Interim Kentucky Education Commissioner given job permanently

The Kentucky Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously voted to give Interim Kentucky Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis the permanent job.

Board members, all appointees of Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, gave Lewis high marks on a six-months evaluation prior to the vote. The move was a departure from recent history when national searches were launched. The board appointed Lewis interim commissioner in April at a meeting which forced the resignation of previous commissioner Stephen Pruitt.

The vote came as Lewis is promoting a controversial proposal to change high graduation requirements to include passing a basic competency exam in the 10th grade. The board is set to discuss the proposal — and possibly give it a final vote — on Wednesday. Lewis has been outspoken in his criticism that student achievement in Kentucky has not moved forward as it should have.

“He’s qualified to handle this job,” said board Vice Chairman Milton Seymore. “He’s approachable. I think he’ll do an outstanding job.”

Board Chairman Hal Heiner, a fellow charter school advocate, said Lewis has “the highest moral and intellectual integrity,” and has met all the standards that the board had set for the new commissioner.

Lewis fared well in an anonymous survey of Kentucky Department of Education staff, Heiner said. The board voted to have the chairman enter into contract negotiations with Lewis and will give the contract final approval. The board could vote on the terms of the contract, including salary, pending the negotiations, at its meeting Wednesday, department officials said in a news release.

Prior to being named interim commissioner, Lewis was an advisory member of the Kentucky Board of Education and the chair of the Kentucky Charter Schools Advisory Council. He also had been the executive director of education policy and programs in the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet and is on leave as an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies at the University of Kentucky.

“I would love to be given an opportunity to continue this work,” said Lewis. “I am incredibly humbled. We do have incredible momentum. We have built an incredible team. There is not a state education agency where I would want to be other than here. I think the potential for this agency and for this state at this time is just where we want to be.”

Lewis said Kentucky education is on the brink of changing in the same way that occurred in the early 1990s with major education reform.

“If we can just continue to come together and put the foolishness aside and focus on our kids, I have no doubt that we can accomplish great things,” he said.

Brigitte Blom Ramsey, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, said Lewis has shown his passion for student achievement and closing academic achievement gaps — a “passion the citizens of the Prichard Committee share. “

Fayette Superintendent Manny Caulk said his working relationship with Lewis was excellent.

“Commissioner Lewis and I share a passion, commitment and sense of urgency to close the opportunity, access and achievement gap for our most vulnerable students,” said Caulk. “We stand ready in Fayette County to continue to work in partnership with Dr. Lewis and other state agencies to create additional opportunities for students, expand pathways to workforce readiness, and accelerate the learning for our students who are approaching proficiency while challenging students who have reached proficiency to be globally competitive.”

But House Democratic leaders Rocky Adkins, Dennis Keene and Wilson Stone said in a joint statement that appointing Lewis permanently “is yet another step toward implementing charter schools here in the commonwealth.”

“As leaders of the House Democratic Caucus, we believe this is the wrong direction for our students and our schools, but it does not deter us from our goal: To have the best public-school system in the country,” they said. “We will work with anyone who moves us in that direction, but will oppose any plan that holds us back.”

This story was originally published October 2, 2018 at 4:52 PM.