Robert King out as UW System president finalist
Robert King
is out as a candidate for the job of president of the University of Wisconsin
System, leaving Ray Cross and Peter Garland as the only known finalists.
Some on campus and in
Madison raised questions about King’s background as a conservative politician
in New York and officeholder on the American Legislative Exchange Council,
which promotes pro-business, free-market legislation. But he earned praise from
at least one Kentucky lawmaker who has worked with him.
Spokeswoman Sue Patrick
of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education confirmed Wednesday that
King was no longer in the running for the top System job.
Since 2009, King has
been president of the Kentucky council and will remain in that job.
“He was very honored to
have been considered,” Patrick wrote in an email.
It was not known if King
was informed he wasn’t getting the job — a Board of Regents committee was
expected to settle on a choice Tuesday at a closed meeting — or if he withdrew
before the Regents’ meeting.
The full Board of
Regents is expected to meet in closed session late Thursday afternoon and
announce its pick after the meeting.
Efforts to reach Cross
and Garland on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
King was considered the
most unconventional and controversial finalist partly for his background — he’s
a lawyer who doesn’t have a Ph.D., as is usual for top academic leaders — but
mostly for one line deep in his resume. In describing his tenure as a
Republican Assemblyman in New York during the 1980s and early 1990s, King noted
that he was a member of a task force on education reform sponsored by ALEC.
ALEC is a group of
legislators and business executives that promotes free-market legislation in
states. It has faced increasing scrutiny from liberal critics who have decried
the group’s practice of lawmakers and corporate sponsors crafting model state
legislation behind closed doors.
Common Core standards —
which cover math and English — were adopted in Wisconsin in 2010 and are in place
in 44 other states. Some conservatives have argued that the standards are too
weak and amount to a nationalization of education. Teachers and liberals have
criticized the standards, too.
“He’s been a strong
advocate on issues people on the right advocate against,” Graham said. “He’s
worked well with the Legislature here.”
Kentucky has a
Democratic governor and a split statehouse. Republicans run the Senate;
Democrats run the House.
The news, however,
delighted some in academia who raised questions about King’s past.
“Sigh of relief,” said
Barry Orton, a longtime UW-Madison professor, on his reaction. “I’m not saying
he wouldn’t be a good president, but I think he would be problematic in terms
of the university faculty, at a minimum.”
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