|
 Reluctant
Candidates Lead Superintendent List
Gongwer News Service, April 12, 2005
For more articles like this
visit
https://www.bridges4kids.org.
The full
official list of candidates for superintendent of public
instruction has not been released, but the two candidates
receiving the most discussion are both on record as not wanting
the job.
The apparent man to beat in the race for the state's top
education slot is Mike Flanagan, executive director of the
Michigan Association of School Administrators, former education
adviser to Governor Jennifer Granholm and not an official
applicant for superintendent.
"I've agreed to be the governor's nominee, whatever that means
in time," Mr. Flanagan said. How his name would be worked into
the process, he added, would be up to the State Board of
Education, which has final say over hiring the superintendent.
So far Mr. Flanagan's only announced competition for the post,
of the 30 applications received as of Tuesday morning, is Acting
Superintendent Jeremy Hughes. Mr. Hughes indicated at the
beginning of the search process that he was not interested in
the post, but was convinced by supporters and a lack of
applicants at one point to put his name in the hat.
Mr. Hughes did not say he was withdrawing his application, but
he expected the board to give deference to Mr. Flanagan. "I
would wish the board give serious consideration to the
governor's candidate," he said. "I'm just there as an option."
The important thing was for the department to be able to work
with the governor, Mr. Hughes said. "We do have an education
governor," he said. "This department needs to be a big part of
her team."
Mr. Flanagan said that was precisely what he could bring to the
position. "I'm in a unique position to bring those two great
bodies together," he said of the governor and the board.
But he said he was not looking for any special treatment from
the board. "It shouldn't be jammed through or anything," he
said. "The board's got to feel comfortable with this."
Though his name was not specifically raised by education board
members as they set a schedule for vetting candidates over the
coming month, Mr. Flanagan's position as de facto leader of the
pack appeared to raise concerns for some members.
Board Vice President John Austin (D-Ann Arbor) pushed for
speeding up the examination process to have a list of candidates
for public interviews ready by the board's May 10 meeting. He
said during a break he anticipated that list would include Mr.
Flanagan and other candidates would be compared to him.
But board member Nancy Danhof (R-East Lansing) and others said
shaving any more time from the process could lead to the
appearance that other candidates were not seriously considered.
"I think this is accelerated fast enough," Ms. Danhof said. "If
we get done with this when we say we will, we will be far ahead
of any other state picking a superintendent."
Though she agreed to a schedule of discussing the candidates at
the May 9 meeting, Ms. Danhof said it was too early to decide
moves beyond that. "We need to determine whether the field is
even worth the process," she said. "If only one or two of these
(are acceptable candidates), we're saying that we already know
who we're going to pick, and I will not be a party to that."
"I'm very concerned about the appearance of speed," said board
member Marianne McGuire (D-Detroit). "I don't want this to look
like a flawed process. I would want at least a strong pool of
half a dozen."
But other board members warned that opening for applications
again could provide essentially the same list of top candidates,
a move that they said would be a waste of the board's time.
Under the process agreed to Tuesday, applications would be
forwarded to board members later this week, with the candidates
not requesting anonymity being released to the public shortly
after. All candidates would receive questions next week, the
answers to which would be used at a special meeting May 9 to
make a first cut of the candidates.
Board members expected those selected as finalists would be
asked to answer further questions as the basis for selecting
candidates for public interviews.
CHIEF OF STAFF: Whoever is selected as superintendent will be
able to select his or her own chief of staff. Pam Wong, chief of
staff to former Superintendent Tom Watkins, left the department
effective Thursday. Her departure was expected after Mr. Watkins
agreed to resign in January.
back to the top ~
back to Breaking News
~ back to
What's New
|
