Nineteen people have applied for the job of Florida education commissioner, including the surprise emergence of a well-known Florida politician who held the job 10 years ago.
But that wasnt enough to satisfy the State Board of Education, which voted Friday to extend the deadline for applicants to June 6 in the hopes of casting a wider net.
Interviews will now take place around June 20, which means an interim director will be appointed to bridge the gap after current Education Commissioner Eric Smiths resignation becomes effective June 10.
Though the states search firm, Ray and Associates, drummed up 19 applicants, only about a half-dozen of those will be presented to the board for face-to-face interviews in June.
Providing few hints as to what the board may have found lacking, vice chairman Robert Martinez said the board is looking for someone highly qualified. None of the applicants were commissioners of education in other states, though one applicant, Tom Gallagher, had held the position of Florida education commissioner before.
Gallagher, who runs an insurance agency, held several high-level Cabinet positions in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including chief financial officer and education commissioner, when it was a Cabinet position.
Other applicants include several school superintendents or high-level school district administrators from other states, a former charter school system manager, a virtual schools administrator, several high school and elementary school teachers and several well-known education policy experts who work at universities.
Some of the applicants may get a closer look because of their extensive work at either large public school systems, high-level administrative jobs in the education field, or familiarity and support for Floridas education reform efforts. Those applicants include:
-- Bill Evers, whose lengthy resume includes stints at the U.S. Department of Education under former commissioner Margaret Spellings and his current post as an education policy expert at the Hoover Institute, a think tank affiliated with Stanford University. Evers said in his application that he is supportive of Floridas efforts to expand school choice through vouchers, charter schools and virtual schools. On merit pay, Evers said when it comes to teacher success, it should be honored and awarded in K-12 with professional salaries, bonuses and working conditions.
-- Thomas Jandris, vice president and dean of the college of graduate programs at Concordia University in Chicago. Jandris also is a former teacher who specializes in education policy and has advised state governors, including former Gov. Jeb Bush, on education policy, according to his application. My career in national and state education policy is marked by significant accomplishments, some of which have gained national and even international recognition, Jandris wrote on his application.
-- Thomas Goodman, a California educator who used to be superintendent of San Diego City schools as well as the superintendent of a charter school management company called Education Management Systems. Goodman said he left the charter school job because of salary reductions and job cuts. Goodman said in his application that education reform has been stifled in my home state of California and others because of employee unions and politics, thus am I excited about a state like Florida that has high ambitions for all students.
-- Loretta Costin,chancellor of career and adult education at the Florida Department of Education. She is the only applicant to apply from within the department and has worked there since 2008. In her application, Costin touted her familiarity with Florida education topics, such as Race to the Top, teacher merit pay and an increased emphasis on school choice. Costin said she will help realize full potential of education reforms championed by Governor Rick Scott.
-- Maria Goodloe-Johnson, former superintendent for Seattle Public Schools. She served for three and a half years before being fired from her post in March 2011. Her dismissal came after an audit discovered $1.8 million in misused funds in the districts small-business program. She was not implicated in the scandal, the Seattle Times reported, but lost her job over the issue. In her application letter, Goodloe-Johnson disclosed the incident but said she had also ruffled feathers by making a number of changes, including efforts to link merit pay to faculty contracts. I made some very tough and unpopular decisions, Goodloe-Johnson wrote.
-- Randy Shaver, former superintendent of schools in Tupelo, Miss. Shaver was hired in 2009 and spent two years as head of the district before resigning under pressure in April after a rocky tenure. Shaver, hired to bring reforms to a district with a 40 percent dropout rate, made significant changes to boost student performance but ran out of favor, in part for a series of personnel decisions that were unpopular with parents and city officials, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported. I have demonstrated expertise in the areas of innovation in teaching and learning for 21st century students, curriculum development and alignment, team building, motivational leadership and political dynamics, Shaver wrote in his application.
-- Ofelia San Pedro, the Miami-based chief operating officer with Kaplan Virtual Education. Kaplan offers 10 virtual schools in six states. San Pedro is also the former deputy superintendent for business operations at the Miami Dade County School District. The experience will help me expand education in the state of Florida, a measure that can help reduce costs and provide more options for students, San Pedro wrote to the search firm in her application.
Other applicants include:
-- Edward Hashey, an elementary school teacher from Sarasota. Hashey included this unusual metaphor in his application letter: Since I was 4 years old, I have loved to do jigsaw puzzles and I see this position as a double-sided, 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle where the pet beagle devoured four of the pieces.
-- Wayne Alexander, administrator with Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut. Alexander used to be superintendent of Hernando County Public Schools but left his contract a year early amid conflicts over a personal matter involving child custody and, according to the local teachers union, disagreements over the budget.
-- Chris Hammill, interim superintendent for Mount Morris schools in Michigan. Hammill previously worked as an administrator in the Detroit school system. My background is in urban education and reform restricting. Michigan, like so many other states, is facing budgetary issues in the funding of education, Hammill said in an interview Friday. Hammill said he had not been contacted by the search firm yet.
-- Marvin Jeter, a former assistant superintendent at Tulsa Public Schools in Oklahoma. Jeter touted in his application his track record for improving student performance through data-driven policies. His position was cut due to layoffs and because of philosophical, ethical and moral differences in expectations for student behavior. Jeter declined to take a different job offered to him at an alternative high school.
-- Jeffrey Lipp, an adult education instructor from Pembroke Pines who also has worked as a high school math teacher. Lipp said in his application that his vision of the educational system in this state features expanding school choice, online coursework and vocational work experiences.
-- Brian Lomio, student achievement coach at an elementary school in Pasco County. Im highly interested in becoming the next commissioner of education because I want to continue to make a difference in the lives of Floridas children, parents and educators, Lomio wrote to the search committee.
-- Ellen Ryan, principal of Callahan Middle School in the Jacksonville area. I support competition and I believe that parents, students and teachers need options, Ryan said in her application.
-- Oleh Bula, director and principal of Sky Academy, a charter middle school in Sarasota County. He used to be in charge of another charter school, Cornerstone Academy, in Orange County.
-- Scott Whittle, teacher at Tallahassees Lincoln High School. Whittle has lobbied at committee meetings in the Legislature and touts his aggressive involvement in politics in his application letter.
-- Bessie Karvelas, deputy chief instruction officer for Chicago Public Schools. She was previously the principal at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago.
-- Carlos Lopez, superintendent of River Rouge School District in Michigan. He has previously worked as an administrator at Detroit Public Schools.
Applications for the education commissioner job trickled in over the last month and most came in on the last day to apply, May 25. This is surprising given Floridas large student population and reputation for being aggressive in pushing new reforms. Florida is only one of two states searching for a top education administrator right now.
Ray and Associates officials said they were having trouble getting some qualified applicants to come forward because of Floridas liberal open records laws. By applying, it alerts a candidates current employer that they are seeking other jobs. The search firm asked in a letter to the board Thursday to extend the deadline to encourage some potential candidates still in the dialogue stage to come forward.
Smith, a popular commissioner who helped usher in several major education policy changes, including teacher merit pay, announced in March he would resign. A board member who has since resigned blamed Smiths departure on a cold reception from Gov. Rick Scott.
