Board continues to prefer a Kentuckian for the job

This from CNHI's Ronnie Ellis in the Richmond Register:

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The chairman of the Kentucky Board of Education said 45 applicants are seeking to become Kentucky’s education commissioner, “the majority of them Kentuckians.”

The board, which went through an abortive hiring earlier this year only to see Dr. Barbara Erwin at the last moment decline the position after questions were raised by the media about errors on her resume and working relationships in previous assignments, has made no secret of preferring a Kentucky applicant for the position....

...{Chairman Joe] Brothers said that “all things being equal, we would prefer someone from Kentucky. We’re particularly interested in somebody that understands KERA and how that has developed since 1990. And while we’re aware that people from outside the state may have some knowledge of it, people who have lived through it obviously should have an advantage.”

Brothers said the board will hire an outside firm to conduct background investigations on the applicants it considers, but the board itself will ultimately check into those to avoid the embarrassment of the Erwin situation. Her resume contained errors and other misleading information and some with whom she worked in Texas, Arizona and Illinois gave widely divergent evaluations of her performance. Those problems weren’t disclosed by a professional search firm hired by the board during the initial search...

...He said the board continues to shoot toward naming a finalist for the position by Nov. 13. He said the possibility of a new governor-elect by that time shouldn’t change the board’s plans to name a new commissioner as soon as possible.

“Obviously, we’d be interested in his thoughts,” Brothers said, referring to the possibility that Steve Beshear and not Ernie Fletcher might win the Nov. 6 election. “All governors can have input, but the bottom line is we’re an independent board and we’re not choosing someone on the basis of political affiliation. We’re looking at their credentials and the person who is best for the state.”