You can take a 5-minute survey to help choose Kentucky’s next education commissioner
The Kentucky Board of Education is asking people to fill out a five minute survey on the qualities they would like to see in the state’s next education commissioner.
The survey, available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020CommissionerSearch opened January 21 and will close at 5 p.m. Feb. 6. It takes about five minutes to complete.
The survey is running simultaneously with the board’s search for an executive search firm.
“It is crucial that we gather feedback from across the state so that we can make critical and informed decisions as we proceed with our search,” state Board Chair David Karem said in a news release. “The input we receive from this survey will help shape our vision as to what we need to look for in a candidate over the coming months.”
Board members Cody Pauley Johnson, Sharon Porter Robinson and Lee Todd are serving on a team to evaluate proposals from executive search firms vying to help the board find its next commissioner.
The team will view the proposals, which are being accepted until 2:30 p.m. Friday, and is expected to make a recommendation to the full board at a special meeting Feb. 12. That’s when the state board will review the survey results.
“We are committed to moving quickly and aggressively in the search for our next commissioner,” Karem said.
The board wants to to have a new commissioner in place by July 1. In the meantime, Kevin Brown, former General Counsel at the Kentucky Department of Education, is the Interim Commissioner.
The permanent position has been open since December since Wayne Lewis resigned the post under pressure from a Kentucky Board of Education newly appointed by Gov. Andy Beshear on his inauguration day.
Former Kentucky Board of Education members appointed by former Gov. Matt Bevin have withdrawn a lawsuit they filed in Franklin Circuit Court, and last week re-filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to overturn Beshear’s executive order reorganizing the Kentucky Board of Education, they said last week.
Former state board member Gary Houchens said in a news release that the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, described as a free-market think tank, will be providing financial and legal support as the former members continue to petition the courts to overturn Beshear’s order.
On Wednesday, the former members asked the General Assembly to change state law so that, retroactive to the date they were removed, a Governor can not remove Kentucky Board of Education members prior to the end of their terms without cause. A news release from the group said the statute should reinstate the former members to the board until the end of their terms.
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 9:38 AM.