-L reported that several education advocates urged the board to take their time, and said because it's a gubernatorial election year, they should even consider waiting until after the next election is over.

"From the get-go, appointing a new commissioner, in the middle of an election, was a bad idea," said Al Smith, host of Comment on Kentucky, who also was critical of the search process in his columns.

Here are today's articles from the Herald-Leader and the Courier-Journal.
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OK ... So if the focus shifts to a Kentucky educator...there are only a couple of possible candidates - right? New guy (Berman) in Jefferson - he's out. The next biggest district - and the only other one that approaches the management scale we're talking about is Fayette County. Silberman, who has shown some character and passed on the opportunity to apply last time, is three years into a ten-year pledge to serve Lexington folks. That leaves.......?

Silberman may need to be begged and absolved, but...

Here's my trade scenario: Silberman from Fayette County to KDE; Marcum from Marion County to Fayette County.