This from the
Courier-Journal:
The Kentucky Board of Education is vetting Christopher Koch and
Stephen Pruitt as the two finalists who are still up for consideration
to potentially become Kentucky's next education commissioner.
Three
of the five candidates who were granted second-round interviews in the
hunt for Kentucky's next education commissioner have said they did not
make the finalist list, leaving only Pruitt and Koch in the running for
the state's top education gig.
On
Wednesday, three candidates — Kathleen Airhart, Buddy Berry and Lloyd
Martin — told the Courier-Journal that they were not finalists for the
job.
That leaves Koch, the former Illinois State
Superintendent of Education and current interim president of the Council
for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, and Pruitt, senior vice
president with nonpartisan education reform organization Achieve Inc.,
as the two finalists.
Neither man returned calls or emails requesting comment Wednesday.
The
board has commissioned in-depth background checks on the two finalists,
which are likely to take a few weeks and cost about $5,000 per
candidate, the Kentucky Department of Education has said.
Once those checks are complete, the board will hold a special meeting to take the next step in the process.
Board
chairman Roger Marcum told the Courier-Journal last week that the board
didn't plan to publicly name the two finalists, although it was up to
candidates if they wanted to self-identify.
Airhart,
deputy commissioner and chief operating officer for the Tennessee
Department of Education, said she "greatly appreciated" the board's
consideration and time, saying she had not sought out the Kentucky
education commissioner position but that she thought the board had a
"very thorough interview process and I was honored to be a small part of
it."
Berry, superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools in Eminence, Ky., and the
only candidate from the Bluegrass State to get a second interview,
released a statement confirming he is not one of the two remaining in
the commissioner search, saying that being selected to go so far in the
process "is one of the most humbling honors of my life."
"I
feel Kentucky stands poised for unprecedented educational
achievements," Berry said in the statement. "While I'm disappointed not
to be chosen, Kentucky is, and always will be, my home and I can't thank
the Kentucky Board of Education enough for allowing me to be a part of
the conversation for its future."
Martin, who is founder
and chief executive officer of the consultancy firm Universal School
Solutions LLC, said by phone that he was not one of the two finalists;
he declined to comment any further on the process.
Interim
education commissioner Kevin Brown is heading the Kentucky Department
of Education until a new leader is chosen. Former commissioner Terry
Holliday, who held the position for about six years, retired at the end
of August.
Pruitt has worked at Achieve Inc. since 2010.
He has been senior vice president since 2013. He previously worked in
the Georgia Department of Education, serving in a number of roles,
including chief of staff and associate state superintendent. He holds a
doctorate in chemistry education from Auburn University.
Koch spent more than eight years as the State Superintendent of Education in Illinois,
becoming one of the longest-serving state school chiefs in the country.
Before that tenure, he worked in other roles for the Illinois education
agency, and for a few years in the 1990s worked as an education program
specialist with the U.S. Department of Education, according to his
resume. He has a doctorate of education from George Washington
University.
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