No decision on new education commissioner

Local News

July 8, 2009

State board expects to decide at its July 17 meeting

By RONNIE ELLIS The Commonwealth Journal Wed Jul 08, 2009, 05:17 PM EDT

LEXINGTON — None of the four finalists for the job of commissioner of education came away with the job after the state board interviewed each of them Wednesday.

But Kentucky Board of Education Chairman Joe Brothers said he is “confident” the board will choose and announce their choice at a July 17 board meeting.

“We have not selected anyone – we still have four (candidates),” Brothers told reporters after the day long meeting which began around 7 a.m. and didn’t end until after 4 p.m.

“We plan to come together on (July) 17th and make that decision,” Brothers said.

The four are Dr. Dennis W. Cheek, currently the senior fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo.; Dr. Terry Holliday, Superintendent of Iredell-Statesville Schools in Statesville, N. Car.; Dr. Catherine Cross Maple, deputy cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Public Education Dept.; and Michael Sentance, who was the secretary’s regional representative of the U.S. Department of Education.

Cheek, 54, has been away from direct education involvement for a while and has written articles about the controversy over teaching the creation theory or evolution in schools.

He said there is evidence of evolution in view “all around us,” but that a free society tolerates different views of people from different religious backgrounds. But evolution should be taught as part of the science curriculum.

Brothers said the board was aware of questions about Cheek’s writings on the subject and had discussed it with him during his interview. He said Cheek has “apparently written things on both sides of that issue. Currently, he’s quite comfortable with the evolution component.”

Brothers said there have been no surprises about any of the candidates and the board is united about the process of hiring a new commissioner to succeed John Draud who resigned last year for health reasons.

He also said the board hasn’t questioned its choice of four finalists from outside Kentucky, something which has been criticized. He said there was “some but not much” discussion of the criticism at Wednesday’s meeting.

Brothers said the board “discussed that issue previously,” at the time it settled on the four finalists. He said the board would have preferred finalists from Kentucky but felt the four they came up with were the most qualified applicants.

Both Maple and Holiday praised the board after their interviews and said Kentucky’s efforts at education reform made the job attractive to them. Each said they were drawn to the opportunity to lead a statewide education system.

“This is my pinnacle job, this is the job I’ve always gone after, leading at the state level,” Holliday said. Holliday, who is 58, said if he’s hired he expects to remain in the job for at least nine years.

Both Holliday and Maple said the recently passed Senate Bill 1 which requires the state to focus more deeply on fewer education standards represents the next step in Kentucky’s education reform.

“It’s a way to re-vamp and move forward with Kentucky’s education environment,” she said.

Brothers said the board will continue to do background checks on the applicants and review information and data it has requested from the four finalists.

But he said he’s confident the board will choose the next commissioner at its next meeting, scheduled for Friday, July 17 at the board’s offices in Frankfort.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com

Text Only

Local News

Visitors rave about beauty of Lake Cumberland in May
May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Mopar Mania to highlight Cruise
May 25, 2012 1 Photo
‘Dry’ forces concerned about wet signs
May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Pulaski’s Memorial Day weekend to be packed
May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Locally-born Rotary leader Pigman dies at 78
May 24, 2012
Technology summit gets underway
May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Local Democrats diss Obama
May 23, 2012
Floyd edges incumbent in city council run-off
May 23, 2012
Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

May 22, 2012 1 Photo
Pine Knot man leads law enforcement on chase
May 22, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

No decision on new education commissioner

State board expects to decide at its July 17 meeting

Site Map