Interview Week

On Monday and Tuesday, the State Board of Education will meet in executive session to interview candidates for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This is the most critical single decision that the Board makes, and it shouldn’t be prejudged.

Board members were provided nearly 900 pages of material on the 44 candidates who originally applied. I’ve posted links to the briefing books and identified the page numbers relating to the eight candidates being interviewed. Based on my reading of their files, I have an idea which of the candidates I would be inclined to support. Continue reading “Interview Week”

Teacher Appreciation Week

At NEOEA’s Spring Retired Conference on Wednesday, former Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland asked retired members about their impressions of education. In the conversation that followed, it was clear that the passion for education still burns in these folks long after their school careers.

Overtesting, merit pay, attacks on unions, prescriptive teacher evaluation, alternative licensure, scripted instruction–they all stem from the mistaken belief that the shortcomings of schools are attributable to poor teachers.

I think that most parents and virtually all teachers will agree that the remedies we’re trying, and the procedures required to implement them, raise more problems than they solve.

The start  of  Teacher Appreciation Week seems like a good time to acknowledge that teachers aren’t the problem–they’re the solution.

This post originally appeared on the website of my 2016 campaign for State Board of Education, http://bill4board.us.

Then There Were Eight

Barring some unanticipated change in procedures, one of the following will be your next Superintendent of Public Instruction. The State Board of Education will meet in executive session on May 9-10 to interview the candidates. Information about the candidates is contained in two packets posted on the ODE website:

The eight candidates remaining, and their places in the online application packets, are:

  • Paolo DeMaria, II: 16-37
  • David Estrop, I: 115-54
  • Shonda Hardman, II: 203-29
  • Thomas Jandris, II: 243-72
  • Robert Sommers, II: 137-55
  • Thomas Lasley, II: 273-309
  • Michael Sentance, I: 421-43
  • Tina Thomas-Manning, II: 373-90

This post originally appeared on the website of my 2016 campaign for State Board of Education, http://bill4board.us.